Bookkeeping on the Cloud – MYOB AccountRight Live, QuickBooks Hosted, Xero and Saasu Comparison

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MYOB have taken a different cloud strategy to it’s competitors which you need to comprehend when comparing the different cloud options. Each product has it’s strengths and weaknesses in which I’ve summarised below.

Quickbooks Hosted, Xero and Saasu are a fully cloud based product. This means that your data file is stored securely and fully encrypted on the cloud and you can only work on the file while you have the internet connected. MYOB AccountRight Live enables you to have the data file stored both online and locally at the same time. If the internet goes down or if you want to work on the file on a plane for example, you just work on the local file and the cloud version will be updated when you next go online. Here’s the basic monthly fees including GST and major product differences for each of the cloud based bookkeeping software :

Bookkeeping SoftwareMYOB Account Right LiveQuickBooks HostedXEROSAASU
 Simultaneous Users51UnlimitedUnlimited
Basic Monthly Package (No Payroll)$23$25.83$29$20
Medium Monthly Package$59.50$36.25$49$35
Premium Monthly Package$59.50$36.25 $64$60
 Feature Differentials:
 Purchase Orders YYNY
 Detailed Job Costing YYYN
 Detailed Budgeting YYNY
 Time Billing YYNN
 Inventory YYNY
 Offline-Online Synchronisation YNNN
 Pay Suppliers and Payroll directly from software YNNN

As you can see features offered by each product vary across the range. If your main criteria is ease of use and functionality then Xero may have the edge- it just lacks the power and scope for growth of some of the other providers. A major point of difference that is unique to MYOB AccountRight Live is the ability to pay third parties such as suppliers and staff directly from the software. This allows your bookkeeper to setup all of your payments without the need to be given access to your online banking. You just need to login and complete a simple one-step authorisation process to approve the payments. Of course price is just one factor to consider when deciding which bookkeeping software to go with. Each has it’s own functionality and user interface which you can sample by signing up to a free trial or just give us a call to discuss.

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The Hidden Costs of Employment

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When employing new staff there are many hidden costs that are not always factored in. We have provided a case study below to ensure you have taken all of these areas into account.

  1. Base Salary. This is normally quoted as the base excluding any oncosts such as superannuation. For our example we will use a base of $50,000.
  2. Superannuation. The employer must pay 9% superannuation for all employees earning more than $450 in a calender month. On a base of $50,000 this would equate to $4,500.
  3. Annual Leave is normally 4 weeks per year. Remember that you are therefore paying the base of $50,000 for only 48 weeks work per year. To get the proper annualised cost of employment you need to include the annual leave cost at 7.69% (4/52). In our example this is $3,846.
  4. Public Holidays. The are usually 10 public holidays in Australia each year. This is another 3.85% (2/52) to add to the total cost. This is $1,925 for our case study.
  5. Sick Leave. Most awards allow for 10 days sick leave per annum so add another 3.85% at $1,925.
  6. Workers Compensation Insurance. This can vary broadly depending on the risk of the industry. The rate is fixed each year by statute and can not be negotiated.  We have clients that pay up to 15% of the total of their annual wages. For our example, let’s use 5%, so that’s another $2,500 to our employment costs.
  7. Payroll Tax. This is a state government tax that is levied once your annual payroll (including super) exceeds a certain threshold. The rate and threshold varies slightly for each state but we will use NSW for our example. The threshold is $600,000 and the rate is 6%. Remember, you may not exceed this threshold now but if you’re planning on expansion, this should be built into your rates for when you exceed it in the future. In our example this amounts to $3,000.
  8. Recruitment. The average cost recruiting a base-grade employee is around $5,000. This includes recruitment costs, down-time and training. We’ll assume your employee stays for 2 years so the average cost is $2,500 pa.

So  the cost of employing someone on a base of $50,000 pa is actually $71,196. This is an extra 42% to their base salary.

While this example applies to all aspects of employment within your company, it demonstrates why it is worth looking at areas within your company which may be suited to outsourcing to a specialist provider. One of these areas is bookkeeping services!

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Which version of MYOB best suits my businesses bookkeeping requirements?

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With so many different versions of MYOB available it can be confusing trying to select which version is best suited for your businesses bookkeeping needs. The MYOB website can be overwhelming when trying to differentiate the main points of difference between the different versions.

We find that most of our SME clients are suited to one of the four main MYOB Products and have summarised the type of company which is best suited to each:

    1. Basic Bookkeeping

      (SME with Turnover of < $1M and no employees)- MYOB Accounting This product has all the features required of a bookkeeping system for an SME that has no employees. Features of MYOB Accounting include:

      Accounts Payable and Purchase Order management
      Accounts Receivable and quotes management
      Inventory management
      Cashflow and Profit & Loss Reporting
      Reporting by Profit Centre

    2. Intermediate Bookkeeping

      (SME with turnover of <$2M and employees)- MYOB Accounting Plus v 16This product has all of the abovementioned features in addition to a powerful payroll module which handles all superannuation and PAYG obligations. The payroll module allows you enter employees details in the form of a timesheet which can be imported from excel or entered directly. It can also handle salary sacrifice arrangements that may have been agreed with the employee.

    3. Advanced Bookkeeping

      (SME with turnover of $2M+)- MYOB Premier v10MYOB Premier contains all of the abovementioned features in addition to multicurrency accounting and also allows multiple concurrent users. The multicurrency feature is a must for importers and exporters.

    4. Advanced Bookkeeping with remote access

      (SME with turnover of $2M+)- MYOB Enterprise v4MYOB Enterprise is ideal for businesses requiring remote access. Your computer network must be set up with Windows Terminal Services. This means all of your software is installed on a server and the server does all of the work, allowing you to get many more years use out of your old computers.

If you have any enquiries about which is the best level of software to handle your bookkeeping requirements, please contact us at Books Onsite and we’ll be happy to assist you in your decision.

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Payroll Tax Comparison between Sydney, Brisbane & Melbourne

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The introduction of the GST was meant to lead to a reduction in other types of state and federal taxes. Unfortunately, state governments have taken the windfall from the GST without passing the resulting surplus on to taxpayers. One of the worst taxes in Australia is the Payroll Tax as it actually penalises companies for employing more people when they should actually be rewarded for doing so. Some state Governments are beginning to recognise this and are starting to reduce Payroll Tax rates and thresholds as an incentive to attract business to their state. Here are comparisons of rates and thresholds state by state for Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne for the FY 2020:

City   ThresholdRate
Sydney (NSW)$900,0005.45%
Brisbane (QLD)$1,300,0004.75% (3.75% for Regional)
Melbourne (VIC)$650,000

4.85% (2.425% for Regional)

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Obtaining Finance as an SME

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With interest rates at historical lows for the past few years and fierce competition amongst lenders, securing finance has never been easier…. if you know how.

Once you’ve chosen your source of finance, you’ll need to convince the lender that your business is a low risk for them.  To  do this you must be able to explain your business model and represent it’s strengths professionally in the form of a business plan.

  • The Presentation

    You should provide a background of both your business and your personal experience and qualifications. Then give your view on the direction of your business and the industry you operate in. Be prepared to discuss the following points:
    – The level of funding you require and how long you will need it for.
    – What additional revenue will be generated by the loan.
    – What risks are there and how you will mitigate them.

  • Documentation

    You will need to provide current financial statements. If they are older than 3 months an interim set of financials signed off by a CPA can be helpful. Reports from a well recognised accounting system such as MYOB and prepared by a professional bookkeeper will give the lender greater confidence in the accuracy of the accounts.
    You will also need to present a business plan which outlines the core aspects of your business and its future plans.

  • Business Plan

    Provide a brief overview of you business, including: name, address, owners, nature, history, structure, related companies, number of employees and current business assets.
    -Profile the business owners and management, including their education, experience skills and professional achievements. Outlining your business knowledge base and industry experience will help establish your business as a low risk customer.
    -Discuss your customers and how your product or service meets a market need and your companies “points of difference.”
    -Outline details of how you will use the funding, how much you need and how long you will need it for.
    -You should use the past 3 years as a template to project the next 3 years goals for sales, income, business operations, marketing strategies and cashflow projections.  Your projections should obviously show that you will comfortably repay the loan.
    -Detail any collateral you are willing to pledge as security
    -Identify the risks- lenders like to know you have considered all possible risks and have contingency plans in place to deal with them.
    -Provide copies of any printed brochures or articles that may enhance your companies profile and perceived professionalism.

Be confident, prepared and share your enthusiasm about the future of your business with the lender. Your attitude, approach and commitment to the long-term business goals of your company will help establish you as a sought after customer.

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