Insights

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Illum – Profit with Australia’s new climate-related laws AASB S2

Allie

Climate-related reporting legislation began in January 2025 for large corporations in Australia. The legislation requires large businesses to:

  • Measure and disclose their carbon emissions
  • Report environmental impacts in annual sustainability statements, and
  • Integrate sustainability data with financial reports.

Why this matters to small businesses

In order for a large business to obtain as much information as possible. As a result, sharing emissions data with larger clients or projects could be required.

Extra paperwork or sales opportunity

It’s a two-edged sword. By tracking your carbon footprint ahead of your competitors could make you a more valuable business partner by showing your business is thinking ahead.

Valuable steps to do right now

Start with the basics like:

  • Energy consumption. Source from your energy bills. Did you know many accounting packages already use OCR to read your bill and pre-populate the information. Ask your accountant if that is available to you. If not, check your printer software. Did you know many PDF editors have free OCR in their scanner that can pop it into a table for you. Your next bill is a great place to start.
  • Fuel used in business vehicles. How many litres or kilowatts if all electric.
  • Waste management practices. How much volume in your different bins? How often are they emptied?
  • Supply chain transportation is another start point.

Software availability

Start to have a look at new apps that can help track and report your environmental impact statistics.

Clever outcomes

It is not just about meeting more regulations.

When you start to collect, your will start to reduce. Why? You begin to see where the waste is and by being more efficient you will reduce operational costs.

Think about getting the jump on your competitors. We’re here to help, contact us about reviewing your systems and gathering the data smoothly.

We hope you’re enjoying our Illum jottings, just a note though. The information provided here is intended for general informational and educational purposes only. While we aim for accuracy, we can’t guarantee that this content will apply to your specific situation—everyone’s circumstances are unique.

Illum’s is not a substitute for personalized advice from a qualified accountant, tax advisor, or any other professional. If you have questions specific to your individual circumstances, we strongly recommend consulting a professional for tailored advice.

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Illum – Boost sales with product bundling

Allie

Product bundling boosts sales by offering multiple related products at a price that simplifies shopping and, in the eyes of the buyer, a good discount. Then they buy more.


Well, that’s the overall idea. The less decision fatigue, the faster and easier purchasing becomes—watch out for choice reduction. Reduce choice at your peril.

Happy customers

How do accountants help sales managers get it right?
Is the product capable of pure bundling? Does widget A need product B to put it together? Or is choice reduced to the point that the software suite is only available to the consumer?
Will cross-category help? Buy a smartphone and the extended warranty, screen protector, case, and extra battery charger. You get the idea.
So, the consumer sees it all together at a lower price feels like a smart deal.

Margin management matters

Accounting is vital in creating a sense of savings with good margins in the supply and distribution line.

When too many options are present. For example, a price ceiling or floor for the sales staff, which means they must consult with a manager for approval. Is the consultation process beneficial for the customer in the sales process? It adds a time cost, especially during peak selling periods.

Solve it

A great idea is to sit down with your accountant and build an initial template from supply and distribution with all the costs, not just a select few put in. Set the overall business margin to ensure the bundle price reflects real value without cutting into the set business margin.
Test different pricing strategies and choose products that naturally go together before loading into the selling margin template. The selling margin template in use at the point of sale becomes a simple traffic light display.

Keep it simple to help business efficiency and the sales process. Connect your dots, we are here to help, no matter the size.

We hope you’re enjoying our Illum jottings, just a note though. The information provided here is intended for general informational and educational purposes only. While we aim for accuracy, we can’t guarantee that this content will apply to your specific situation—everyone’s circumstances are unique.

Illum’s is not a substitute for personalized advice from a qualified accountant, tax advisor, or any other professional. If you have questions specific to your individual circumstances, we strongly recommend consulting a professional for tailored advice.

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Illum – How do assets work for my small business

Allie

Small businesses maximise the instant asset write-off to claim a tax deduction for the cost of an asset.

A tax deduction is an amount of money subtracted from your taxable income. Your tax rate is calculated based on this calculation.

When you sell products or services, the sum of those sales becomes your taxable income. Many rules exist about deductions that you can claim in Australia. It is always best to consult a registered tax agent to make your tax return.

An asset is something that you own and use repeatedly in your business. It is valuable as it helps you achieve your current and future income. When accountants list your assets, the sum of that list is displayed in an asset register and totalled in your Balance Sheet. The Balance sheet shows how much you own and owe at a given time.

In Australia, the tax system has an instant asset write-off section. Your business can use the instant asset write-off for multiple assets if each cost is less than the limit. Assets can be new or second-hand.

The limit looks at the cost of the asset, not the percentage of business use. Exclusions also apply.

Assets work hard for you. Your accountant can match their use to future income or, if eligible, write off in a single year. Connect the dots and benefits of asset management because it provides a systematic approach to monitor all assets to run smoothly.

Regeneration never sleeps.

We hope you’re enjoying our Illum jottings, just a note though. The information provided here is intended for general informational and educational purposes only. While we aim for accuracy, we can’t guarantee that this content will apply to your specific situation—everyone’s circumstances are unique.

Illum’s is not a substitute for personalized advice from a qualified accountant, tax advisor, or any other professional. If you have questions specific to your individual circumstances, we strongly recommend consulting a professional for tailored advice.

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Ilum – Tax time planning with great outcomes

Allie

How can tax be a great outcome? Living in Australia is great and knowing the tax system timing helps all businesses large and small operate a cashflow plan smoothly without worrying about one or the other. Smooth out timing to win.

By having a chat with a tax agent, you gain access to the timing of all. Once you have the timing, then put that in your cashflow plan to help save for the expensive times and earn a little extra money along the way.

No cashflow plan? Ok, here are some of the key items to draft one up.

Cashflow plan

History helps define your future income, but unless you are on wages or a constant contract it can be a bit tough to work out. Constant contracts are a good heading starting point. Make a brief series of headings down the left of a page that describe your key income areas. Like Constant contracts or Referrals, Advertising sales etc.

Write the months of income across the top of the page. Next comes the tough bit.

Tough bit

Own your expenditure. Did you know this section also reveals your attitudes and spending towards sustainability, biodiversity, investment in plant and equipment to run your business, renewables, employee spending and investment in your community.

Who would have thought expenditure reveals so much about a business. Why does this matter? Selling your business once you have built it up, or handing it on to your children? Succession planning is something to put in every annual cashflow plan. Not only does insurance spending reveal your risk coverage. Future purchasers or planners are always keen to see how profitable a business is.

Objective summary

This cashflow plan segment wraps it all together neatly. Income less expenditure equals your cashflow during the month. Add another line for how much is owed to you and how much do you owe. By understanding your cashflow plan, when you look at your accounting reports, they will show you ways to adjust your business and widen a smile.

Planning has great outcomes, including tax planning. Give it a go!

Are you enjoying our short cartoons? You can help us to pay it forward by grabbing yours to add a touch of irony or humour to your next toolbox or in-house sensitive or complex topic. We sourced ours from The Masked Comic.

We hope you’re enjoying our Illum jottings, just a note though. The information provided here is intended for general informational and educational purposes only. While we aim for accuracy, we can’t guarantee that this content will apply to your specific situation—everyone’s circumstances are unique.

Illum’s is not a substitute for personalized advice from a qualified accountant, tax advisor, or any other professional. If you have questions specific to your individual circumstances, we strongly recommend consulting a professional for tailored advice.

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Ilum – Capital budgeting and future planning

Allie

Capital budgeting core is to evaluate the feasibility of a new long-term use of an idea. Future plans involve actual and perception costs.

Accountants listen carefully to the many inputs to begin capital budgeting. That capital budget plan is founded in the seeds of an idea from research and development activity in a business. The activity may or may not be formalised. Nimble responses to market development can make or break a small business.

When a plan of any idea is developed, it always is best to include the accountants at the beginning. Why? Investment is not always about profitability margin. Sure, that is very important in business. So is community perception which drives the purchasing of the idea.

Accountants not only will apply costs of developing an idea. They will apply contingency cost to the unexpected consequence of an idea that simply is not a great fit to the community perception. In the keenness to get a launch up and running and ahead of the opposition, lack of a fully costed plan is akin leads to many unintended outcomes.

Give creating a plan with accountants a go, you never know!

Capital budgeting considers all use costs in an idea.
Do we follow the lights on the map

Are you enjoying our short cartoons? You can help us to pay it forward by grabbing yours to add a touch of irony or humour to your next toolbox or in-house sensitive or complex topic. We sourced ours from The Masked Comic.

We hope you’re enjoying our Illum jottings, just a note though. The information provided here is intended for general informational and educational purposes only. While we aim for accuracy, we can’t guarantee that this content will apply to your specific situation—everyone’s circumstances are unique.

Illum’s is not a substitute for personalized advice from a qualified accountant, tax advisor, or any other professional. If you have questions specific to your individual circumstances, we strongly recommend consulting a professional for tailored advice.

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Illum – Capital budgeting and careful purchasing

Allie

Capital budgeting, careful purchasing, and single-source dependency risks shape business success.

Purchasing for the future. Capital budgeting offers an objective view into the inputs of running a business. Reducing expenditure on asset maintenance or replacement is an early flag of the loss of culture and depletion.

Raw inputs fail under degradation conditions. It is essential to choose critical purchases carefully. Cultural change to hide degradation below the surface carries high failover risks.
Professional accountants are highly experienced and understand planned obsolescence.

The weaknesses bring a different valuation to the future of the whole business model.
When markets innovate to suit a new concept, supplier pressure arrives. Single-source dependency leads to rising costs from many points as the end game must maintain its inputs to prevent failover.


Socially savvy businesses measure social costs as an effective means of gaining more sales at the risk of using a weak capital item and running the risk of exposure in the ESG report.

Are you enjoying our short cartoons? You can help us to pay it forward by grabbing yours to add a touch of irony or humour to your next toolbox or in-house sensitive or complex topic. We sourced ours from The Masked Comic.

We hope you’re enjoying our Illum jottings, just a note though. The information provided here is intended for general informational and educational purposes only. While we aim for accuracy, we can’t guarantee that this content will apply to your specific situation—everyone’s circumstances are unique.

Illum’s is not a substitute for personalized advice from a qualified accountant, tax advisor, or any other professional. If you have questions specific to your individual circumstances, we strongly recommend consulting a professional for tailored advice.

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Illum – Safety and fun accounting

Allie

High-risk safety activity and high insurance premiums are an unavoidable correlation. Self-insuring is a strategy when a set sum of money provides for the eventuality. Fun in the workplace is an expensive element for investors, owners and management. This element is taken seriously for safety and fun to coexist.

Providing health treatment is a costly medical debt risk. Unexpected pain points arrive when the gap between insurance benefits and medical debt widens. Professional accountants understand the factors behind different expense elements, insurance types to calculate your business inputs.

The continuous monitoring of business risk and its associated cost elements. Enables margins and sales to be maintained. That is a massive benefit to businesses continuously operating in the inexperienced workforce sectors.

Self-reliance is a calculated gamble based on many factors in business and community cultural attitudes, which can affect policy adherence to operating production.

Are you enjoying our short cartoons? You can help us to pay it forward by grabbing yours to add a touch of irony or humour to your next toolbox or in-house sensitive or complex topic. We sourced ours from The Masked Comic.

We hope you’re enjoying our Illum jottings, just a note though. The information provided here is intended for general informational and educational purposes only. While we aim for accuracy, we can’t guarantee that this content will apply to your specific situation—everyone’s circumstances are unique.

Illum’s is not a substitute for personalized advice from a qualified accountant, tax advisor, or any other professional. If you have questions specific to your individual circumstances, we strongly recommend consulting a professional for tailored advice.

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Illum – New sales supply and demand

Allie

Sales sourced from new produce is a potential social advantage requiring value measurement between offering to customers, tastes and margin at source and endpoint.

New sales from limited resources have potential hidden costs that affect concept viability. By taking advantage of readily available produce or services from local communities. Authentic experiences within the counterbalance of supply and demand create margin.

Achieving cultural diversity with produce is a measurement that professional accountants’ measurement experience aids business owners and community benefits calculations in ESG reporting.

Valuing diversity measurements enables sales volume and growth to stay ahead of trends whilst introducing successful innovations.

Different supply, purchasing and delivery processes combine to provide a net measurement to tell a story within delivered proportions.

Are you enjoying our short cartoons? You can help us to pay it forward by grabbing yours to add a touch of irony or humour to your next toolbox or in-house sensitive or complex topic. We sourced ours from The Masked Comic.

We hope you’re enjoying our Illum jottings, just a note though. The information provided here is intended for general informational and educational purposes only. While we aim for accuracy, we can’t guarantee that this content will apply to your specific situation—everyone’s circumstances are unique.

Illum’s is not a substitute for personalized advice from a qualified accountant, tax advisor, or any other professional. If you have questions specific to your individual circumstances, we strongly recommend consulting a professional for tailored advice.

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Illum – Managing obsolete or tainted stock.

Allie

Disease, obsolete or tainted stock sourced from workplace practices is avoidable. A good ESG policy when deployed throughout the business combines all aspects of accounting for slow and obsolete stock with advertising and sales campaigns.

Reducing taints is a training cost that is readily shareable by knowledge transfer. Accounting for obsolescence is a speciality that professional accountants utilise. Various techniques to value inventory to benefit the business and community are available.

Source training for procurement staff is another educational technique that rapidly eliminates the issue. Treating obsolescence and taints has an expansive community cost as the source is identified and progressively halted. Sharing the story of taint reduction in its various forms in ESG reporting is a supportable measurement of interest to investors and management alike.

Are you enjoying our short cartoons? You can help us to pay it forward by grabbing yours to add a touch of irony or humour to your next toolbox or in-house sensitive or complex topic. We sourced ours from The Masked Comic.

We hope you’re enjoying our Illum jottings, just a note though. The information provided here is intended for general informational and educational purposes only. While we aim for accuracy, we can’t guarantee that this content will apply to your specific situation—everyone’s circumstances are unique.

Illum’s is not a substitute for personalized advice from a qualified accountant, tax advisor, or any other professional. If you have questions specific to your individual circumstances, we strongly recommend consulting a professional for tailored advice.

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Ilum – Cost of living and small business support for digital tools are vital concerns for revenue growth.

Allie

Digitally advanced SMEs have a higher potential for revenue growth, thanks to the benefit of digital tools and strategies.

By interacting with customers at their source, aka mobile phones and other electronic devices, a digitally advanced SME can enhance customer experience.

For instance, e-commerce platforms help customers select goods and services, while digital payment systems provide quick and simple payment options in return. That is the theory at least.

In our digital age, outstanding customer service is a prerequisite for successful browsing and pre-ordering from your shop front.

While announced by the government and not yet passed, technology, skills, and training boosts will assist SMEs in preparing and delivering an outstanding customer experience.

While digital advancement offers numerous benefits, it also presents challenges. Slow service, the inability to source ordered goods out of the storage area, slow courier / postal service, and customers receiving spam messages and other hate attacks by cyber terrorists are some of the issues that can arise. However, with proper planning and appropriate digital tools, SMEs effectively manage the delivery of a superior customer experience.

Associated suppliers also play an essential role in an SMEs whole-of-business model. By providing boosts to SME businesses, most of the benefits afforded by digital tools create a pleasant customer experience.

Whoever in your team, including those associated SMEs, services your inbound and outbound costs of doing business. Increasing revenue by enhancing digital tools is a valuable item.

Billy sees another seed mix and wants it in his seed bowl.

Are you enjoying our short cartoons? You can help us to pay it forward by grabbing yours to add a touch of irony or humour to your next toolbox or in-house sensitive or complex topic. We sourced ours from The Masked Comic.

We hope you’re enjoying our Illum jottings, just a note though. The information provided here is intended for general informational and educational purposes only. While we aim for accuracy, we can’t guarantee that this content will apply to your specific situation—everyone’s circumstances are unique.

Illum’s is not a substitute for personalized advice from a qualified accountant, tax advisor, or any other professional. If you have questions specific to your individual circumstances, we strongly recommend consulting a professional for tailored advice.