A succession plan can mean different things to different people. “[It can] range from a sale of the business to bringing kids into the family business or bringing management in,” says Ray Cummings, Principal at Greenoak Advisory.... read more

Do you think you’re ready to start your own business?  If you’ve got a great idea and feel it’s finally time to take the first entrepreneurial step, ask yourself the following questions before you start: Do you have a lot of... read more

It’s not groundbreaking news that many owners of a growing operation try to do too much on their own and could benefit from external help. The trickier question is, what form should this help take? While a business owner could bring in a... read more

Countering terrorism is not, as so often portrayed in Hollywood, just about high-adrenaline chases of “bad guys” in exotic locations. In real life, there is a substantial financial component to counter terrorism. The Terrorism... read more

Business planning is a fundamental building block of business success. Successful businesses get into planning early and aren’t frugal with money when it comes to buying the services of experts – accountants, lawyers, bankers and... read more

You have a client who is a private business owner. He has run his business for 20 years, it generates good profits, doesn’t demand a lot of capital and is well run. Out of the blue he receives an offer for it that seems too good to refuse.... read more

To assist existing and prospective shareholders to better understand the annual report of listed companies, CPA Australia has developed a free online publication, A guide to understanding annual reports: listed companies. “There is an... read more

Private businesses frequently reach a stage in their life cycle where the founding owners need or want to issue equity in the business to key employees or family members. Having made this decision, the proprietors generally believe the hard... read more

www.asus.com.au/Mobile/PadFone/ Looking for a new smartphone and a tablet? How about both in the one device? That’s what ASUS’s unique PadFone offers. The core device is a 4.3-inch Android smartphone that fits into the back of its... read more

Lodging a tax return can be challenging. If you have questions -- and what student doesn't -- this podcast will help you understand the range of issues you face in the 2012 tax year. Listen to CPA Australia's senior tax counsel Mark Morris and... read more

Whether it's recognised on the balance sheet or not, most Australian businesses own intellectual property (IP). This means a working knowledge of the different types of IP is essential for any organisation trying to maximise the commercial returns... read more

Cloud computing –  a concept that’s been around for decades even if the term itself is recent– is increasingly becoming the go-to choice for businesses. The cloud – essentially computer servers housed in data centres... read more

The environmental forces impacting on accounting practices today are having unexpected effects on the way they grow. For instance, the traditional mainstay of a practice is tax and regulatory compliance, but many clients regard these services as... read more

The diversity of modern-day corporate stakeholders brings to mind the words of the poet John Lydgate, famously adapted by Abraham Lincoln: “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time,... read more

Since the early 1970s, auditor rotation has been the subject of debate in the US and elsewhere around the world. While there are limits on how long a particular audit partner can audit the same company, most countries to date have placed no... read more

Severe cash flow constraints and the need for accountants to be “hands on” and general in their roles were some issues highlighted at a recent roundtable on business performance improvements for SMEs. The challenges were not... read more

It is not common for solvent companies to be liquidated; it’s usually ones in distress where there is little to be paid to shareholders. Sometimes, if a company’s active life has passed and there are untaxed capital profits in the... read more

“Tax agents play an important role in helping their clients comply with their legal and civic responsibilities in relation to tax and superannuation,” acknowledged Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo... read more

In late 2011, CPA Australia hosted a webinar on the proposed tax consolidation changes announced by the Australian Government on 25 November 2011. The webinar, hosted by Jonathan Hill, Account Director of Corporate and International Tax, Deloitte... read more

To paraphrase a notorious military commander in a movie, “I love the smell of a new tax program in the morning”. For those so inclined, the Australian Government’s new R&D Tax Incentive (the Incentive) delivered in spades... read more

  As the 1 July 2012 start date for Australia’s carbon tax regime approaches, a clear divergence exists in how emissions data – and the assurance processes to which they are submitted – are perceived by the managements who... read more

In July, the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC) released its discussion paper entitled “Towards Integrated Reporting – Communicating Value in the 21st Century”. It was compiled from influential interested parties... read more

Annual reports have gained weight over recent years, but one part that has remained relatively lean is the auditor’s report. They typically consist of a couple of pages at most, and set out responsibilities and a clear opinion on the... read more

Legislation enabling the streaming of capital gains and franked dividends through trusts, following the High Court case of Commissioner of Taxation versus Bamford, came into effect on June 29 as the Taxation Laws Amendment (2011 Measures No 5) Act... read more