Accountants Daily Podcast Network

Enforcement action without warning is an unmistakeable sign that the ATO has adopted a tougher line on debt recovery, says a tax debt specialist. "We're absolutely seeing an increase in enforcement action, an increased focus on individuals – so directors and not just the company – and an increase in enforcement action without any warning," said Olga Koskie, a director and principal at tax debt negotiation specialist Tax Assure. Speaking on the latest Accountants Daily podcast, Ms Koskie said two factors underlined a change of mood at the ATO. "One is a focus on compliance – on lodgements on time, on payments on time, and the history of the compliance of a company or an individual or a business is affecting whether or not they're getting payment plans," she said. "And the second is ongoing viability. So if they don't believe a company has the ongoing viability or is able to demonstrate ongoing viability, there may not be as many second chances."

Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies throw up fresh ethical challenges for accountants who need to be aware of the pitfalls, says RMIT honorary professor of accounting Brendan O'Connell. Speaking on the latest Accountants Daily podcast alongside CPA Australia ethics policy senior manager Keddie Waller, Mr O'Connell said AI brought issues such as privacy and consent to the fore. "If you're using AI to solve a problem relating to a client, if you feed that into AI then it becomes a public document. So there's a privacy issue there," he said. "If you're analysing the data of a client, you want to make sure that you've got their consent to use it for particular purposes." Ms Waller said the accounting ethical principles, spelled out in APES 110, remained unchanged, but special guidance was being developed to cover emerging issues. "What the code has done over time in trying to respond to that is provide more guidance, more contemporary issues for … professional accountants to think about in how to apply those fundamental principles to the situations they're facing," Ms Waller said.

Artificial intelligence will never usurp accountants, although firms that fail to embrace the technology have the most to fear, according to the marketing leader for accounting and advisory at Intuit QuickBooks, Damien Greathead. "I don't think it's going to replace accountants," Mr Greathead said on the latest Accountants Daily podcast. "I think it's going to replace those accounting firms, bookkeeping firms, that don't embrace it, that don't recognise that artificial intelligence can do certain tasks very efficiently and very effectively." Firms that adopted the technology would have more time to spend on client relationships because "accountants are in the people business". "They're in the business of helping their clients remain compliant, giving their clients peace of mind, helping them be successful in either their business or personal wealth. "I don't think that will ever go away, that relationship."

We are effectively in a recession already with near-zero GDP growth and many industries under pressure, says turnaround specialist Michael Fingland. Mr Fingland, CEO of Vantage Performance, said its focus on helping to save troubled businesses meant it witnessed changes in the economy "roughly six months before the insolvency profession". "It's feeling very eerily a bit like the onset of Covid and certain elements of the GFC," Mr Fingland said on the latest Accountants Daily podcast. "There are certain industries that are really starting to come under significant pressure. "GDP figures were 0.2 per cent growth – that looks and feels like a recession because that's an average score. When you're at such an anaemic growth level like that, it looks and feels like a recession in most industries." "Now June quarter I think will definitely be a negative and September most likely negative, so officially, we won't be told that we're in a recession until November." "But at 0.2 per cent GDP [growth], that's effectively recessionary territory."

A 90-degree turn from healthcare to financial health turned out to be a winning move for Isagani Manaois of TaxSmart Cafe, who was named Property Specialist Accountant of the Year at the recent Australian Accounting Awards. "When I moved to Australia I started studying accounting because of the flexibility," he said, after the 24-hour shift work of nursing had taken its toll. It was a double win for TaxSmart Cafe and for Filipino migrants, with colleague Joynivee Chua winning the award for Accounting Support Staff of the Year. Like Mr Manaois, Ms Chua studied to help her move but she began with a degree in computer science before making the switch. "It took a while, but I finally got an opportunity to start studying accounting," she said, after her software nous helped TaxSmart Cafe embrace a whole range of financial software. "I finished cert four in accounting and bookkeeping and now I'm continuing an accounting degree."

Awards are vital to boost accounting in the eyes of students, says Mazars Sydney managing partner Matthew Ashley, because attracting talent to the profession is a key challenge. Mr Ashley, who won Partner of the Year at the recent Australian Accounting Awards for the second time in a row, said everyone faced the same problem but awards were part of the solution. "We need to be doing more things to elevate accountants … celebrate success more as a profession," he said on the latest Accountants Daily podcast. "The more we can do in investing in PR for the industry itself will help ensure we're getting the talent pipeline coming through in terms of people leaving school and going to university wanting to study accounting and using it as a foundation for their career." If Mr Ashley needed proof that his approach could work he had to look no further than his own Mazars Sydney team, which was a stand-out at this year's awards with two other winners: New Partner of the Year in international tax specialist Lauren Hill and Rising Star of the Year Nadia Afrin.

"Never give up!" is the message from Natalia Clack, winner of the Excellence Award at the recent Australian Accounting Awards, who overcame the challenge of learning a specialty and setting up her own business after moving here from Russia 20 years ago. "If you decide to come to another country and things are not going smooth, just push and be resilient, and make sure that you make your decision today and you follow through with your decision," she says on the latest Accountants Daily podcast. The experience of Ms Clack, who also won the award for Superannuation Specialist Accountant, resounds in a profession where more than 50 per cent of practitioners were born overseas. "Every day you try to improve your business, you try to grow your business, you face the challenges, and you think that all this effort doesn't get recognised," she said. "But at the end of the day, it gets accumulated. So whatever you're doing, bit by bit, drop by drop, you get this accumulation of your strength, of your success, of your achievements, of your mentality. "And at the end of the day, you will get your award one way or another."

Tax on Chain discusses some of the major tax issues in the cryptocurrency space and the strong demand for specialist tax services involving crypto assets. Director of Tax on Chain, Oliver Woodbridge, outlines some of the biggest gripes for accountants dealing with crypto assets and the difficulty in navigating the tax framework. With regulatory guidance in the area of crypto severely lacking, he also talks about the importance of the ATO providing further advice in this area. Oliver also highlights some of the developments happening in the cryptocurrency and blockchain landscape and what the next year ahead looks like for this space.

Specialist accounting firm Darkwave discusses the outlook for creative industries and where accountants can play a guiding role. Darkwave director Meredith Fannin highlights some of the challenges facing those working across entertainment, music, performance, TV and film over the next 12 months, including the rising cost of living and advancements in AI. As a firm specialising in the creative industries, Ms Fannin outlines some of the ways accountants can provide value to these types of clients through financial planning, cash flow management and detailed budgeting. She also chats about the recovery of the creative industries from the difficult COVID-19 period and what the next financial year is likely to bring for different parts of the industry.

Accountants and their clients will have some unique strategy dilemmas to consider in the lead up to 30 June this year. In this episode, we share a conversation with one of our sister brands, The SMSF Adviser Show. Tim Miller, SMSF technical and education manager at Smarter SMSF and Smarter SMSF chief executive Aaron Dunn share a range of tips, traps and strategies SMSF professionals can look to employ with their clients in the lead up to 30 June. Mr Miller highlights some of the key contribution strategies to think about and why increasing mortgage repayments may drive an uptick in downsizer contributions, particularly in the 55 to 65 age group. He also discusses some of the dilemmas faced by SMSF professionals and their clients in relation to pensions with the general transfer balance cap set to index to $1.9 million on 1 July.

KeyPay co-founder and head of product at Employment Hero Phil Bernie outlines some of the upcoming challenges with payroll for the year ahead and where Australia's employment system could be improved. Mr Bernie discusses what some of the main hurdles will be for accountants next financial year including the continued rollout of single touch payroll phase 2, the start of payday super in July 2026, and a tougher compliance focus by regulators. He shares some of his predictions in terms of regulatory changes, including a move to paying BAS tax weekly or fortnightly, and also discusses some of the complexity in Australia's employment system and some aspects that could be simplified.

The current advice framework creates significant issues for unlicensed accountants looking to provide advice on the proposed $3 million threshold, warns CA ANZ. In this episode of the Accountants Daily podcast, Tony Negline from CA ANZ shares his thoughts on some of the recent developments happening with advice reforms and superannuation policy. With the government looking to introduce legislation for the experienced pathway for advisers soon, Mr Negline discusses CA ANZ's views on the measure and concerns about the absence of a sunset clause. He also highlights the need for further reform to create a fairer regulatory environment for accountants and why the Quality of Advice Review didn't go far enough. He also explains why the $3 million threshold will create new difficulties for unlicensed accountants due to the way the existing framework operates and why it needs to change.

Accountants are prone to a raft of common mistakes that hold them back but can be avoided with planning, says Rob Pillans, founder and principal consultant at Planet Consulting. A former accountant himself, Mr Pillans admires the profession "but I do see some things a bit too often that I would love accountants to be doing a bit differently", he said. "I've categorised those things into three broad areas: team, clients, and systems and processes." He said the problems were perennial but getting the team right was always top of the list. "If you don't have that clear vision and direction for the firm that you can articulate to the team or get them involved in building it, go back and start there. Because if you get clear about that it guides a lot of the decisions that get made about the other aspects of the business."

Ignition's Top 50 Women in Accounting Awards has gone from strength to strength and now has global recognition, says its originator Guy Pearson, the CEO and co-founder of the company. He established the awards six years ago to acknowledge the many women who had been instrumental in his early career but who "undersold themselves". "We can move the needle in terms of helping women put their hand up, be recognised and realise they can achieve perhaps more than they set out to," said Mr Pearson on this week's Accountants Daily podcast. Among the first 50 winners was Rebecca Mihalic, now head of accounting at Ignition and joint guest on the podcast, who said the momentum behind the awards had grown. "I didn't even see the original announcement of the first lot of awards … but now people wait for it. People want to nominate their colleagues, they can see this is making a great impact for women out there who are doing wonderful things but are flying under the radar." This year's winners included women from Australia, Canada, Cayman Island, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, the UK and the US.

Too many practices are "suffocating in their own workflow", says the head of accounting at Intuit QuickBooks, Shaye Thyer, but too many keep doing things the hard way. Speaking on the latest Accountants Daily podcast, Ms Thyer said a recent Intuit QuickBooks roadshow had revealed the surprising extent to which practices tolerated unnecessary burdens, such as re-keying data, simply from inertia. "I still wonder what's in the way because I know that's not just reserved to our customers that we work with this. Accounting firms all over the country use a variety of tools – it's not because they only use one platform, they use different platforms – so they're aware of lots of options that could help them."

Accountants can learn a lot from other industries, says Rob Pillans, founder and principal consultant at Planet Consulting, and some of the examples are surprising. Speaking on the latest Accountants Daily podcast he said Appliances Online, for instance, had identified two pain points when it comes to buying whitegoods. "Firstly, how long is it going to take to get here? When your fridge breaks down … you don't have a long time before everything goes off. "And secondly, what do you do with the old one? "Appliances Online have, I think, very brilliantly solved that." The lesson for accounting firms – when the work was more complex than an H&R Block return – went to turnaround time on jobs. "Clients would love it if we could do this faster," he said. "So I'm thinking now, who's going to be the accounting firm to really ramp up the turnaround time?"

Interest rates will remain at today's "elevated" levels and the only way from here is up, says the senior manager of business and investment at CPA Australia, Gavan Ord. Speaking on the latest Accountants Daily podcast, he said the low rate levels of a year ago, before the run of RBA rises, were unlikely to return. "We will have elevated interest rates for quite some time — above the average of the last 10 years but more consistent with the average of the prior 10 years," he said. "If you listen to some economists, interest rates are actually coming back to where they normally sit. We've actually had a very long period of ultra-low interest rates from the Global Financial Crisis. "Will we go back to 0.1 per cent? If we did we'd be in some sort of economic crisis." RBA governor Philip Lowe said it would take more than two years to return inflation to the target band and Mr Ord said more increases were on the cards. "If you're doing your planning, expect maybe a couple more rate rises before they reach the peak. When will they start to reduce rates? We just don't know," Mr Ord said.

The SMSF Association and CA ANZ highlight some of the grey areas and potential policy positions that could be taken with the proposed threshold. SMSF Association head of policy and advocacy, Tracey Scotchbrook, and superannuation and financial services leader at Chartered Accountants Australia, Tony Negline, share their latest insights about the proposed $3 million threshold for members with large balances. Tracey discusses why an alternative model might result in fairer outcomes for members and also outlines some of the aspects yet to be addressed with the design of the policy so far. Tony talks about the reaction from the accounting profession so far and also the risk of the calculation methodology being adopted for other types of entities. Both guests also provide tips on how to approach the discussions about the measure with their SMSF clients.

The ATO believes small business is the big culprit when it comes to compliance with FBT and it's on a mission to round up the missing millions, says specialist Paul Mather on the latest Accountants Daily podcast. Mr Mather, who is founder of FBT Salary Packaging Solutions, said the tax gap with FBT – the difference between what the ATO collected and what it believed it should be collecting – was 22 per cent, the largest for any tax. "We've got a $4 billion revenue take on average and there's about a $1 billion dollar gap," he said. "The ATO believes that gap is predominantly with small business employers who are not within the FBT system." "The Tax Office acknowledges that tax agents are very good at working with income tax and GST with their clients, but not so good with FBT ... and they need to upskill a bit around FBT.

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has taken the tech industry into "uncharted territory" and venture capital now seeks more solidity in its investment targets, says Damien Greathead of Intuit QuickBooks. The company's head of marketing for the accountant and adviser group, speaking on the latest Accountants Daily podcast, said a mood change was detectable months ago. "Just before Christmas and the end of 2022, I did see a slowing of capital and venture capital going into start-up firms," Mr Greathead said. "I think venture capital firms and investment firms were taking a step back. "I think firms are looking for much more stability and much more sustainability in the growth of their potential investment targets."

About 50,000 business owners a year are simply handing back the keys and walking away, says the chief executive of insolvency body ARITA, due to a "dysfunctional" wind-up system. John Winter of the Australian Restructuring, Insolvency and Turnaround Association said the issue was starting to appear on government radar because the numbers involved were four to five times higher than formal insolvencies. "We think that there is a wholesale failure within the Australian insolvency regime," Mr Winter said, speaking on the latest Accountants Daily podcast. "Over many years it's become far too complex." "Typically, a business which is solvent and is being closed down should go through a members voluntary liquidation. If it's insolvent, it's got to go through insolvency processes, but 40,000 to 50,000 businesses a year are not doing any of that."

Small business pay practices have become a target for Fair Work and big fines await those with compliance shortfalls, says KeyPay co-founder and head of product Phil Bernie. Speaking on this week's Accountants Daily podcast, Mr Bernie said millions in underpayment by big companies captured headlines but Fair Work was putting small business pay records under the microscope too. "There's a trend particularly in agriculture where Fair Work are coming in and doing audits and reviewing farmers," Mr Bernie said. "Pay accuracy is one thing they're big on, but we saw the other day $20,000 fines being issued for record keeping. "You don't have to be employing 2,000 or 3,000 people to be on the radar for Fair Work. They are going out and targeting specific industries and you could just be employing 20 or 30 people and all it takes is for one person to query a pay slip or to raise a query with Fair Work and you could be on the radar."

Xero Australia country manager Will Buckley says artificial intelligence is rich with possibilities for the accounting profession and that he couldn't resist testing ChatGPT – the high-profile bot launched last November by OpenAI. "I was excited to get into it and just see what's capable of," Mr Buckley said on this week's Accountants Daily Insider. "A couple of the questions that I chucked in there I got complete nonsense responses!" "I started to go down the tangent of trying to figure out if it was capable of delivering tax planning advice. So I asked some questions [for example] how would you navigate through establishing a pretty good estate plan and self-managed super fund for high-net-worth individuals?" "Obviously, the technology is not all the way there yet!"

The ATO is gunning for the wrong target in its s100A approach because the authors of the law never intended it to apply to families, says Tim Munro, CEO of Change Accountants and Change GPS. Mr Munro spent three weeks trawling through Hansard from 1978–79 to examine the origins of the trust distribution law. "I disagree with the approach the ATO have taken with the application of section 100A," Mr Munro said on this week's Accountants Daily podcast. "It was introduced to stop someone, say a property developer, who made $10 million in profits, finding someone else not in the family with a loss company or trust and saying, 'Can I put my profits through your losses? I'll give you $1 million and I'll keep $9 million'." "That is your classic reimbursement agreement. I can filter my profits through, take it out tax free, I reimburse you $1 million bucks, and we're both better off. "That's why this was put into place." Note: This podcast was recorded before the ATO released PCG 2023/1 on work from home deductions.

Four out of 10 issues raised by small business concern "shabby" payment behaviour by the big end of town, says Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson. "Sadly, about 40 per cent of the matters that come our way are related to payment times," Mr Billson said on this week's Accountants Daily podcast. "The previous federal government introduced a reporting register so 7,000 of our largest corporates have to report quarterly on just what their terms are." "That was a bit of a show and tell, hopefully, a nudge to improve performance. "But it hasn't actually improved that much at all. We see far too many small and family businesses waiting way too long to get paid for what they do for their big business clients. "It's just shabby. It doesn't need to be this way."

Accounting firms need to focus on their real expenses and review their prices or get left behind by inflation and interest rates rises, says Rebecca Mihalic, a director at eastern seaboard accounting practice BusinessDepot. "We spend a lot of time focused on making sure our clients are still profitable and they're staying solvent – we need to have a look internally," Ms Mihalic said on this week's Accountants Daily podcast. "Even if you don't bill by the hour anymore, and there's lots of us who don't, you're still probably determining whether or not you're profitable on a client by looking at an hourly rate associated with a timesheet. "I would suggest that hand-in-hand with that you should also be looking at the actual costs that are going on in your business and whether or not those costs are being supported by your pricing. "I could guarantee at the moment – unless you've done huge pricing reviews recently – you're probably losing out and will continue to lose out moving forward."

Camilla Love started F3 — Future Females in Finance to bring more women into the financial services industry. The program — which won the Women's Community Program of the Year award 2022 from the Women in Finance Awards 2022 — aims to educate young women about careers and finance and nudge as many of the next generation of female talent into financial services as possible. In this episode of In Focus, partnered by Mortgage Choice, we catch up with the founder of F3 (and managing director of eInvest), Camilla Love, and Mortgage Choice's executive manager corporate communications, events & franchise marketing, Sally Chadwick, to discuss what more we can do to ensure greater female representation in finance. Tune in to find out: The turning point that led Camilla Love to start F3 What we can be doing to welcome more women into financial services What the future looks like for women in finance And much more!

An outdated approach to pricing means accountants have fallen behind other professions and continue to be paid inappropriately for the work they do, according to the head of accounting at Intuit QuickBooks, Shaye Thyer. The latest data on pay from recruiter Seek — which shows accounting salaries rising slightly ahead of the pack — was good news and overdue. "I absolutely celebrate that accountant salaries are increasing above average," said Ms Thyer on this week's Accountants Daily podcast. "I think this is a correction – I think this has been coming for so many years." She said the problem stemmed from an overdue reliance on pricing by the hour. "It's so limiting — it doesn't reflect the value of what we're doing whatsoever. "I don't know what the exact answer is, but I would love to see some more thinking around the way we structure these things because at the end of the day, we do need to pay our accountants better. And we will need to figure out a way to make that work commercially."

Hiring and retention costs have spiked with the low unemployment rate and a firm's value proposition has become vital to attracting and keeping talent, says Janet Daubney, head of people and culture at BDO Australia. "Firms are competing to attract and retain talent more than ever before," she said on the latest Accountants Daily podcast, produced in conjunction with Daniela Pasini, national director professional services, Business Banking at CBA. "Our people and candidates have more options on the table. This has created a significant spike in retention issues and rising hiring costs for employers across the board," Ms Daubney said. "We're also finding that for us to be able to differentiate ourselves amongst competitors, our value prop — and being able to provide a holistic experience for our people — is critical in attracting and retaining the best talent."

Labor's first budget stuck to its election campaign script but offered only glimpses of a holistic vision and no surprises, says CPA Australia senior policy manager Gavan Ord. Speaking on the latest Accountants Daily podcast, Mr Ord said it was a "cautious budget that suits the tough economic environment" with glimpses of future ambition in the areas of housing, manufacturing, and climate change. "The Treasury made it clear this budget was about just delivering on its election promises. This was really just a reprioritising of government spending towards its election commitments. "So it wasn't a traditional budget, there weren't really any surprises."

The financial services industry has historically been male-dominated but encouraging more women into the space is not only good for society, but good for business too. In this episode, partnered by Mortgage Choice, Anthony Waldron, chief executive of financial services and Mortgage Choice at the REA Group, outlines how the industry can move away from being "male, stale and pale" and encourage more women into the space. Tune in to find out: The barriers that might be holding back female representation What can be done to encourage diversity in industry Why Mortgage Choice is partnering with the Women in Finance Awards 2022 And much more!

It's an "amazing time" to start an accounting firm and inspirational role models – here and overseas – are showing what is possible, according to Damien Greathead, marketing leader for accounting and advisory at Intuit. Speaking on the latest Accountants Daily podcast, Mr Greathead said successful start-ups were moving away from the traditional approach of hanging up a shingle and waiting for custom. "Rather than just relying on whoever comes through the door," he said, "have clear intentions about the services you will offer. "You really see a different practitioner out in the workplace, and they're approaching their business model very differently. "It's very much built with intention in terms of the types of services they offer, the types of clients that they're working with."

Small business objections to ATO decisions leaped during the pandemic and a "significant number and proportion" were disallowed, says the Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman (IGOT), Karen Payne. Speaking on the latest Accountants Daily podcast, Ms Payne said a report by the IGOT on the tax objection system, released today, shows pandemic support programs prompted the rise, with small business and their agents struggling to keep up with the changes. "If you think about the nature of COVID stimulus measures, they're new areas of law," Ms Payne said. "The practitioner in particular has an obligation or an expectation that they will get themselves up to speed with those new areas of law. "The small business is then increasingly reliant on the practitioner to advise them on what are their rights and their entitlements. And so that's coming through in the data. "And I'm sure for practitioners who are listening to this, it's no surprise. Everybody was flat out trying to keep up with the reforms and to help the clients and small businesses in particular to keep ahead of it."

Auditors have a key role to play in achieving sustainability because it needs the same sort of scrutiny they apply to financial documents, says CA ANZ reporting and assurance leader Amir Ghandar. Speaking on a special Accountants Daily podcast to mark Auditor Proud Day — which this year has sustainability as its theme — Mr Ghandar said there were increasing demands for rigour in environmental claims. "Ideally, you'd want to have reporting on those types of issues that's just as rigorous and just as reliable as what you have on the financials," he said. "We're not there yet, for sure. But that's where we're trying to head to. "One of the problems is an issue called greenwashing, where you have a sustainability report but it's not a balanced and complete perspective on the impacts of the business around sustainability. It turns into a marketing document. "That's something ASIC has been focused on and it's something we were certainly concerned about."

Australia has lost its reputation as a marquee destination, and while the tide is turning, the managing partner of Mazars' Sydney office says there's still work to do. Speaking on this week's Accountants Daily podcast, Matthew Ashley said the firm's internal mobility programs were integral to the way it operates, but staff relocating to Australia needed reassurance about freedom of movement. "I think COVID-19 in Australia — its perception from the rest of the world — has created some issues. We're no longer that marquee destination that everyone wanted to go to," he said. "That's starting to change now that [we're] seeing that borders have remained open for a lot longer than they were, but it's still an issue we need to address a little bit. "If we are going to address this skill shortage, it definitely needs to be a big focus on making Australia that destination. We need to look at our migration policies. How do we make Australia that real marquee place that everyone around the world wants to go and work in?"

A global shortage of accounting professionals means Australia must lift its game on visa processing and offer greater certainty for those willing to relocate, says CPA Australia senior manager Gavan Ord. Speaking on this week's Accountants Daily podcast, Mr Ord said Australia had to rethink how it treats skilled migrants to outcompete a range of nations from Canada to the UK to Singapore. "You're asking people to move countries and then you're only providing them a temporary visa for two, three, four years of work. Why would someone leave their home country with their own support networks and come to Australia only to be told four years later, sorry, you're finished, go home?" Mr Ord said. "That's not how it works. People need certainty that they're going to move into permanent residency."

Lines between expenses related to business and personal use that became fuzzy during the pandemic need to be brought into sharp focus now, ATO Assistant Commissioner Andrew Watson said. Speaking on this week's Accountants Daily podcast, Mr Watson said it was one of three key messages for businesses this year. "It's been around for a while as an issue, but probably as we've all experienced over the last few years, some of the lines between work and home have blurred as we've gone into lockdowns and many business owners – they might have business premises – but have done more work out of home," he said. "Just make sure that apportionment is happening and you're not just claiming business expenses that include an element of private expense."

Australia is sleepwalking into an economic twilight zone with record debt and an acceptance that budget deficits are with us for the next decade, said Tony Greco of the IPA. Speaking on the latest Accountants Daily podcast, the general manager of technical policy said there was no appetite for budget repair and nothing in the larder for future downturns. "We normally try to get back to paying back some of that debt so we project budget surpluses," he said. "What's different this time round is no one's projecting budget surpluses to run down that debt – and that goes against history." He said alarms were already being raised with Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy speaking out soon after the election. "[He] gave a pretty frank assessment of the challenges ahead, and he himself was saying that we need to repair and build up buffers for future economic downturns," he said.

The below-expectation June CPI figure of 6.1 per cent does nothing to defuse concerns over rising fuel, materials and labour prices hitting our most vulnerable industries, says the manager of SMEs, insolvency and public practice at CPA Australia, Kristen Beadle. Speaking on this week's Accountants Daily podcast, Ms Beadle said for many businesses the pandemic relief measures had just postponed the inevitable and today's unfavourable economic conditions meant there would be business casualties. "There's a lot of stress among our members. This isn't just food and construction – it's across the board. There's a lot of concern around long-term viability," she said.

Penalties for non-arm's length income – NALI – in superannuation need legislative change before the compliance honeymoon comes to an end next July, said the superannuation leader at CA ANZ, Tony Negline. The current law was a problem for all funds but especially SMSFs, said Mr Negline, because it disproportionally penalised innocent mistakes. Speaking on this week's Accountants Daily podcast, Mr Negline said the Coalition had left the problem in Labor's in-tray. "Hopefully the new government will make an announcement that they intend to amend the law to bring it back to a more reasonable setting," he said. "It has to be by legislation. It's the only way to solve it properly."

COVID put a rocket into technological adoption among accountants but too many practices are their own worst enemies when it comes to change, says the head of accounting at Intuit Quickbooks, Shaye Thyer. Speaking on this week's Accountants Daily podcast – Ms Thyer, a finalist in this year's Australian Accounting Awards – said that cloud computing was a lifesaver for the industry but decision-making in many larger firms was too cumbersome to benefit. "One of the biggest things that's standing in the way of real innovation in our industry is just this lack of decision agility across the mid-tier… get out of our own way, seriously!" Ms Thyer said.

Accountants are helping open the door to alternative sources of finance and investment as the trusted advisers to small business, say the heads of Assetline Capital and AltX. Speaking on this week's Accountants Daily podcast, the co-founder of mortgage-backed investment specialist AltX, Nick Raphaely, said accountants were critical because they operated at the "epicentre of their client's affairs". "Whether a client is seeking funds, and goes to their accountant to work out what the best solution is, or whether a client is long on funds and looking for a way to deploy them – either way, the client generally ends up having that discussion with the accountant," he said. AltX clients included SMSFs, individuals, companies and trusts, but they needed to be certified as wholesale investors. "Investors need to bring with them an accountant's certificate, confirming their income or the assets before they can invest with us," he said. "So we never get a new investor at AltX without an accountant by their side." The managing director of Assetline Capital, Paul Munt, said it was a similar picture when it came to non-bank lending. "Accountants are at the heart of these transactions, be it from providing the financials or supporting the income, or actually sitting down with us and having a chat with the client and our credit teams around how to find a solution for the client," he said. Over a decade in operation, Assetline Capital had lent $1.8 billion and specialised in tailored credit to companies outside the mainstream. "We've been able to do that through a broad range of products – so we cover construction and development, lending, bridging and short-term finance. And also we've just introduced a long-term 30-year debt product," he said. "The difference for us has been the ability to get to know the businesses – really understand them in greater detail – and then be quick and agile to meet their needs. So that's really our point of difference." "We have a number of sources of capital and we work with AltX on being one of those." "We want to raise the profile of the non-banks and make sure that people understand that there are options out there. "We like to build relationships and the key people involved in any transactions are the ultimate lender themselves, the accountant and/or the broker partners." "So we deal with accountants every day."

In this week's Accountants Daily podcast, ATO Assistant Commissioner Tim Loh talks tax agents through the fine print on pandemic deductions, work-from-home claims, rentals, crypto and granny flats. When it comes to COVID tests, the rules have changed to make them claimable for the first time. "Taxpayers who've paid for a COVID 19 test for work-related purposes – such as, for example, working out whether you can attend or remain at work – can actually claim a deduction for the COVID-19 test. So that could be a PCR test or RAT (rapid antigen test)," Mr Loh says. "There are a few conditions that you need to satisfy. You must have spent the money and not be reimbursed by the employer. The client must have used it for work-related purposes, so if the client bought the rapid antigen test to work out if they can go on a holiday to Byron Bay with their mates, that's not going to be a deductible expense. "And finally, you need a record for it. So receipts are best, and also digital invoices would be a really good record to have to support your claim." "A question that always comes up in relation to your children is when they have to use a test to work out whether they can go [to] childcare or school. That's not deductible, because it's not directly related to your income."

In this week's Accountants Daily podcast, ATO acting assistant commissioner Chris Ryan rejects claims the draft ruling on section 100A reflects overreach or heavy-handedness. "Although many in the community are suggesting that our view of the law and our compliance approach is a matter of overreach, we don't believe that's the case. We've come to our position having carefully considered our view of the law, which is consistent with the limited judicial guidance available out there, as well as how we've applied the law in a number of compliance cases over several years," Mr Ryan says. "What we do know is that many trusts won't be affected particularly where the beneficiary knows they're presently entitled, and they receive or enjoy the benefit of their entitlement. "While the ATO and practitioners also may not agree on how 100A applies, that of itself does not mean that our view of the law is overreach. Where there's a disagreement as to the operation of law, that should be and can be resolved in a respectful manner. "I also respectfully challenge the assertion that the ATO's approach has been heavy-handed. Our approach has been quite the opposite. We've reiterated today and previously, that we will stand by the 2014 guidance for distributions made up 30 June 2022."

In this week's Accountants Daily podcast Scott Treatt and Robyn Jacobson of the Tax Institute outline some of the challenges facing the new government. Although there are doubts over the final make-up of the 76-member Senate it is already clear the government will need support from the Greens or independents, Scott Treatt, who is head of tax policy and advocacy at TI. The Greens supported Labor's policy for a tax crackdown on multinationals but went further with a proposal for a 40 per cent levy on super profits of large corporations and a "tycoon tax" on billionaires. "The policies of the Greens, the policies of some of these other minor parties remain relevant in the discussions in the backroom. They're the discussions which help secure a passage of different bills," Mr Treatt says. Another potential headache looms in the shape of fuel excise, says Tax Institute senior advocate Robyn Jacobson, and this arises just before Labor's October budget. "After the 28 September, the temporary reduction in the fuel excise is going to jump up by 22.1c," she says. "This is going to be a very visible form of price increase as we all drive around the suburbs." And both Mr Treatt and Ms Jacobson echoed calls from across the tax profession for clarity on a range of unresolved issues since the March budget, from the tax incentive for training and digital spending, to patent box changes, to fixing the non-arm's length income rules for super.

Today on the Accountants Daily podcast Elinor Kasapidis of CPA Australia says parliament may need to get involved to clear up the high levels of uncertainty surrounding the ATO's draft ruling on section 100A, released in February. "Our submission as well as others have raised the prospect of changing legislation around 100A to introduce a time limit to better define some of the concepts, and just to make it clearer to everybody exactly what it should be used for," she says. Ms Kasapidis says many CPA Australia members believe the ATO has stepped beyond its powers and the ruling goes too far. "There are a large number of people who think the ATO has taken a very sort of strict interpretation that really targets everybody - all businesses, all trusts -when they're thinking it should be far more confined." So you've got this general application, lots of technicalities to try and catch everybody. And then people are saying, 'But that's not what this is for'. "That's the discussion that needs to be had. CPA Australia, along with the other professional associations, are speaking with the ATO. "Regardless of where they land, if this is the way the ATO is going to do things there's a bit more work to do in that space, I think, so that people know where they sit."

Today on the Accountants Daily podcast, Matthew Addison of the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia says the double whammy of high inflation and an acute skills shortage will hit small businesses hard. "I'm not sure that Australia, considering a CPI of sevens, eights or somewhere north of that, is one that small business could actually face or endure," says Mr Addison, who is executive director of the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers as well as chair of COSBOA. He said rising inflation would also throw the skills shortage into sharp focus, with labour costs already on the rise. "There is a labour shortage, and that's going to push wages up," he says. "Wages are going up by the Superannuation Guarantee increase in June anyway, and there are minimum wage discussions going on at the moment."

Today on the Accountants Daily podcast, Scott Treatt of the Tax Institute says the ATO's debt book is ballooning and funding to address the problem needs to put on a proper footing. An additional $650 million in the recent budget for the Tax Avoidance Taskforce highlights how effective it has been, he says, but creates issues of its own. "If I look at it from a policy perspective, it is temporary and provides an administration challenge," says Scott. "That leads to them having contractors as opposed to full-time staff that can be brought in and trained up and given the skill-set to really have an enduring life at the ATO. Scott also discusses other issues that urgently need attention, such as the disincentives for a second parent to take on full-time work due to the costs of childcare.

Budget incentives for small businesses to spend on technology and training need to be legislated by the next government so that the scheme can get properly underway. On this special Accountants Daily podcast, Tony Greco, general manager of technical policy at the IPA, says the 120 per cent deductions for investments in skills and digital uptake have stalled on the starting line due to insufficient details. Tony also talks about another pressure point from the budget for accountants at the end of the low to middle income tax offset – or LMITO – which will look like a tax increase to many clients. Now's the time to temper expectations, says Tony.

In the wake of Russian-linked cyber attacks on Ukraine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) have issued a warning to Australian organisations that malicious activity may have local ramifications.In this special episode, hear from Major General (Ret'd) Marcus Thompson, former head of the Department of Defence's Information Warfare Division, as he and host Phil Tarrant discuss Russia's history of cyber war and how this vector will continue to shape peace and conflict in the future.The pair dissect the impact of cyber warfare on Australian businesses, offering much food for thought for Australian accountants who hold valuable client data in their books.MAJGEN (Ret'd) Thompson also reveals how many malicious actors work in concert with state-sponsored groups to exploit the cyber domain and why businesses need to be putting their best foot forward to combat virtual attacks.