Alan Jefferies

Restructuring Business Finance for FY21/22

The end of one financial year and the start of the next can be an exceptionally busy time for most business owners and operators. You could be engaged in your own EOFY sales to generate additional income and move stock. Most will be focussed on tax issues to ensure all boxes are ticked and affairs in order before 30 June. Some will be seeking a discount at the EOFY sale events for motor vehicles and equipment. And this time of year often coincides with school holidays which can place additional demands on-time schedules. But amidst all that you have to do, it is also an appropriate time to take time to reflect on how you could set up your business for improved performance in the new financial year. Consider what tweaks you can make here and there to realise savings and generate additional income. One area worth taking a close look at is in regard to existing business loans and... Read More Caret Right

Simple Steps to Estimating Your Business Finance Repayments

To take on business finance to acquire vehicles, trucks and equipment, plant and machinery is a major consideration. Many business operators may need to prepare financial projections and cash flow forecasts to plan the acquisitions in their operational expenditure. Key personnel may need to prepare budgets and proposals detailing ROI and expected productivity and performance outcomes from the acquisition for senior management and board approval. Most business owners, especially SMEs and sole traders need to work out if they can afford the purchase. Differing purposes and objectives but with one common thread – buyers primarily need and want to know what their finance repayments maybe when acquiring major assets. They need to be able to quickly and easily convert the purchase price of the equipment or vehicle into monthly repayments for inclusion in planning documents or to rule goods in or out of their affordability range. Read more here. That process is made easy and without any high-level maths or... Read More Caret Right

EOFY: Tax Time, Sale Time, Decision Time For Business Loans

The end of the financial year, 30 June, signals the annual scramble for both consumers and businesses to make the most of both sale events and get their tax affairs in order. While for consumers it is customary to be able to secure goods from their wish lists at reduced prices, for businesses there are wider and more significant issues to consider. Decisions made by businesses at this time can set them up well for the year ahead and allow them to take advantage of tax measures on offer. After a highly disruptive EOFY 2020 and the economy now recovering from the impacts of the coronavirus ahead of expectation, EOFY 2021 maybe even more significant than in previous years. Sourcing low interest rate business finance can be pivotal to realising EOFY business objectives and we cover off a number of key issues for businesses to consider around commercial loans and business asset finance at this crucial time of year. Business... Read More Caret Right

RBA June 2021: Interest Rate Updates For Your Business Loan

The Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) hold a scheduled meeting on the first Tuesday of each month except January with a decision on the interest rate the key topic of the meeting. The RBA is tasked with setting the official cash rate and Australia’s monetary policy. The cash rate is not the interest rate that applies to business finance products. It is a rate that banks and lenders pay in interest rate for overnight borrowings. Essentially the rate determines at what level lenders set their both their borrowing and their savings interest rates. Following the RBA Board meetings, the RBA Governor, Philip Lowe, issues a statement which details the rationale for the board’s decision. This statement provides insight both into the current decision and the central bank’s forecasts for the economy and interest rates moving forward. On Tuesday 1 June, the RBA held its meeting, the first following the Federal Budget delivery and a day prior to... Read More Caret Right

Options for hard to get finance: New Biz, Small Biz, Micro Biz

There are several types of businesses and categories of loan applicants that can face challenges when sourcing low rate business loans requirements. Specifically, new businesses which are in the process of setting up or have only been operating for a relatively short period; small and micro businesses regardless of how long they have been in operation; and businesses that have a poor credit history and hence a bad credit score. The challenges faced by these groups are widely known and can be a deterrent to businesses even applying for loans. Even the faintest prospect of being rejected for finance by a bank can be enough of a disincentive for businesses to completely put off applying. They dismiss relying on finance and instead either seek out alternative solutions to business needs or just proceed ‘as is’ and forego opportunities to grow and expand. With the deregulation of the Australian financial sector, a large number of non-bank lenders have entered the lending... Read More Caret Right

How temporary full expensing and loss carry back work together

When seeking finance to purchase assets such as motor vehicles, trucks, plant, machinery and equipment, business owners understandably focus on securing a solution to their prime concern – purchasing the needed assets with the cheapest finance. The attention is on a solution to a need. On purchasing equipment that will deliver a benefit to the business. To improve productivity and increase profitability. But beyond that primary priority, there are aspects of the actual finance product itself that can also deliver significant benefits to the business. Yes, sourcing the cheapest interest rate business loans will definitely support the business cash flow. But looking further than the basics can be worth the extra effort. One would assume that purchasing equipment for business purposes would be a tax-deductible expense. But not all tax deductions are treated or realised equally. Business finance products are all structured to include tax deductions for the business but the range of loans vary in how that benefit is... Read More Caret Right

Federal Budget: Small Business Perspective

Most small business owners could be understandably quite overwhelmed by the massive figures such as a deficit of $161 billion and net debt of $980 billion by 2024/25 included in the 2021/22 Federal Budget. Operating as a sole trader, freelancer or running an SME, business owners deal with much smaller numbers and need to put the big picture into the small business frame. SMEs will be looking for a much easier to digest and relatable version of the latest announcements from Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Identifying the significance of budget measures for your SME can be a time-consuming and challenging task. Our team at Business Finance is assisting by providing these highlights of the key budget measures that we see as relevant to small business owners and operators, sole traders and family enterprises and those looking to establish a new small enterprise. In addition, we’re providing information on the small business finance options we have available to enable SMEs to utilise... Read More Caret Right

Business Finance and the Federal Budget

Despite the significant coronavirus stimulus packages announced throughout 2020 and many of the measures delivered for business in the delayed 2020/21 October Budget still available, the 2021/22 Federal Budget still attracted much attention from the business community. Although a number of the measures in the Budget were pre-empted with the traditional pre-budget ‘leaks’ by the Treasurer, Prime Minister and other relevant Ministers, there was still plenty of ‘reveals’ in the official bringing down speech. To assist businesses grappling with the big numbers and to cut through to what your business may gain from the Federal Budget we have summarised the key points from our Business Finance perspective. General Overview The Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, clearly stated prior to his Budget speech on 11 May, that this would not be an austerity budget to address the debt accumulated as a result of the stimulus measures. He said it would be a budget to repair the economy with a continuation of spending but... Read More Caret Right

What will I pay for my loan?

Before making a commitment to buy anything, of course, you're going to want to know how much it is going to cost. The same goes for business finance and commercial loans. Before you can proceed with placing your order for that car, truck or equipment purchase, you'll want to know what your loan is going to cost. The most common questions that our consultants are asked is what interest rate I will get and what will my repayments be on my loan. Business Finance provides a number of resources to assist you to estimate your repayments on different loans and we’re providing this overview on the differences and variations in different commercial loans. Business Loan Products When purchasing equipment, cars, trucks and other business assets, business owners have the choice of a number of different loan products. The business finance selection includes: Business Leasing Commercial Hire Purchase Chattel Mortgage Rent-to-Own or Equipment Rental Loan types vary in their structure and... Read More Caret Right

Is now a good time to buy?

The decision to acquire new business assets including cars, trucks, machinery and equipment involves a whole range of steps, considerations and evaluations. Which particular make and model to the buyer? Which model will deliver the best outcome for the business? Which finance product to use? Pay a deposit or borrow the full amount? Price of the asset and the finance? An extra consideration is getting the timing spot on. Deciding when is the right time to invest in new business assets should also be a priority. Numerous aspects can be evaluated in this stage of the buying process and we have collated a range of factors and current data for your consideration. EOFY Countdown We’re now into the home stretch or sprint to the end of the current financial year. 30 June is a key date in the business calendar for many reasons but rather than focus on that date, the weeks leading up are more critical. That is time... Read More Caret Right