May 8, 2012 in Blog by Elizabeth Salter

The Importance of Work/Life Balance

Running a small business, or any business for that matter, usually means that a large amount of your time is focussed on growing the business. Although statistics reveal that all Australians, whether employed or self-employed, do not have enough time for their personal life, small business owners are often the ones who are most time-poor when it comes to looking after themselves. And the smaller the business, the worse this disparity can be. Sole-traders and micro-businesses often have to fulfill a variety of job roles from administration to marketing & sales and providing the actual products or services that are …[Read more...]

May 1, 2012 in Blog by Elizabeth Salter

Thinking of Xero? NOW is the time….

We are rapidly approaching the end of the Australian financial year. Already! Again! With only two months to go until 30th June, this is the time when it’s necessary for business owners to start looking at their business and see what changes they need to implement. Accountants and bookkeepers like to harp on about this, but it can be a vital process in your business. When businesses are making a respectable profit, looking tax minimisation strategies is very relevant in the last quarter of the financial year. Another key area that can be useful to assess this quarter can be …[Read more...]

April 24, 2012 in Blog by Elizabeth Salter

The Modern Bookkeeper

The bookkeeping industry has been around for a very long time. In fact, the oldest record of double-entry bookkeeping that has been discovered was in 1340, with it becoming common practice by the end of the 15th century. So with this very long history, what has changed? In the latter part of last century, we moved from keeping financial records in actual paper books and ledgers to using computer software. This was an amazing advance which allowed both accounting professionals and business owners to be more efficient and have a range of tools and reporting at their disposal. And then …[Read more...]

April 19, 2012 in Blog by Elizabeth Salter

Packages for Every Business

We have just completed updating our website with our full range of packages for all our services, so we now offer flat fixed fees for all aspects of your bookkeeping, “rescue” and training needs. Every business should be able to find an appropriate package for their needs, especially as we have our Sapphire and Platinum packages which are totally customisable to your individual requirements. You can find them all here, but here’s a quick rundown of the different areas:   Xero Packages Whether you are looking for all your bookkeeping and reporting needs taken care of, just want to do …[Read more...]

April 13, 2012 in Blog by Elizabeth Salter

Making Your Cashflow Work For You

Strong cashflow is a vital part of a business whether you are large or small. It ranks high in the reasons why an otherwise successful business fails. The simple definition of cashflow means “Do I have enough in the bank account to cover all the expenses?”. Unfortunately, this is an area that alot of business owners ignore because there is just not enough of their time to go around. Because debtors collection can be time consuming. And like like a plane that runs out of fuel, the business starts to make that downward spiral…… Retail type businesses have an advantage …[Read more...]

April 5, 2012 in Blog by Elizabeth Salter

Vote for us in the Telstra Australian Business Awards

  Blue Emerald has entered the Telstra Australian Business Awards and you have a chance to vote for us! The entry application process was a great learning experience. We had too really look indepth at our business and our processes. It helped us identify the places where we doing things with excellence and it also let us identify areas that needed improvement and we look foward to making Blue Emerald better than ever! All entries receive a comprehensive Business Health Check which evaluates business performance against independent benchmarking of core business indicators including business planning and performance, customer and financial …[Read more...]

October 25, 2011 in Blog by Elizabeth Salter

It’s Alive!

Our new website is finally live! We feel it’s a much better representation of our services than the old one. We would love to hear your feedback and know what you think!

October 22, 2011 in Blog by Elizabeth Salter

Clients come first around here!

Has it really been 10 days since my last blog post? Time really does fly. The website redesign had of course been put on hold as we have been busy preparing this quarter’s BAS & IAS for all our clients. But today I am right back into it and really steaming along quickly. Hooray! We have so many people interested in our new range of services & packages and our old website really doesn’t represent what we do anymore. So we really need to get our site live without any more delays. We would love to hear what you think …[Read more...]

October 12, 2011 in Blog by Elizabeth Salter

Yep, it was a train.

My blog post a few days ago mentioned whether I was coming towards the light at the end of the tunnel or just a train. And a resounding “train!” has been heard at Blue Emerald – our new website is still not complete & live. Apart from the word “soon”, I am giving up on estimating when that will be….. Of course client’s needs come well before any website re-designing and this week has been full of helping some of our clients with some of their problems. Shall I say it again………..? Stay tuned!

October 9, 2011 in Blog by Elizabeth Salter

Is that a light at the end of the tunnel or is it a train?

After running into a million issues with a task you thought was going to be fairly simple, you have to wonder as you head towards the end if that is the light at the end or if it is a big freight train barrelling towards you! For my task at the moment (yes, it’s still the website redesign!), I’m hoping it’s the former. Without trying to jinx myself (my kids say Jinx, Personal Jinx. I think I am too old to work out why that has changed since I was at school. Does anyone understand this?), it looks like we …[Read more...]