The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has launched a new online learning platform to help small business owners meet their superannuation and tax obligations.
The “essentials to strengthen your small business” website includes more than 20 short courses and a calendar of key lodgement due dates to support small businesses.
The website was co-created with small businesses and educational experts to deliver learning pathways that can be customised, depending on each stage of a business’s life cycle, structure and industry.
It includes videos, case studies, quizzes and free online courses on areas including tax, superannuation and effective small business management.
ATO deputy commissioner, Will Day, said: “Small business owners can now access short, free and flexible online courses to sharpen their knowledge of tax, super and the core aspects of effective small business management.
“It also includes tips on areas where we see small business owners make mistakes, like goods and services tax (GST) and business deductions.
“We know that a lot of small businesses don’t have time to attend courses during business hours while they are busy running their business, so the beauty of our new platform is that you can do it at a time that suits you, save your progress, and then pick it up again later.”
Earlier this week, Money Management covered how many advisers are opting to run their own Australian financial services licence (AFSL) and may be unaware of all the compliance requirements.
Measures such as breach reporting, complaint management, registering advisers on the Financial Advisers Register are all needed in addition to the requirements of running their own business.
Richard Hopkin, senior associate at Cowell Clarke, remarked: “Advisers in a large dealer group have no idea of the compliance obligations needed when you have the AFSL yourself. Even if they have the know-how of running a business, they might not be across the compliance day-to-day.
“A lot get confronted with a huge task ahead of them on day one, especially one that has such big consequences if they get it wrong. We find it takes 12–18 months before a self-licensed adviser feels confident on their compliance.”
