Fullstack Advisory

Does every small business need an accountant ?

I believe yes, every small business needs an accountant in some form or other. Note, however, that this might be as minimal as a few hours per month, or as much as a full-time accountant. The ‘right answer’ depends on your business...

Do I need a business plan?

The simple answer is Yes, you need a business plan if you’d like to have a successful, sustainable business.  The longer answer is that the type of business plan you need depends on your business and your goals. If you have a small...

What's the difference between business development and marketing?

Business development and marketing are related, but different concepts. They operate at different levels. I think of the two areas essentially as ‘business-related’ and ‘customer-related’ respectively. It’s not...

How to make your small business IT support better?

As the other answers have mentioned, it’s not always financially reasonable for a small business to employ an IT person, or pay for ongoing IT services.  Having said this, these days our technology is often at the heart of how we...

Which do you consider the most important in building a sustainable business?

I agree with Jef Lippiatt - margins are the most important of the two. Revenues are, of course, important too, but they only show part of the picture. You could be making millions of dollars in revenue, but if you’re spending...

Why should you engage with a small business loan broker?

The benefit of using a small business loan broker is the ability to leverage their experience and network. They will have access to all the information relevant to your small business loan requirements, and quickly. They can listen to your...

What's the best payroll software for a small business with 1-20 employees?

In a small business, you have a smaller team dealing with the day-to-day business operations, on top of whatever your business offering is! It makes sense to consolidate as many services as possible, and supercharge your efforts everywhere you...

Which are the best HR software solutions for small businesses?

One of the options we like best is Employment Hero. It has helped us avoid headaches with employee management (and payroll), and it integrates directly with Xero. It also handles employee onboarding, which is so important in the scheme of attracting...

Why do Australian startups fail?

What a loaded question! :) While there are some big local factors that affect startups (and I don’t disagree that local funding is lagging behind many of our overseas counterparts) there are lots of other reasons that startups fail,...

What is your favourite or preferred project management system?

At Fullstack we use Asana, and we find it the best for our team because of a few things:It’s easy to create projects, tasks, and deadlines, and assign them to team membersIt makes it easy to organise and prioritise tasks It’s...

Are there government grants that can help in extra funding?

As Bruce Patten mentioned, the Australian Federal government provides a wide range of grants and financial incentives. They’re mostly designed to ‘enhance business productivity and competitiveness’ and can be in the form of matched...

Is there a difference between hiring foreign and local web developers?

There is usually a difference between hiring local and foreign web developers, but the lines are blurry. Here are a few things to keep in mind when hiring web developers - local or foreign:Project brief - whatever your approach, the best asset you...

What are the must-have features in a small business cloud accounting software?

One of the biggest benefits of cloud accounting software is the ability to automate time-consuming tasks. Look for the ability to automate the following:Invoicing - automatically generate and deliver invoices. When invoicing integrates with online...

Should you use a template for business planning, or is it just too complex to do with a template?

We work with lots of startups, and as a starting point, I want to mention that it *is* important to have a business plan in some form or other. But as some of the other responses have mentioned, the first step is to think about why you need...

How much do small businesses really make?

Not sure exactly on the specifics of the data, but a good deal of company tax returns filed as nil tax returns are just shelf or dormant companies.

Should you use registered business name or individual name when invoicing a sole trader?

Using the registered business name is better, since it will be easier for the sole trader's bookkeeper to recognise the business income. They are ultimately the same legal entity though.

What's the best accounting software for a sole trader without employees?

https://www.waveapps.com/ Wave is pretty good for you pay for. I.e. Free!. 2 million other businesses on the platform can't be wrong. Bank feeds and does reporting - which is handy for us accountants.

What are the most important accounting issues for a small business to consider?

There's plenty of different matters to sort through, but here's a start....How to get your tax obligations in order - https://www.fullstack.com.au/understanding-your-accounting-obligations/Getting the corporate structure right...

Do you think MYOB is the worst accounting package in the world?

Xero - AppleQBO - SamsungWave - NokiaMYOB - HTC

Which are the best seed accelerators in Australia for a startup?

H2 AcceleratorMuru-DSlingshot

Franchise or self start up? Which would you choose and why?

As Deb said it depends on the owner.A turn-key business might be had by purchasing the franchise but there will be still a lot of work in getting up to speed with the systems.Your own startup may work just as well by modelling what is best...