In the last 3-5 years, there has been increased losses through lax security around bank accounts. Instances include loss of email accounts of senior executives and these accounts are used to email the junior payable accountants requesting payments to fraudsters bank accounts, all the way to loss of control of bank accounts through loss of control of mobile phone banking. …
Australian Accountants, Time To Re-Look At Your Mobile Phone Security
In the last few years, there has been increased activity by nefarious actors in the identity theft and bank hacking. Many bank hacks occur with the loss of control over the mobile phone number, frequently through SIM jacking. There are plenty of sites online that can give information on how best to protect your mobile number from being hijacked. Losing …
Australian Accountants, Why You Need At Least 3 Email Addresses
In today’s secure environment, it’s no longer acceptable for Australian accounting firms to deploy just one email address. Indeed, Australian accounting firm owners should be deploying at least 3 email addresses. The 3 email addresses we suggest are: A public company email address A public personal email address A private personal email address Let’s get down to the reasons for …
Delay of 3-5 years before immigrants, international students and seasonal workers return to pre-pandemic levels?
Despite the Australian borders being open, there has been an unremarkable number of new immigrants flooding into Australia, with an indication that Australia might not be winning the competitive global war for talent. There are indications that there is a slowdown in offshore visa processing, with older and more experienced workers being discouraged and an out-of-date priority jobs list. There …
How Australian Accounting Firm Owners Are Managing Cybersecurity Challenges in the Post COVID-19 World
Impact of COVID-19 on cybersecurity The global pandemic significantly intensified fraudulent activities as many people become more vulnerable to cyber threats while working remotely. According to the Annual Cyber Threat Report 2020-21 from Australian Cyber Security Centre, there were over 67,500 cyber-attacks reported, an increase of nearly 13 per cent from the previous financial year. During the fiscal year 2020-21, …
We Live in Unsettling Times: Inflation To Affect Wages and Wage Growth
Headline inflation in 1Q22 rose to 5.1% and this is the highest inflation rate since 2001. Yesterday the RBA surprised many punters by raising the interest rates by 0.25%. There is now discussion of increases in wages increases between 3 and 4 percent. At the same time, the central forecast for 2022 is for headline inflation of around 6 …
The Great Resignation Continues, 44% of Australian Workers Are Looking for a New Job
The Great Resignation, also known as the “Big Quit”, continues to be a challenge for Australian businesses in the near future. A recent survey from Elmo Software found that up to one-third of Australian employees believe that they will only stay with their current company for up to 18 months. Some alarming results from the survey: 44% of Australian workers …
Return-To-Office Full Time Is Not Happening Anytime Soon
Close Contact Isolation Rules Currently, all Australian states and territories require close contacts to isolate for seven days from the last time they were in contact with someone with COVID-19. According to the Department of Health, over the past week, there have been an average of almost 40.5K new cases reported each day with 396.3K active cases. Based on an …
Australian Accounting Firms Are Likely to Pay 20% More for New Hires
A few years ago, a full-time worker who switched jobs saw an average of 5 per cent pay rise, according to some research carried out by the Reserve Bank of Australia. This is no longer the case. In mid-2021, workers who changed jobs received higher pay of 8 to 10 per cent, according to single-touch payroll data. There have even …
Balking at Pay Rise, Accounting Firm Leaders Are Seen Doing More Low-Level Work
Australian accounting firms have started to realise the impractical nature of raising pay to hire and retain staff. First, it is not financially beneficial, especially for mid-tier and small firms. When considering the hourly charge rate and the revenue generated, firms have begun to see that it is not profitable when paying a junior staff as high as $85k. Second, …
