There are only 21 work days ‘til Christmas 🎅
Things that should be on your radar this month 👀
1. If you step down as a company director by December 1, you’re officially off the hook for your director ID rego. But if you’re a current director and still haven’t registered, you’d better get cracking to make the November 30 deadline. Here’s a step-by-step guide so you can get it done and off your plate.
2. Tend to lodge late? Fees on tardy lodgments for tax returns, BAS, FBT, GST and Single Touch Payroll will cost you 35% more from January.
3. The ATO is proposing to cut its WFH deduction shortcut rate to 67c, and you’ll need to keep super detailed records if you want to claim more.
4. Unemployment is at its lowest since 1974 at 3.4%, but reopening borders to the global labour market could see it rise in 2023 (and the flood of layoffs in tech won’t help).
5. Can’t keep up with all the crypto drama? Here’s a solid explainer about the FTX crash – and what it means for crypto regulations.
Tech recs to help you get through December
📝 Coda: We recently used this knowledge base app to help us juggle two big projects at once. Using Coda, we were able to collate documents, visualise timelines, map out meeting schedules, and more. This app comes pretty close to our top tech rec of the year for its countless use cases (don’t worry Notion – we still love you).
🎁 Draw Names: If you’re still pulling your office Secret Santa out of a hat, trust us – there’s a better way. This app even lets you exclude pairs of people to inject some drama into your office holiday celebrations.
🌊 Dive: This meeting assistant seamlessly integrates with the Google ecosystem to easily plan, execute and document virtual meetings while delegating tasks to your team in real time.
The highs 📈 and lows 📉 of small business life
📈 This month, one of our clients hit their goal of crowdfunding $1M. This win didn’t just give us the warm fuzzies, it reinforced one of the reasons we started Project Alfred: to be accountants that celebrate our clients' successes, not one that just processes their payroll.
📉 Speaking of supporting one another, we’ve been pretty disappointed to see a couple of our clients falling victim to super late invoice payments – both big-name businesses and fellow small biz owners. While we expected better from larger organisations, we had higher hopes for those who know the stresses of starting a small business and managing cash flow.
Productivity hacks 👩💻
- This is less of a hack and more of a poll: do you rate sit-stand desks? We don’t have standing desks at Project Alfred, but recently we’ve been wondering if we’re missing out. A study found that you’re nearly 50% more productive while standing, but we’re keen to hear what our community thinks. Reply to this email if you’ve got an opinion; we’d love to hear it!
- We don’t know who needs to hear this – but stop taking on big projects in December. The holiday period is busy enough without a pile of new work on your desk, and there’s nothing worse than starting January with a million things already on your to-do list.
If you find yourself twiddling your thumbs towards the end of December, take the opportunity to work on all those tasks you’ve been pushing back throughout the year. You’ll thank us later.
- If you’re getting sick of Christmas parties, we recommend ditching the boozy lunch (but not necessarily the booze) and doing something a little more interesting. Together with our content agency Slice, we’ve organised an escape room for one of our end-of-year events; and not only do we think it’ll be more fun, we’re treating it as an opportunity to do some joint problem solving with people outside the PA team.
Activities like these are a great way to build stronger relationships with your clients and collaborators, and businesses are likely to have more flexible December calendars – plus, who doesn’t love some healthy competition?
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We’ve had a lot to say about December in this issue, but in the office, we’re still pretty focused on Movember. Our co-founder Liam has been growing a stache this month to raise money for men's health and it’s coming along pretty nicely! There’ve been some incredibly generous donations from our community – we love working with people who can get behind a good cause.
If you follow Project Alfred, you’ll know that we’re huge advocates for work-life balance. Work-related stress is one of the most common causes of depression, which affects one in eight men in Australia at some point in their lives. And while depression can be debilitating to anyone experiencing it, men make up the overwhelming majority of deaths to suicide in Australia.
Liam has chosen to donate the money he raises to Beyond Blue in support of their NewAccess program for small business owners. If the pressure of running a business is starting to feel overwhelming, the program provides a space to talk through those feelings while putting together a practical plan to address any issues you’re having – it’s an excellent initiative.
If you’d like to support Liam’s Movember drive, donate here.
That's just our two pennies' worth.
- Liam and Amy, co-founders of Project Alfred
(changing the way people think about accounting)
Recent issues
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As their public dispute goes nuclear, we’re diving into the fistfight between Employment Hero and Hostplus. We'll also examine the trials and tribulations of Australian SMES grappling with payroll errors, uncover the truth behind cashback rewards, celebrate Australia’s first tech unicorn in two years, and examine some of the latest startups that have raised money this month.
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We look at Hatch, a Gen Z jobs marketplace that has secured $7 million in seed funding to expand nationally, using AI to match candidates with roles based on skills and values. Plus, discover how Taylor Swift's concert at the MCG broke Melbourne's internet, insights on gender pay gaps from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, and the latest advancements in AI with OpenAI's new system, Sora, generating short videos from text prompts.
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We’ve started the year at break-neck speed, onboarding two exciting new clients, growing the Project Alfred team, getting frustrated at the Australian government’s proposed changes to sophisticated investors, reading about Atlassian’s WFH 1000 days progress and exploring new startup blogs.
In our final 2023 newsletter we look at when to pay attention to your brand, the resurgence of startup funding, rebates for Sydney startups looking for office space and some potential relief on the cost of living.
Liam is participating in Movember and raising money for Beyond Blue to support their efforts in mental health awareness and support. Every donation made on Liam’s fundraising page will be matched by Project Alfred - so if you can afford it, we’d love you to contribute. … And a reminder: every donation is tax deductible!
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Christmas is around the corner, so notify your staff about leave requirements if you’re shutting down. We dive into the Australian funding scene with Employment Hero's impressive cap raise, making them a double unicorn. Learn from a costly lesson about keeping receipts, discover the inspiring journey of Vegemite and find out why work created by AI can't be copyrighted.
How one business has monetised ‘the meeting that could’ve been an email’, a business that has pivoted its offering as a result of the higher cost of living, a significant payroll underpayment issue making the news and the first ‘real’ holiday Liam has taken since starting Project Alfred.
How Barbie & the Matilda's have sparked equal pay discussions, small business grants in QLD, how Australia harnesses students' entrepreneurial spirits, marketing tech we're using, and our August highlights as we celebrate our 2nd birthday.
What direct-to-consumer startups can learn from Barbie, the Twitter rebrand that’s left question marks over our heads, tech to make travelling for work a breeze, our tip for surviving the second half of the year, and much more.
Some good economic news (finally), the hot new website everyone is talking about (ours, obviously), tried and tested website tech we swear by, a list of 20 small business EOFY tax tips, and much more.
An excellent opinion piece about why work from home is a good thing for society (despite what Elon Musk thinks), a desk setup that’ll make your colleagues green with envy, the TLDR on the PwC tax scandal, some EOFY spending advice we know some people need to hear, and much more.
There’s been a spike in company insolvencies that the AFR is describing as a “zombie apocalypse”, advice from HR experts on how to promote work-life balance in your team, a Slack feature we don’t think gets enough airtime, a monitor stand we’re drooling over, and much more.
The TLDR on the banking drama and how it could affect your business, exciting AI tools to keep your eye on this year, the businesses where the UK’s four-day workweek trial didn’t work, our non-negotiables when flying for work, and more.
Apps to boost your sleep skills (these do more than just fix dark circles under your eyes), mindset shifts to stop you feeling like you’re burning both cash and energy, and how to get excited about the next quarter.
An important reminder about what AI can and can’t do for your business, more reasons you should go paperless (and a stack of great resources to show you how), a workday lunch tip to get you away from your desk, advice on setting effective goals for business growth, and much more.
Our thoughts on work-life balance, projections for the tech industry in 2023, some AI tools (or toys) to play with over the break, highs and lows of the year that was, and more.
Tips for making the most of December (T-minus 21 working days ‘til Christmas 🤯), a step-by-step guide to registering for your company director ID, one of our favourite tech recs of 2022, an important cause close to our hearts that we’d love you to support (scroll to the end to find out how), and more.
How to protect your business from cybercrime, apps to build a connection with your colleagues and customers, the science behind the perfect productivity playlist, and more
Three tech recs that’ll make your life 10x easier, the impact of late invoices on your cash flow, the pros and cons of going to a conference, a massive shout out to our community, and more.
The technology shaping Australia’s future, Slack shortcuts we can’t live without, and tech recs to help you share your knowledge online.
Tips for hiring in a tough labour market, an ominous shift in pricing strategy for subscription models, and tech recs to help you grow your team.
Some new economic policies coming in on July 1, tech recs to help you celebrate (or survive) EOFY, and some tips for cultivating a growth mindset next financial year.
Some tips to help you focus, proposed policies on the horizon after the election, the crash of a not-so-stable stablecoin, a big debate we had on LinkedIn, and some tech recs that anyone who’s into design will love.
Did ASIC actually just kill off 'finfluencing’, ideas for designing your perfect work week, tech recs to level up virtual meetings and a sneak peek into the tech stack we use here at Project Alfred!
Tech recs and productivity hacks to help hybrid workplaces get the best of both worlds, our thoughts on the latest Federal Budget hot off the press and an audio book we’re loving right now.
High Court rulings around being an employee or an independent contractor, funding for Covid-affected businesses, great news about mental health support for small business owners, some new favourite tech finds, the Super Bowl…and we’re hiring!
22 things you should do to help your business in 2022, what records you need to keep and what you can let go of in the new year, why eating a frog is the best way to start your day, and some of our highs and lows from the last month.
How to stay on the ATO’s nice list this Christmas, our how-to guide for director IDs, small business trends for 2022, how to work smarter not harder, and some of our own recent business highs and lows.