Valkyrie Accountants & Advisors

Valkyrie turned 3 today! 🥳

Here's 3 things we've learned in 3 years of business:

🌻Your community is everything
Surround yourself with people who inspire you and who make you the best version of yourself. We love our community, and they are the ones that help us learn and grow. We wouldn't be where we are today without you!

🌻 Bigger isn't always better
When you start a business, everyone tells you that you need to scale or you won't last long. While this is true in some circumstances, having a huge business with heaps of staff isn't always the path to success. Sometimes flying solo is the best fit for your lifestyle and goals, and that's ok!

🌻It gets easier
Starting your business isn't the easiest thing in the world (it was an adjustment period for us, that's for sure!), and you'll constantly be learning and evolving. But once you hit that tipping point in revenue, your best clients are referring more wonderful clients/customers, your systems and processes are sound, and you have a good community to connect with, everything falls into place. Your business starts being a part of your ideal life, and everything gets just that bit easier.

Big shout out to our community, clients, and friends. You're the best, and we wouldn't have made 3 years without your support.

Here's to another 3 years! 🥂

Have you talked to your accountant about tax planning yet? Now is the perfect time before we get too close to EOFY.

Tax planning isn't just for the big end of town, smaller businesses can benefit from it too!

Here are some indications that you may benefit from tax planning:

1. You're experiencing business growth. With business growth comes increased complexity and opportunities in your taxes, and planning can help you avoid any nasty surprises.

2. You've got a complex tax structure. If you've got more than one entity, investments, or fluctuating revenue streams, then tax planning can help to ensure you’re making the most tax-efficient decisions possible before you reach the end of the tax year.

3. Your circumstances have changed. If you have gone through change in your business or personal life and you're unsure of how your tax obligations have changed, tax planning helps you adapt to these changes, and plan accordingly.

Tax planning is the proactive step your business has been missing. Send us a DM or email to book in your tax planning meeting today!

Thrilled to announce that we've been nominated as a finalist for the Hunter Region Business Excellence Awards!

It is fantastic to see so many wonderful business owners being recognised for the hard work they've put in. Running a business is not always easy, but with a strong community surrounding you, the journey becomes a little easier.

Labor has announced that it will pay superannuation on the federal government payment on paid parental leave from 1 July 2025.

Eligible parents of babies born on or after that date will receive an additional 12 percent of that payment added to their super fund.

while this legislation has not yet been passed, this has been a long time coming and is a big step in the right direction.

We've noticed that the ATO has been sending a lot of love letters recently letting those with tax debts know that their debts will be sent to debt collection if no communication is made within 14 days of the letter. Not so lovely, right?

Jokes aside, happy Valentine's Day to all our wonderful clients and friends (especially our florist clients who are having the most hectic day today). And if you've received some ATO correspondence that hasn't made your day, get in touch and we'll chat to them about it for you.

xoxo
The Valkyrie Team

We’re moving…
… across the road! 😅

From next week (Monday 12th Feb), you’ll find us at .hub - 61/63 Parry Street, Newcastle West
By appointment only.

Are you shopping the black Friday sales?

Us too! But before you get too click-happy, make sure you're only shopping for things you were going to buy in the next few months anyway.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are great ways to save some cash on Christmas presents or big-ticket items, but it's really easy to overspend.

Make sure you make a list of things you need to purchase and don't get tempted by other sale items.

How are you navigating the sales? Let us know!

Not accounting related, just our mascot looking stoked about some cool projects we’re working on this week! 🐶

Valkyrie Accountants started in 2021 after founder Kate decided to quit her job in public practice accounting so she could pursue her passion - helping small business owners achieve financial freedom.

Kate has over 10 years experience working with both large and small businesses throughout Australia, and is a Chartered Accountant, Registered Tax Agent, Registered BAS Agent, a fellow of The Tax Institute and a NSW Justice of the Peace.

Combining years of personal experience along with continued professional development, education and training, it is Kate’s goal to ensure that all clients improve their financial literacy and feel empowered to run successful businesses.

Supporting business owners through the highs and low of business life is top priority at Valkyrie Accountants. It can be a lonely place and sometimes all your need is an empathetic ear and a coffee with an advisor to help get you back on track.

Accountants are so much more than just tax guys. We are here to support you through it all, and make sure you are setting and achieving your goals to build the life you want and deserve.

You just go to your accountant to get your tax return done, right?

Wrong! As a small business owner, your accountant should be helping you with WAY more than just your tax return.

Our services include:
🌻 ATO compliance (tax, BAS, IAS, TPAR, STP and all the other acronyms) 🌻Financial statements and management accounts
🌻Budgets and forecasts
🌻Accounting software and app-stacks
🌻Financial education and training
🌻 Xero, MYOB and Quickbooks training
🌻Process improvements
🌻Bookkeeping and payroll support

Operating with an inefficient accounting function in your business is one of the most frustrating things that can happen to you as a business owner. We work with you so that you can get back to doing what you love, while still making sure you’re getting paid, you’re operating effectively, and you’re ATO complaint.

We love working with small business, because we are a small business!

If you’re a business owner who:
🌻Cares about creating a business with longevity
🌻Wants to really understand their business finances
🌻Values collaboration and goal-setting
🌻Wants to work with their accountant year-round (not just at tax time). then we are the accountants for you!

Our clients range from trades to professional services and everything in between, but our passion is helping female-led startups in the creative industries.

We love learning your business inside and out, and spotting opportunities that can reduce your stress and improve your relationship with your business. We help you focus on what you need to so you can get back to doing what you love.

TPAR is due 28 August!

You're required to lodge your TPAR to report payments made to contractors for the last financial year if you're in any of the following industries:
- Building and Construction
- Cleaning Services
- Road Freight or Courier Services
- Information Technology Services
- Security, Investigation or Surveillance Services

Xero has built in reporting for this - you just need to add all your contractors to a group in contacts and you're good to go. Make sure you get their ABN, address, and name so you can report everything you need to quickly and easily to the ATO!

If you're not sure about how to lodge your TPAR, get in touch with us and we will help you out.

You know it’s going to be a good day when there’s double puppies in the office!
Parry Street Office Hub

Happy EOFY!! 🎉

We’ve been so busy with EOFY prep, we completely missed our second anniversary on Wednesday 🫠

So, to all the people to have supported us over the past two years, we absolutely would not be where we are today without you! We’re sitting back tonight reflecting on a great two years, and planing for many more fantastic ones to come.

We also want to say happy EOFY to all our business friends (and fellow accountants). We made it through the year, and tomorrow is a fresh start. Can’t wait to watch you all learn and grow over the next 12 months ♥️

We love HYP! If you haven’t been to one of their events, make sure you check out the next one.

Introducing our June Member of the Month 🙌🏼 Kate Bradley 🚀

Kate Bradley is passionate about creating a world where people aren’t afraid to talk about money.

Kate’s career stared when she was fresh out of high school with a traineeship at a local Newcastle mid-tier accounting firm. 10 years later with a wealth of experience, a Bachelor of Commerce from UoN and a Graduate Diploma of Chartered Accounting from CA ANZ, Kate made the decision to become a Registered Tax Agent and start her own accounting practice - Valkyrie Accountants and Advisors.

Valkyrie Accountants makes it a priority to support small businesses who want an accounting firm with a non-traditional approach to client advice. This focus on advisory-based support and financial literacy training for business owners has resulted in a very successful first two years in business!

Outside of growing the business, Kate is involved in several local community organisations, including being the treasurer for Maitland Community Region Support. Kate also loves playing tennis, spending time with her dog Ollie, fuelling her coffee addiction at her favourite Newcastle cafes, and swimming at all of Newcastle’s beautiful beaches.

Find out more about Kate through our website!

Introducing our newest trainee accountant - Ollie! 🐶

Ollie has been keeping Kate very busy over this past week with training, but is looking forward to assisting with tax appointments next financial year! 🤓

Did you know today is the day most of the tax returns for 2022 are due?

If you have tax payable, make sure you pay it today!

So grateful to be included in the inspiring group of winners of the Top 50 Women In Accounting this year.

Massive shout out to Ignition for showcasing the amazing women that make our industry great! I would not be where I am today without the wonderful support network of absolutely outstanding women that help support and mentor me every day. ✨

Purchased any equipment for work-related use this financial year? 💻🖨️
➡️ If an item cost you $300 or less, you may be able to claim an immediate deduction when you lodge your tax return.
➡️ If it cost over $300, you’ll need to work out the decline in value and claim your deduction over a number of years.

Note that immediate deduction just means that your taxable income will be reduced by the full amount of the cost of the equipment (in most cases), instead of having the cost spread out over the useful life of the asset. You see the benefit of purchasing the asset and writing it off when you lodge your tax return for the year.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

We're taking some much-needed time off to spend some time out in nature with the fam.

We've got no access to emails and very limited phone reception, but we will respond to everything on our return Monday 1 May.

When you decide to become an entrepreneur and leave permanent employment, you trade stability for possibility.

Giving up the stability of a consistent pay cheque is something that makes a lot of new business owners anxious (for good reason), but there are some ways to reduce the stress that comes with the chaos of business ownership:
- Build a buffer - make sure you've got a backup reserve of cash personally so that you can get through if things are a bit leaner one month.
- Review your pricing and profit margins to make sure you're making enough money on your products or projects
- Pivot or grow your business to meet consumer demands
- Develop a new product or business offering to entice more customers to work with you

It's your business - so that means you're in control of what happens. The most successful business owners know that they need to keep track of what their business is doing financially, and they also know how to pivot their businsses to adapt to changing circumstances.

Not sure how to understand how your business is doing financially? Send us a DM or book an appointment and we'll teach you how to understand your financials!

$1m of revenue does not equal $1m in profit.

I see a lot of business owners and creators talking online about how they got their business to be 6 or 7 figures, but did you know that most of the time they're talking about revenue?

Just because you have a million-dollar business, doesn't mean you're taking home a cool million. There are a lot of expenses that come with making that money that isn't disclosed when people talk about their businesses online.

This is your reminder that social media is the highlight reel of someone's business (and their life).

If you're making enough money to pay your bills on time; can pay your taxes (and super) in full; and pay yourself a liveable wage then you're doing well, especially if you're in the first year or two of running your business.

Don't measure your success based on someone else's success story. Make your own goals and measure your success against those!

Happy Easter everyone! 🐣

We'll be out of office for an extended 4-day weekend. Catch you all on Tuesday!

You'd think 10 years as an accountant to small business owners would've prepared me for running my own business...

WRONG!

Here are 5 lessons I've learned in the last 18 months of starting up and growing my business:

1. You're going to be underprepared when you start. Your business needs a strong foundation, and you need to learn all the essentials that come with business ownership - bookkeeping, getting paid, marketing, business development, content creation, HR, insurance, admin... the list goes on! Learning and keeping on top of all of this is a lot, and you can outsource most of it but you need to understand how the business works fundamentally while it is small before you can successfully outsource these things to others.

2. You need to go out and find the work yourself - no one is going to just hand you a big pile of work to kick your business off. Business development is a key part of business success, and learning how to network and pitch your business is what will lead you to success. Those first few months are usually tough, but if you've put the work in, you'll hit a tipping point where your efforts pay off and you'll have more than enough work to keep you busy!

3. Community is everything. Having those trusted business professionals and friends that understand the frustrations of running a business, and celebrate your successes makes the journey a lot easier.

4. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Sometimes stuff just happens and you end up having to do the work of 3 people, and other times you can take extended holidays because your team has it handled. If you have a game-plan for when things go wrong, you'll be able to quickly recover and won't be as impacted when life throws you a curve-ball.

5. Take a moment every so often to realise how far you've come from when you started. Sometimes you get so caught up in keeping the business running that you don't realise what an amazing job you're doing.

Running a business is fun, scary, and absolutely chaotic at times, but it can also be super rewarding.

Comment the biggest lesson you've learned from running your business below!

📸 Little Wildflower Photography

Does your employer know you've got a student loan?

Every year we see people forgetting to tell their boss about their HECS-HELP or SSTL debt, and they end up with a tax bill because of mandatory repayment requirements🤯

Don't let this be you! Check with your boss (or your payroll department) and make sure they're taking out the correct amount of tax so you're not left with a surprise when you lodge your next tax return.

Beep Beep! Happy end of the FBT year! 🚗

The 2023 FBT year ends today, so if you're a business owner make sure you're keeping on top of your FBT obligations.

🚗 Write down the closing odometer for all your company/trust-owned motor vehicles today.
🚗 Confirm your logbooks are less than 5 years old for all business motor vehicles (and if they're close to expiring make sure you start a new one!)
🚗 Review your accounting records for any fringe benefits that may have been provided (entertainment, expense payments etc).
🚗 Contact your accountant to see if they need any info to complete your FBT return in time.

If you're one of our clients who has an FBT requirement you will have received an email with instructions. If you're not - make sure you ask your accountant if you need to do anything for FBT.

If anyone wants to bring me something like this, I'll be in the office all day! 🌻

Are you someone who works from home? Well, there are some changes to the ways we calculate the deduction and some new record-keeping requirements.

From the 2022-23 income year, the revised fixed rate method:
⬆️ has increased from 52 cents to 67 cents per hour worked from home
🛋️ no longer requires you to have a dedicated home office space
📱 covers various expenses including your phone, internet, electricity and stationery costs.

HOWEVER, you need to keep more records than you have in the past.
You now need to keep:
🌻A record of the actual number of hours worked from home during the entire income year (e.g. timesheet, diary, roster etc).
🌻At least one document to confirm you incurred and paid for electricity, gas, stationery, etc.

Because these rules have changed mid-way through an income year, for 2023FY only, you can supply both of the following:
🌻A representative record for the total number of hours worked from home during the period 01-Jul-22 to 28-Feb-23 (e.g. a logbook, timesheets, calendar entries etc); and
🌻A record of the total number of actual hours worked from home for the period 01-Mar-23 to 30-Jun-23.

Make sure you start keeping your records now so you're able to claim the biggest amount possible in your 2023 tax return!

Attention property investors! 🏡

Have you had a depreciation report done on your property?

A quantity surveyor will do up a report that lists all the building and furnishing costs you're eligible to claim each year at tax time. This can be thousands of dollars and result in a decent reduction in taxable income each year (which reduces your tax payable).

If you don't know where to start, reach out and we'll get you in touch with some of our fave quantity surveyors!