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  • Writer's pictureSkyward Financial

Business Finance Update - September 22

I hope you've been enjoying the spring sunshine. And I hope you enjoy this nice mix of business, property and finance news:

  • Domain name warning

  • Tax breaks get closer

  • Retail sales surge

  • Company profits up

Read more below.




Have you secured the shorter '.au' domain name for your business? If not, you might want to move fast, because the exclusivity period has just ended. Anyone with an existing Australian domain name (e.g. Example.com.au) had exclusive rights until September 20 to register the '.au' version (Example.au). Now that the exclusivity period has ended, there's nothing to stop rivals, cybersquatters or scammers snapping up the '.au' version of your business name. Small business ombudsman Bruce Billson has warned of the potential consequences of not taking action. “Ask yourself, would I be upset if someone else had the '.au' version of my existing domain name? Would I feel the digital engagement I've developed with my customers would be compromised if I didn't have that abridged version?" he said. “If you don’t get control of the '.au' version of your domain name, a cybercriminal masquerading as you could try to reach your customers to harvest personal information, even intercept invoices so that they can substitute different bank account details."



The federal government has introduced draft legislation for two tax incentives designed to help businesses train employees and improve their digital capacity. The Technology Investment Boost will let small businesses deduct an additional 20% of the cost incurred on business expenses and depreciating assets that support their digital adoption, such as portable payment devices, cyber security systems or subscriptions to cloud-based services.

  • The measure will apply from 29 March 2022 to 30 June 2023

  • An annual $100,000 cap will apply to each qualifying income year

  • Businesses can continue to deduct expenditure over $100,000 under existing tax law

  • Businesses can continue to deduct expenditure that is ineligible for the bonus deduction in accordance with the existing tax law

The Skills and Training Boost will let small businesses deduct an additional 20% of expenditure incurred on eligible training courses provided to employees.

  • The measure will apply from 29 March 2022 to 30 June 2024

  • Businesses can continue to deduct expenditure that is ineligible for the bonus deduction in accordance with the existing tax law

Both incentives were announced in the March federal Budget by the previous government.



Australia’s retail businesses have enjoyed their seventh consecutive month of increased turnover, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retailers made $34.7 billion of sales in July, which was 1.3% higher than the previous month and 16.5% higher than the previous year.



Turnover rose year-on-year for all six retail industry groups:

  • Clothing, footwear & personal accessory retailing up 52.6%

  • Cafes, restaurants & takeaway food services up 45.9%

  • Department stores up 35.6%

  • Other retailing up 17.7%

  • Household goods retailing up 10.5%

  • Food retailing up 3.2%

Turnover also increased in all states and territories:

  • New South Wales up 23.5%

  • Victoria up 16.9%

  • South Australia up 15.6%

  • Queensland up 12.8%

  • Western Australia up 10.5%

  • Tasmania up 4.7%

  • Northern Territory up 4.3%

  • ACT up 4.2%




What a difference a year makes. Company gross operating profits in June 2022 were 28.5% higher than the year before, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That big jump was only to be expected, given that Sydney, Melbourne and other parts of Australia were under lockdown in June last year, which artificially restricted business activity. However, the June 2022 result was also a massive 7.6% higher than the previous quarter.



Surprisingly, though, only seven industries enjoyed quarter-by-quarter increases in gross profits:

  • Accommodation & food services up 48.8%

  • Transport, postal & warehousing up 23.8%

  • Mining up 14.3%

  • Manufacturing up 10.0%

  • Arts & recreation services up 1.5%

  • Wholesale trade up 1.1%

  • Electricity, gas, water & waste services up 0.4%

By contrast, eight industries experienced quarterly falls in gross profits:

  • Financial & insurance services down 38.0%

  • Rental, hiring & real estate services down 8.5%

  • Information media & telecommunications down 6.8%

  • Other services down 6.6%

  • Construction down 5.7%

  • Retail trade down 5.0%

  • Professional, scientific & technical services down 2.7%

  • Administrative & support services down 0.1%

I hope you enjoyed the newsletter. If your business needs any credit support, don’t hesitate to get in touch.


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