Financial Services

ONE sixth of Western Australian farmers are planning to shift some or all of their business from their main bank over the next 12 months, a new study has found.

THREE months after WA’s Commissioner of State Revenue announced a payroll tax amnesty in relation to ‘contractor’ payments, the issue is still causing disquiet in the business community.

GOVERNMENT and regulators must act to ensure standards in the financial planning industry are lifted, together with improved disclosure standards, according to the Association of

THERE are at least eight common law tests that can be used by the courts to decide if a worker is a contractor or an employee, according to law firm Deacons.

Getting the right advice and using it well are essential when dealing with financial institutions, as Mark Beyer reports.

THE Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA) has launched a ‘compo kit’ to help its members lodge claims for defective administration by the Australian Tax Office.

THE Australian Tax Office has expressed concern about schemes designed to avoid tax by shifting business profits into superannuation.

Our series on business lending this week turns its attention to cash flow lending, or debtor finance as it is also known. Mark Beyer reports.

BUSINESSES have been warned to start preparing for new payment and reporting rules for superannuation.

In the third of a six-part series on business lending, Mark Beyer looks at the equipment finance market. THE equipment finance market has witnessed substantial change over the past couple of years, led by the growing popularity of chattel mortgages.

SHOULD I use a lease or hire purchase? This is one of the most common questions asked of business bankers and finance brokers.

AUSTRALIAN businesses are renowned for being unhappy with their banks but not doing much about it.

FOR most businesses in WA, banking is conducted through the State’s big five – BankWest and the four national banks, ANZ, Commonwealth, National and Westpac.

THE loan products available to small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) have changed substantially over the past few years.

FIFTY-SEVEN financial institutions currently provide approximately 720 different debt finance products for small business, according to research group Cannex.

CUTTING prices is often seen as an easy way for businesses to boost their turnover, especially in difficult trading conditions. But it’s a strategy that is fraught with danger.

INVESTORS and business people trying to assess the credit quality of other companies can assess a range of financial and non-financial indicators. John Carello, the reconstruction and advisory services partner at accounting firm PKF, said warning signs

THE large paperwork and compliance load on small businesses has been highlighted by a new tax office report on its compliance program for 2002-03. The report itemises the volume of paperwork facing Australia’s 2.5 million ‘micro’ businesses;

TWO separate studies released over the past month have highlighted the risk of insolvency among Australian companies. The studies formed markedly different views on the degree of risk, however, leaving investors and business people with an awkward

THOSE business people lucky enough to have a break over the next few weeks have an ideal opportunity to review their business’s health. “It’s important to get out of the daily grind and think about where you are going and what you want to achieve

AUDIT independence and professional indemnity insurance remain two of the biggest issues facing the accounting profession, according to the outgoing president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA). Perth-based Geoff Brayshaw will

THERE were mixed results for WA companies hoping to make it to the boards during the past six months. The majority of the 13 to make the cut had a less-than-spectacular debut, with the average return firmly in negative territory.

INTEREST rates may be at near 30-year lows, but already debt collection agencies are raking in slabs of new job orders.Dun & Bradstreet last week reported a 200 per cent growth in the number of accounts taken on by the group in 2001.

INVESTORS should expect substantially lower returns from all major markets over the coming decade, fund manager Perpetual has warned.

RUNNING a DIY superannuation fund can be costly, time consuming and entails significant legal responsibilities.What, then, are the benefits that attract so many investors to DIY super?

MAJOR structural changes are planned this week at South Perth-based financial services company Epic Asset Management, with cornerstone shareholder, stockbroking firm Montagu Pty Ltd looking to sell at least part of its stake.

SELF-MANAGED superannuation funds have recently received a timely reminder about the hoops they must jump through to satisfy the regulators.

FUTURIS Corp has been forced to make special arrangements for several hundred WA shareholders who missed out on a special allocation in fancied float Australian Agricultural Co.

BARELY a year has gone since Tony Barton stormed back into WA’s investment scene with his new company’s purchase of a half share in stockbroker DJ Carmichael & Co.

ONGOING anti-bank sentiment augurs well for non-bank lenders, and one WA company looking to seize the moment is Homeloans Limited.

MONTAGU Stockbrokers and former AMP State manager David Newman have amassed more than $130 million to kick start their new boutique financial services company Epic Asset Management.

MORE than three quarters of the companies questioned in the latest Dun & Bradstreet Business Expectations Survey admit they are not GST-ready.