thanks for your input hoops, can you (or anyone else) recommend an accountant that has experience with start-ups, especially software start-ups, preferably in Brisbane.
Thanks. On Jul 24, 6:26 pm, hoops <missingmatt...@gmail.com> wrote: > Peter, > > First work out a budget ? ie. how much are you going to spend of your > income that year ? Are you paying just yourself or other staff ? etc. > Also, this is a great time to look at how your personal finances are > concerned ? will you be having other income (ie. still working) > during this period etc. You are effectively investing in this new > venture, so it helps to also approach it from this angle also. > > For example : when we started, this is one of the scenarios our > accountants R&D group outlined ( this is not my idea, and it can also > show how a firm that has experience with software startups can give > better advice than a general accountant) : > > Scenario : > > If you and your co founders have one or more investment properties > that rely on negative gearing (something that basically runs at a > loss) or you have income from dividends and you are not going to have > income to offset the losses / tax credits against + tax free > threshold, it can actually be worth your while to pay yourself. R&D > may be claimed on salaries that are a result of developing a product. > If you pay yourself (and say any other founders) equal to their > losses / available tax credits , and provided you reach the min > expenditure for the R&D offset (I don't know if this is still the case > for this year), then you personally will have 0 taxable income, but > your company can claim the tax credit (which is paid even if you have > a loss) against those salaries. That will help the most for year one, > but it can help ie. on 30K its an extra 6K (after say accounting > costs) (note : you still have the long term liability on the company > books). It also depends on the amounts you are investing, and where > that money is going to be spent. > > This wasn't applicable to us, but it did open our eyes as to why > understanding how you account for money even from day one can be very > useful not just for future evaluations, but also for helping with cash > flow. Also, I am not an accountant, so my input should be taken with a > grain of salt. I know a lot will depend on your situation, but even > if you are investing money from fools, family and friends, knowing how > to get the most out of if it is very important. > > On a side note - this is exactly the sort of question that can help > the smaller developers with starting a business and leveraging the > learning of others. Discovering the available options and how to use > them best is one of the biggest learning curves when first starting. > Learning for free is actually very hard, as you will find many people > make a good living guarding this information. This could easily be > one of the real areas this group can help as a community when it comes > to enabling startups by helping others learn how to reduce their up > front costs by sharing lessons learned etc. Hopefully those with much > more knowledge and experience in this area will be in a position to > share their experiences both positive and negative. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Discussions guidelines: http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia/browse_thread/thread/bc43d028e122852a No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself: http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia/browse_thread/thread/99938a0fbc691eeb To post to this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
