Oakleigh Accounting & Tax Specialists
TAX ACCOUNTANTS FOR RETAIL BUSINESSES
We provide peace of mind for you and your business by delivering Taxation, Accounting and Bookkeeping services to Retail Businesses.
Do You Own a Retail Business
What is Retail?
Retail is the sale of goods to end users, not for resale, but for use and consumption by the purchaser.
Retail involves the sale of merchandise from a single point of purchase directly to a customer who intends to use that product. The single point of purchase could be a brick-and-mortar retail store, an Internet shopping website, a catalog, or even a mobile phone.
The retail transaction is at the end of the chain. Manufacturers sell large quantities of products to retailers, and retailers attempt to sell those same quantities of products to consumers.
To remain profitable in a highly competitive marketplace, retailers need to take a strategic approach to pricing and look for opportunities for new efficiencies and cost savings.
Why Is Retailing Important?
Retailers are the final link in the supply chain between manufacturers and consumers. Retailing is important because it allows manufacturers to focus on producing goods without having to be distracted by the enormous amount of effort that it takes to interact with the end-user customers who want to purchase those goods.
Retailers should make the purchase of goods easy for the consumer. That's why retail stores have salespeople, why Internet shopping websites have customer service instant chat popups, and why catalogs have descriptions, photos, and toll-free phone numbers.
Retailing is about displaying products, describing the features and benefits of products, stocking products, processing payments and doing whatever it takes to get the right products at the right price to the right customers at the right time. Some retailers offer additional services to the retail transaction like personal shopping consultations, and gift wrapping to add something extra to the retail customer experience and exceed the retail customer experience.
Accounting
Our services include all aspects of tax accounting and planning, pre-30 June reviews, tax cost minimisation strategies, capital gains tax record keeping, BAS and IAS requirements, and cloud bookkeeping services. We will make sure you comply with all statutory requirements at both state and federal levels – it is our job, not yours, to keep up with all the legislation.
Bookkeeping
Let EWM Accountants & Business Advisors, we take care of your XERO and MYOB bookkeeping needs while you focus on growing your business! We offer bookkeeping services for small businesses in all the major suburbs in Melbourne. We will take care of your books while you focus on making more sales for your small business. Check out our accounting solutions and see which suits your needs.
Taxation
We ensure that you are structured in the most tax-effective manner so that you can be confident that you are paying the least amount of tax possible. Legally minimising the amount of tax payable is strongly dependent on having the appropriate structure in place so that you can apply the funds towards growing a sustainable business.
As a retailer, do you really need an accountant?
Maybe you’ve just started your business, and you’re wondering if you need to hire an accountant. Or perhaps you’re still in the planning stages of a new venture, and you’re deciding whether or not you need someone dedicated specifically to your business’ accounting, before going all in.
If you ask an accountant whether or not you should work with someone to help you with your books professionally, you know the answer will be yes.
But you can trust that they’re not saying “yes” for their own edification. Most successful business owners who work closely with an accountant will tell you an accountant is an absolute must.
When to Hire an Accountant?
Most accountants will tell you they could have saved their small business clients a lot of time, money, and headaches. That is if those clients hadn’t waited so long to ask for help. Bottom line is that there are several key times in the course of your business when you don’t want to wing it without an accountant.
The formation of your business is one of those key times. An accountant can:
Help you write your business plan. If you’re not looking for funding, though, do you even need a business plan? If you’re planning to lease office, retail, or manufacturing space, your landlord may require one. Plus, it’s a good idea to have a direction and goals for your business rather than playing it all by ear.
Advise you on your business’s entity structure. Although most businesses start out as sole proprietorships, your particular business type or personal financial situation might mean another entity structure makes more sense. At the very least, you should probably consider creating an LLC as a freelancer for legal and financial protection. An accountant can help you with this!
Forming Your Business
Help you get all the appropriate licenses. Sales tax permits, business licenses, employment accounts… oh my! Every state—and in some cases, every city—has different requirements for business. And different industries have different requirements, too. An accountant can help you untangle all of the red tape and make sure you start your business on the right (read: legal) foot.
Help you set up your bookkeeping software. At the risk of losing my bookkeeper’s membership card, I’ll let you in on a little secret: Most small businesses don’t need to engage a bookkeeper on an ongoing basis right away. There comes a point where you’ll want to outsource or delegate your small business bookkeeping, but up until that time you can probably handle your own bookkeeping and hire a bookkeeper to do periodic reviews of your work.
Individual accounting services, wealth strategy, insurance, and financial management. Prepare and lodge your tax return with EWM Accountants & Business Advisors, a registered tax agent in Oakleigh. Let us do the hard work, with professional advice and ensuring maximum refund and paying minimum tax.
Are you already operating or considering starting a business as a sole trader? EWM Accountants & Business Advisors can help as we are a 'one-stop-shop' for accounting services and tax advice for sole traders and small businesses.
Professional Services
Providing accounting, tax and business advisory to professional services industries comes naturally to EWM Accountants & Business Advisors. We have a large clientele of professional services clients who seek advice and knowledge specific to their industry.
What can we do for you?
In the retail industry, maintaining a competitive edge is everything, and that starts and ends with healthy finances. With EWM Accountants & Business Advisors Tax Accountants in Oakleigh, you have some of the best accountants in Melbourne on your side, year-round, to keep your retail business competitive, agile and positioned for growth.
Suppliers, importers, large chain stores, changing demographics and new sales channels all present challenges for the retail industry.
In a tough environment, retailers find themselves competing for business by focusing on low prices. It’s no surprise that this can lead to low or non-existent profits, leaving no cash to take advantage of exciting opportunities like ecommerce, social media and branding.
Business Advisory
Building and maintaining a successful business in today’s rapidly changing environment is a balancing act. Sustaining year on year growth, while keeping up to date with commercial and legislative compliance and managing the challenges of daily business operations, places huge demands on business owners and directors.
Our specialist advisors work with you in a role to help you plan and implement contemporary business practices that will allow you to keep a close eye on the detail while not losing sight of the big picture.
Our Self Managed Super administration service can help you achieve the benefits of an SMSF by taking care of the administration and compliance of your SMSF, creating free time for you to focus on the critical job of managing the investments of your fund.
With a self-managed super fund, you are in charge of your super and where it is invested, plus you manage those investments yourself.
Financial Advisory
At Hillyer, Richeswe provides comprehensive financial advice to our clients with an enthusiastic and proactive approach. Our strong team of experienced professionals will work with you towards identifying valuable solutions on how best to achieve your goals. EWM Accountants & Business Advisors is a Melbourne based Chartered Accounting firm offering timely and cost-effective services to both individuals and businesses. We consist of a team of accountants and business consultants dedicated to providing the highest quality accounting, taxation, bookkeeping, and business advisory services.
How Can EWM Accountants & Business Advisors Tax Accountants Help Every Small Business?
If your business is growing—and we certainly hope it is!—meeting with one of our tax accountants at EWM Accountants & Business Advisors in Oakleigh quarterly can help in a number of ways. Quarterly meetings with an accountant can help you make sure:
You’re growing smart. Believe it or not, growth can sometimes tank your business. Regular meetings with an accountant can help you avoid growing too fast or in the wrong way.
Your quarterly tax payments are sufficient. As your income increases, so does your tax liability. The estimated tax payments you started with may not be sufficient if you experience a significant surge in business. Regular meetings with an accountant can help you avoid a nasty underpayment surprise at tax time and help you maximise your tax returns
You can see past your own blind spots. Although small business owners know their businesses better than anyone, sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees. An accountant can help you take a big picture view of your business, which is vital for continued growth.
Since its inception, EWM Accountants & Business Advisors has been at the forefront of tax and accounting, providing a broad range of services to local businesses in Melbourne. We offer Individual Tax Returns, Business Taxation and Accounting, Financial Planning, Self Managed Superannuation Funds, and Bookkeeping services.
EWM Accountants & Business Advisors understand Doctors and Healthcare professionals require specialist attention. Our team of experts offers friendly, industry-leading advice relating to tax, GST and compliance that will maximise your return, addressing all your financial requirements.
We have extensive experience in servicing the manufacturing industry, including the provision of accounting, information technology, and audit services, and regular periodic management reporting. Supplemented with more detailed financial analysis, this lies at the heart of astute commercial decision making.
EWM Accountants & Business Advisors Tax Accountants in Oakleigh also specialise in helping small businesses to achieve great things. Whether you run a bar, restaurant or coffee cart, our accountants are here to offer an extensive range of accounting support services for your hospitality business.
Improving your bottom line
At EWM Accountants & Business Advisors Tax Accountants we help retailers find solutions to these kinds of challenges. Our industry experience over many years allows us to align to our clients’ strategies and help them improve their bottom line - because we are an accountant who understands.
We take full advantage of software convergence and the latest electronic information transfer techniques to identify the drivers of business performance and opportunities for improvement.
Our use of technology allows us to customise monthly reports highlighting your business’s KPIs, measure the profit contribution of your individual products, efficiently compile financial information to maximise your tax benefits – and more.
We have extensive experience in financial services for medium-sized trade businesses. The services we offer are all aimed at doing what really matters – ensuring your financial growth and freeing up your time so that you can enjoy life.
We understand what farmers require to effectively manage the finances of their farming operations. We have been a leading provider of business and financial advice, taxation, and accounting services to Primary Producers and the rural sector for more than 30 years. Enquire today to find out how we can help you with your farm.
Our experience and relationship with franchise groups give us real-time insight into franchise systems and their performance. We provide franchises with business, taxation and accounting services. We can also act as consultants to the head franchisors in setting up cloud accounting & business and structures.
At EWM Accountants & Business Advisors, our specialist property tax accountants in Melbourne are renowned for their property tax accounting services for property investors. Our property tax accounting and tax advice extend to the various estate planning factors including ownership and control of assets.
Taxation Advice & Support, Compliance and Tax Issues
Even if your business plan is written, you have all the required tools including permits and licenses, and your bookkeeping software is new and shiny and ready to go… you’re not quite ready to go forward without an accountant.
There are still dozens of compliance stumbling blocks to overcome. Don’t try to wing it without an accountant if you have:
Complex sales tax issues. Sales tax compliance in the US is quickly becoming a nightmare. If you’ll be shipping your products out of state—or in some cases, even within the same state—you’ll want to make sure you are in compliance with all the applicable tax laws. There are apps to help with this on an ongoing basis, but you’ll want an accountant to help you get everything set up.
Complex payroll issues. Wage and labor compliance issues can sink even the most profitable businesses. As with sales taxes, there are apps and programs that can help you with compliance on an ongoing basis, but you’ll want an accountant to look over your shoulder at least quarterly.
Other reporting requirements. These can be requirements for creditors or licensing agencies. Even those complex tax issues mentioned above can lead to other tax liabilities in various states. If you are required to report on your financial position for credit or credentialing, or if you do business in more than one state, you’ll want to continue working with an accountant.
Australian tax laws for the retail industry are complex and ever-changing, and there can be a high price to pay if you don’t keep up while running a retail business or company. Our team of dedicated tax accountants are renowned for their depth of industry-specific knowledge and are highly experienced to provide advice and to support running retail businesses just like yours.
Here’s what our specialists can do for your business:
- Compiling, completing and filing your business tax returns, avoiding penalties for omissions or missed deadlines
- Help with registering for GST
- Asset Protection
- Profit and Loss Reporting
- Expert support with ATO audits
- Comprehensive tax compliance services, offering advice about the laws and regulations that are specific to the retail industry
- Access to specific opportunities for deductions and credit, such as Capital Gains Tax Concessions
- Financial Planning
- Your dedicated industry specialist can work with you to develop a personalised financial strategy that will help to maximise your finances and give your retail business scope to grow:
- Access to the most relevant and cost-effective insurance policies
- Support with sourcing and accessing business loans so that you can expand and build on your successful retail business
- Advice about investment opportunities
- Business Support
Helping you excel
We work with small cafes right up to listed national retailers and have many pharmacies, homewares and fashion retailers amongst our clients.
Our retail clients consistently perform well above industry average benchmarks. Talk to us about how we can help you with:
- Business structuring and growth strategies, including advising on franchise structures
- Asset protection
- Cash flow management
- Outsourced accounting
- Tax structure & maximising tax returns
- Financial planning and wealth creation
- Valuations, purchases and sales
- Succession planning
- Developing Alternative Sales Channels
With the retail market changing so rapidly, we understand the importance of change in the retail segment and review your business to provide advice and insight into developing alternative sales channels.
Here at EWM Accountants & Business Advisors in Oakleigh we have a passion for servicing businesses involved in the retail section. Our portfolio of clients varies from multiple clothes stores, book stores, home wares, nurseries, pharmacies, surf stores and many other different shop fronts.
Over time, you may want to change the direction your business or company is heading and this could lead to financial issues. Financial advice and services from professionals could help you and your business keep on track with your goals and evolve positively. EWM Accountants & Business Advisors Tax Accountants can provide professional accounting advice and services as your business progresses and changes.