WHY DATA HAS NEVER BEEN MORE CRITICAL

AUTHOR: Kate Smith

While sitting in Mater Emergency a few months ago, I equated the work the PVW Partners financial management team does with emergency medicine. At that time I didn’t realise how integrated our community health and financial data requirements of business would become under COVID19.

When you present to emergency, they take data samples. The data collected is recorded and compared to normal ranges and against previous samples. The data tells the medical specialists what may be immediately wrong or data over time shows trends and can indicate future issues.

Your business financial data is the same. Reviewing accurate data reflects existing trends and can indicate major issues to monitor before haemorrhaging. Reliable and accessible data is required for good day-to-day management but also when large decision making is required.

Under COVID 19 data has become not only necessary for good management, but imperative to access various financial assistance measures, such as:

• CashBoost – the ATO will be releasing the CashBoost tax credits (with a potential for cash refunds) on processing the March 2020 monthly or quarterly Business Activity Statements. Ensure your tax lodgements are up to date and lodge the March 2020 BAS to access these tax credits and potential funds for your business. Timely lodgement of all activity statements will be an important consideration in the coming months to help monitor tax related cash flows. CASH BOOST
• QRIDA Loans up to $250,000 – just like any other commercial borrowing application, this requires up to date financial statements, aged accounts receivable, aged accounts payable, recent income tax returns and financial information for the ultimate individual owners and directors of the business. QRIDA LOANS
• JobKeeper (turnover) – to qualify you are required to self-assess a 30 % reduction of turnover, or be in a position to estimate a future reduction in turnover. Payments are made from application date, therefore March 2020 results are required now. Applications will be possible through your Business Portal or PVW’s tax agent portal from the 20^th  April. Eligible businesses will also have monthly reporting obligations to the ATO on last month’s actual turnover and this month’s expected turnover by the 7^th of each month (a faster reporting obligation than is currently the case for activity statements. JOBKEEPER
• JobKeeper (employees) – to comply with ATO requirements and be reimbursed for your payments to employees you must record and report to the ATO accurately via Single Touch Payroll or other form (yet to be issued, available where businesses are not required to use Single Touch Payroll). Software such as Xero, Reckon and MYOB are working to ensure payroll records are being updated for the employer to record and calculate other payroll responsibilities - workers compensation, income tax and superannuation guarantee, payroll tax requirements. SINGLE TOUCH PAYROLL
• ATO deferrals – the ATO have advised they will enable a series of assistance measures to those taxpayers effected by COVID 19. Discuss your financial position with the ATO for payment deferrals, remittance of interest, varying PAYG instalments or changing your GST reporting cycle. ATO COVID-19
• Discussions with your landlord - tenants in commercial properties will have to provide timely, accurate and verifiable financial information to their landlord in support of applications for rental relief in line with the mandatory code of conduct for commercial tenancies.  CODE OF CONDUCT
• Discussions with your bank – any applications to your bank for loan and interest deferrals will be enhanced by current and quality operational and financial data. BANKS

At no other point in time have we seen the need for immediately accessible financial data as we see now.  At PVW Partners, we have a team of experts to ensure you are able to record and report to all stakeholders on a timely basis to enable access to COVID 19 assistance measures.

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