A 12-month plan designed for new business owners who may want some extra guidance around business structure, accounting software setup and training, and more.

We will provide you with guidance and support on what you'll need to do to establish and commence running your new business

We can provide advice on the best business structure for your needs and take care of establishment and registrations

Set up your Xero file so it's optimised for you and give you initial training so you start off in the right way

Preparation of a budget tailored to your business and input into Xero so you can track how you're going

Starter pack

We prepare your BAS returns ready for you to review and pay. We also remind you of when and how much to pay, and even send an alert if you forget! Requires Xero.

Prepare BAS

If you would rather be doing something else, let us do your bookkeeping for you. We love coding and checking and you can relax knowing it's all done right, and on time. Requires Xero.

Bank reconciliation

Input and review of crypto investments per report generated by platform. If not managed/self-managed, please get in touch with our support team for further details.

Crypto

We'll set up your Xero file from scratch, then give you the training you need to use it to its full potential.

Xero setup & training

Input and review of rental activity per agent statement and additional receipts not included in statement e.g. home loan statements, depreciation report. 

If not managed/self-managed, speak to our support team for further details.

Property

Don't know what fringe benefit tax is? Learn about it in our FBT guide.

FBT return (annual)

We set you up with the right Xero subscription and manage your payments.

Xero monthly subscription

We set up your Xero file so it is optimised for you and your business.

Xero setup

An hour of training on how to use Xero to it's full potential.

Xero training

If you would rather be doing something else, let us do your bookkeeping for you. We love coding and checking and you can relax knowing it's all done right, and on time.

Large bank reconciliation

From 1 April 2027, there are some changes to FBT treatement on work-related items provided to employees.

From 1 April 2027, the FBT treatment of work-related items is changing.

FBT changes for work-related benefits

The ATO has recently confirmed changes to the FBT treatment of salary sacrificed work-related benefits effective from 1 April 2027. These changes will impact employers who currently rely on FBT exemptions and may require a review of existing salary packages before the start of the 2028 FBT year.

The otherwise deductible rule for reducing FBT liability

Currently, employers can reduce their FBT liability on benefits provided under a salary sacrifice arrangement where the employee would otherwise be entitled to claim the expense as an income tax deduction (if they had paid for the expense directly themselves). For example, home office expenses, home phone or internet expenses, and self-education expenses.

From 1 April 2027, employers will no longer be able to apply that otherwise deductible rule where the benefit is:

Covered by the proposed standard deduction for eligible individual taxpayers (i.e. the instant deduction of up to $1000 for work-related expenses)

Provided through a salary sacrifice arrangement

Removal of FBT exemptions for certain salary sacrificed work-related items

From 1 April 2027, certain items that are currently exempt from FBT when provided through a salary sacrifice arrangement will no longer be exempt. This includes:

This is a big change which means employers that currently allow these types of salary sacrifice arrangements may need to reconsider whether other forms of remuneration or salary packaging would be a better option.

Work-related items not provided through salary sacrifice

Currently, businesses with an aggregated turnover of more than $50 million are limited to providing only 1 FBT-exempt work-related item per employee each FBT year, where the items have the same or substantially identical function and are not provided through salary sacrifice.

From 1 April 2027, this limit will be removed. This means that businesses will be able to provide multiple work-related items to an employee (e.g. a work phone and laptop) and those items will be FBT-exempt as long as they’re provided directly and not through a salary sacrifice arrangement.

Although the changes aren’t coming in until next year, it pays to start reviewing current salary packages and understanding the impact these tax changes will have on your business.

If you think your business might be impacted, you should:

Audit your current salary arrangements to identify which employees are currently salary sacrificing work-related benefits that will lose their FBT exemption.

Discuss any potential financial impacts with your accountant so you know what these changes would cost your business.

Consider whether alternative arrangements would be better suited.

If you decide to switch affected employees to an alternative salary package, prepare communications and be transparent about what’s changing and why.

If you’d like to discuss how these changes might affect your business, get in touch with your Beany accountant.

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Industry news

Explore how to pull the right levers to improve cashflow and extend your business's runway or safety net.

Actionable strategies for extending your cash runway through increased revenue, expense reduction and additional capital.

3 ways to extend your cash runway

You’ve probably heard the phrase “cash is king” a million times and that’s probably no truer than in business. While it might not look like physical bank notes in the pure sense of the word, having cash in the bank is what helps keep your business running.

This is why understanding your cash runway/buffer and the levers you can pull to extend them are important. Your cash runway is how long your business could survive on current cash reserves, assuming revenue and expenditure remain unchanged. Meanwhile, your cash buffer is the safety net of how long you could keep going if revenue stopped altogether.

Businesses that are facing challenging or uncertain times often consider extending their runway or buffer so they’re well-equipped for any hurdles that may come. There are three ways to do this: increase revenue, reduce expenses and/or inject capital. Most businesses look to do a combination of all three.

Improving your cash inflow isn’t just about generating more sales. It can involve freeing up liquidity and exploring other opportunities to earn more income or change how you’re collecting that income.

Speed up your accounts receivable: This can be through early payment discounts, tightening payment terms or even improving follow-up on unpaid invoices.

Reduce inventory: Sell off stock that’s collecting dust. Even if you sell it at cost, that’s cash that’s now in the bank rather than on a shelf.

Sell redundant assets: If you have equipment or tools that aren’t needed for core operations, selling them can inject much-needed cash into the business. Consider it spring cleaning for your business.

Increase prices: If costs keep climbing and you haven’t increased your prices in a while, it might be time to consider it.

Drive more sales to existing customers: Upsell additional services, cross-sell complementary products or increase order frequency.

Consider new business or payment models: Explore alternative revenue streams or pricing structures. This could be a subscription model instead of one-off sales, a service tier you didn’t have before, or finding ways to still generate sales during off-peak periods.

Focus on high-margin offerings or markets: Not all revenue is equal, so consider letting go of revenue streams that aren’t pulling their weight and refocus on ones that are.

Cutting costs to extend your runway or buffer doesn’t mean your business needs to suffer. It just means being more deliberate with what you’re cutting or adjusting.

Reduce nonessential spending: These are expenses that don’t directly affect operations.  For example, travel, conferences, or team celebrations.

Downgrade or cancel software subscriptions: Most businesses have software tools that are no longer being used or are costing them more than it should.

Pause major hires: Hiring freezes or even a redundancy (which may be a difficult decision) can have a dramatic impact. While not always the easiest decision or conversation to have, these decisions are sometimes necessary.

Renegotiate supplier terms: Extending payment terms by 15-30 days or negotiating volume discounts on fast-moving products can make a small but useful difference.

Review fixed costs: Are you still paying the best rate possible for your insurance, internet, and power? In the same way you typically audit these in your personal life, it’s a good idea to periodically review these for your business too.

Delay planned purchases: Postponing non-urgent purchases or equipment upgrades can free up some short-term cash and give you additional breathing room. You can always reassess priorities once your runway is more comfortable.

Sometimes extending your runway or cash buffer requires external capital. This can include:

Owner injection: If you’re able to, putting some of your own money back into the business can buy you some breathing room without the complexity of outside financing.

Crowdfunding or capital raises: Consider getting additional funding via a crowdsourcing campaign or from angel or venture capital investors.

Grants and subsidies: See what government or local support is available. Sometimes there is industry-specific funding available or grants for particular types of projects.

Bank finance or alternative lending: Lines of credit or loans can help you in the interim while you focus on improving your runway through some of the other areas we’ve mentioned. You could also consider invoice financing (finance based on unpaid invoices) as a short-term measure.

We won’t lie and say extending your runway or cash buffer is easy. It can take some serious effort and sometimes difficult conversations with team members, suppliers or creditors. However, the payoff can be significant. Any move that makes you feel less stressed about surviving the short-term and more confident that the business is ok and can weather any storm is a win in our books.

If you’re unsure which levers to pull, your accountant is a valuable resource to help. They can model different scenarios and provide advice on which actions will have the biggest impact.

Business advice

Understand the difference between cash runway and buffer to better prepare for unexpected events.

Understand the difference between cash runway and cash buffer to better prepare for unexpected events that may occur in your business.

Cash Runway vs Cash Buffer

It’s a known fact that many businesses fail due to poor cashflow. That isn’t new knowledge and unfortunately is a statement that will likely always ring true. This means that any metrics that provide insight into cashflow are vital for staying afloat and knowing where you actually stand. That’s where cash runway and cash buffer come in. Both are surprisingly simple to calculate and help you prepare for the unexpected.

Cash runway measures your survival time i.e. how long your business could operate for at its current burn rate before it runs out of cash.

Cash runway = current cash balance / net cash burn
Where net cash burn = monthly cash outflows - monthly cash inflows

Example: You’ve got $100,000 in the bank. Your monthly cash inflow (revenue) is $10,000 and your monthly cash outflow (expenses) is $35,000. Your net monthly burn is $25,000. That’s 4 months of runway at the current burn rate.

Cash runway is commonly used by businesses that are spending more than they're earning. These are typically startups or growing businesses that have received investment and can afford to burn cash while they build up enough revenue to be profitable. Their runway is an estimate of how long the business can keep running for without generating any new revenue to offset the higher expenditure. The shorter the runway, the more urgently businesses need to either increase revenue, reduce expenses or secure additional funding.

Cash buffer measures your safety net i.e. how long your business could operate for if revenue dried up and you had to survive purely on cash reserves.

Cash buffer = current cash balance / monthly cash outflow

Example: You’ve got $100,000 in the bank, and your monthly operating expenses are $10,000. If your revenue disappeared overnight, you’d have roughly 10 months before cash ran out.

Cash buffer is typically used by businesses that are cashflow positive. For these businesses, the runway is technically infinite (since they’re earning more than they’re spending each month), so buffer is the more useful metric. It's a helpful gauge of how long the business could operate for in a worst-case scenario where you’ve stopped generating any revenue. It's also a simple way of evaluating if your cashflow is worsening, expanding or staying steady. If your buffer shortens over time, the difference between what you're earning and spending is closing. If your buffer is getting longer, then your cashflow is strengthening and you're building a larger safety cushion.

A startup or high-growth business might be comfortable with only 3 months of runway because growth and fresh investment are imminent. On the other hand, a mature and stable business would probably aim for at least 6 months. Most healthy businesses sit somewhere between 6 and 12 months.

You could also think of these metrics a bit like you would an emergency fund. If your runway or buffer is 2 months, you’re not in crisis just yet. However, you’re definitely playing close to the edge and might be feeling the pressure to bring in more money or cut costs. If your runway or buffer is 18 months, you’ve got quite a bit of breathing room and you won’t be feeling like there’s any kind of current cashflow emergency.

Why they’re an important business metric

When you understand your runway/buffer and how they’re trending over time, you’re in a better position to make decisions and weather any storms.

Spending lots of cash in order to grow is fine if you know you have time on your side. Likewise, a healthy buffer provides reassurance that you can cope with any setbacks (such as a delayed customer payment or slow quarter), as well as confidently invest in growth (such as hiring or expansion).

These metrics can also help with forecasting. When you know where you currently stand, you can forecast where you expect to be in 3 months or a year's time, and even model different scenarios. What if revenue grows 20%? What if a major customer disappears? What if we hire another person? What if the economy weakens?

Having this understanding of how much breathing room you have helps balance your business goals with actual financial stability.

The great news is that if you’re using accounting software like Xero, you don’t even need to calculate these metrics manually. You can access it directly in the software.

Reviewing the number and keeping track of how it changes each month is the first piece of the puzzle. The next is working out what that means for your business specifically. That’s where regular check-ins with your accountant come in. They can spot where cash might be getting stuck or help you understand which levers to pull if you need to extend your runway or buffer. On the flipside, they could also make recommendations of what to do with your cash if you feel like your runway or buffer is too long.

Financial literacy

Learn the key causes of profit erosion and how to optimise for sustainable business growth.

Discover why increasing revenue doesn't always lead to profit growth. Learn the key causes of profit erosion and how to optimise for sustainable business growth.

Why growing revenue isn't the same as growing profit

Many business owners assume that growing revenue automatically means profit will grow at the same rate. More customers, more sales, more money. The logic makes sense but it’s not always the case.

It can often feel frustrating. You're working harder, revenue is climbing, and things seem like they're going really well, but your bottom line doesn't reflect that.

This is because revenue and profit are two very different metrics. A business can generate significantly more revenue and still see profit stagnate, shrink or even disappear entirely. Beneath the surface of revenue growth are often inefficiencies or other problems that quietly erode profit margins. When this happens, the business ends up in a weaker financial position even though it seems more successful from a revenue perspective.


What causes the gap between revenue growth and profit growth

When revenue increases but profit doesn’t keep pace, it usually comes down to one or more of the following:

Software and subscription costs that accumulate from needing additional software or user licenses

An increase in the cost of delivering your product/service

Rising customer acquisition costs from expanded advertising, market saturation or less efficient channels

Pricing not keeping pace with rising costs

Heavy discounting that generates sales volume but lowers profit margin per sale

Internal processes that haven’t scaled efficiently

Capacity constraints when demand exceeds what existing systems can handle

Extra admin and support burdens that can come from having more customers

Payroll growing at a faster rate than revenue

Taking on clients or projects that cost more to serve (i.e. more revisions, customisation, or support than your average customer)

Growth weighted towards lower-margin products or services rather than higher-margin ones

Increased product returns and refunds that add processing and admin costs

When a business is growing fast, it's easy for a few of these to compound at the same time. Sales are coming in and the product or service needs to be delivered, but the processes and costs behind it are under pressure to keep up. The combination of these pressures is often what creates the gap between revenue growth and profit growth.

They ramped up their advertising spend and offered frequent promotional discounts. Their sales volume climbed, resulting in revenue growing from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000. However, the extra volume pushed up fulfilment costs and return rates. The profit made was $140,000.

They reviewed their product mix, discontinued two low-margin lines, and streamlined the delivery process to cut out a step that was adding extra admin time to every job. Their revenue remained steady at $1,000,000 but the improvements to product mix and operations led to better overall margins. The profit made was $220,000.

Business A looks twice the size on paper, but Business B is the more profitable one. Business A retains 7 cents from every dollar of sales, where Business B retains 22 cents from every dollar of sales.

Business growth should always aim to improve your financial strength rather than just making you (and your team) busier. 

At a minimum, revenue and profit should grow at the same rate, so if revenue grows 5%, net profit also grows 5%. In a well-optimised business, profit should actually grow faster than revenue, so if revenue grows 5%, net profit might grow 7-8%. This is because the business is set up for sustainable growth which allows revenue to increase without negatively impacting margins.

To optimise your business for sustainable growth:

Build scalable systems and operating procedures that work well today and will easily hold up at double your current size

Track profitability by product, service or client type so you can focus on growth that’s actually worth having

Set strict boundaries around discounting and scope creep to protect net returns on every job/sale

Audit recurring costs quarterly or every six months (especially software subscriptions which are notorious for cost creep)


If you’re not sure where to start, your Beany accountant can help you understand what’s driving your profit and where your costs are creeping up. If you’re not working with an accountant or looking for a new one, get in touch with us for a chat about how we can support your business.

Why growing revenue is not the same as growing profit

Businesses overpay on software by up to 30%. Uncover your hidden SaaS subscription costs and boost your net profit.

Overpaying for unused software seats or forgotten tools? Learn how to identify hidden subscription costs and boost your net profit without growing revenue.

5 hidden SaaS subscriptions draining your business profit margin

You don't always need to grow revenue to grow profit. Sometimes the fastest win is finding the money you're already losing.

Software is an expense line that is supposed to make businesses more efficient. However, many businesses experience what we call SaaS bleed, where recurring software charges eat into profit margin without anyone noticing. 

Studies have found that the average business overpays on software by as much as 30% thanks to unused seats, redundant tools and missed cancellation windows. The good news is that unlike most cost-cutting, this one doesn’t often require a painful trade-off. It just requires a closer look at where your subscription dollars are actually going. 

Here are 5 types of SaaS subscriptions where unnecessary cost is hidden and what to do about each one.

Tools that charge per user can look affordable at the start, but the cost multiplies as teams grow, roles change and employees leave.

Wasted spend usually happens in two ways. Someone is given full paid access when guest-level permissions would have done the job, or a former employee or contractor’s account stays active for months (sometimes years) after they’ve left. Either way, you’re paying for an empty seat/user.

To stop paying for unused seats, implement a strict IT offboarding process that revokes licenses or archives accounts the moment someone leaves. While this won’t capture cost leakage related to people who’ve swapped roles or users who’re no longer using a particular tool, this will at least put a stop to paying for seats of departing team members.

Some software plans come with user, volume or usage thresholds that trigger significant automatic price increases once you cross them. The frustrating part is that this often happens through normal everyday growth. For example, a contact list expands from marketing activity, inactive users still count towards your total, or a misconfigured or old automation that’s executing tasks in the background.

To prevent these price jumps, regularly clean database lists to get rid of unengaged or bounced contacts, and set usage alerts or caps so you’re not pushed up a tier unnecessarily or without warning.

This one’s more common that most business owners realise. Different teams often buy software to solve an immediate problem without checking if an existing tool can do the job. This results in the business paying twice for the same capability.

To stop paying double, audit your tech stack by functionality and evaluate whether any existing software can be consolidated.

A niche tool gets bought for a one-off project or a single employee’s job, but the recurring charge continues long after the project ends or the employee no longer needs it (or worse has left the business entirely).

Individually, these charges might be small. $10 here, $40 somewhere else. Add them all together and they’re a real margin killer especially if no one is actively using what you’re paying for.

Design, prototyping or stock asset platforms

To catch these sneaky charges, conduct a quarterly review of recurring software expenses and confirm that each one is still genuinely needed.

Free trials and first-year discounts are great for testing whether a tool actually earns its place in the business. However, once the introductory period expires, most tools convert automatically to a full-price subscription or annual commitment. If no one actively reviews whether the tool is worth it, the new cost becomes permanent without ever being questioned.

To prevent this silent cost creep, keep a record of trial and promo ends dates, and set a precedent of reviewing these tools in advance so you can cancel, negotiate a second-year discount (if possible) or actually justify its ongoing use well before the full price comes into play.

For trials, you could even consider using a virtual card with a low spend limit (e.g. $1) so that if someone forgets to cancel, the payment simply declines instead of going through unannounced.

Recovering 10-20% of your software spend is one of the easiest ways to improve profit margin with minimal effort.

If you want to tackle all wasted spend at once, the place to start is by exporting the last 60 days of credit card statements and going through every recurring software charge line by line. Cancel unused software, consolidate redundant or duplicate tools, and remove unneeded paid seats.

It might be an hour or two’s work but those cost savings go straight to your bottom line.

The hidden subscription costs draining your profit margin

Learn the difference between the Medicare levy and surcharge, and how private health insurance  affects what you pay.

FINANCIAL LITERACY  •  31 JULY 2026  •  5 MIN READ

Confused about Medicare on your tax return? Learn the difference between the levy and surcharge, and how private health insurance actually affects what you pay.

Why you still pay Medicare even with private health insurance

If you’re paying for private health insurance every month, it can feel like something doesn’t quite add up when your tax estimate shows Medicare charges on top. It might feel like you’re being charged twice for the same thing, but in reality you’re not.

What you're actually seeing on your tax estimate 

On your tax estimate or notice of assessment, there are two Medicare components listed under ‘Other liabilities’:

They're calculated differently, triggered by different rules, and don't respond to private health insurance in the same way.  

The Medicare Levy (the 2% you can't avoid) 

This is the part most people assume their private health insurance should cover, but it doesn't. The Medicare Levy is a standard contribution to Australia's public healthcare system. It helps fund things like public hospitals, GP visits, and subsidised medicines. Whether you use those services or not isn't the point, it's based on the idea that everyone contributes.  

For most taxpayers, it's calculated at 2% of your taxable income and having private health insurance doesn't remove this levy. You can have a full hospital cover, never use the public system, and still pay for it. This is because it's not tied to your personal usage or your insurance, but to your income.  

The only time this amount reduces or disappears is if your income falls below certain thresholds or you qualify for a specific exemption. Otherwise, it applies across the board.  

The Medicare Levy Surcharge (the part you can avoid) 

This is the one that actually connects to your private health insurance. The Medicare Levy Surcharge is an additional tax that applies if your income is above a certain threshold, and you don't have the right level of private hospital cover. It's designed to encourage higher earners to take the pressure off the public system by going private.  

Unlike the standard levy, this isn't automatic. It only kicks in when both of these conditions are met:  

Your income exceeds the threshold (currently $105,000 for singles and $210,000 for couples/families for FY27)

You don't have qualifying hospital cover 

The rate ranges from 1% to 1.5% of your income, depending on how much you earn. This is where private health insurance makes a difference. If you have an appropriate hospital policy in place for the full financial year, the surcharge doesn't apply.  

That's why this part is often described as avoidable. You're effectively choosing between paying the surcharge or holding a level of insurance cover that meets the requirements.  

What counts as 'valid' private health insurance 

Having private health insurance doesn't automatically mean you've avoided the surcharge. The policy has to meet specific criteria.  

It needs to be hospital cover. Extras cover on its own, like dental, physio, or optical, doesn't count toward avoiding the surcharge. 

The policy must also fall within the allowed excess limits:  

If your excess is higher than this, the policy won't qualify for MLS purposes.  

You also need to be covered for the entire financial year. Even a short gap, like switching providers or starting a policy later, can trigger the surcharge for those uncovered days.  

It's really just about having the right type of cover, with the right structure, and in place for the full year.  

Why you might still be charged the surcharge 

If you're seeing an MLS on your tax assessment despite having insurance, there’s usually a specific reason behind it. 

Your insurance is for extras cover only. These policies are useful for everyday healthcare, but they don't count toward avoiding the surcharge. Without hospital cover, the MLS still applies.  

Your policy excess is above the allowed limits. Even if it's hospital cover, going over the $750 or $1,500 threshold means it doesn't qualify.  

There were gaps in cover. If there were any days during the year where you weren't covered (even briefly while switching providers), the surcharge can apply proportionally for those days.  

Reporting issues. If your private health insurance details weren't correctly pre-filled or recorded, the ATO may calculate the surcharge as if you had no cover.  

If something doesn't look right, it's worth checking these areas first before assuming the charge is correct.  

The decision most higher-earners are making 

For those that fall within the MLS thresholds, it often comes down to a simple trade-off. Do you pay the MLS, or do you pay for a level of private hospital cover that removes it?  

In many cases, a basic hospital policy can cost less than the surcharge itself. That's why some people take out cover. Not necessarily for the benefits, but to avoid the extra tax.  

It's one of the few areas where the system gives you a choice. You either pay the government through the surcharge, or redirect that cost toward private cover that meets the requirements.  

What to do if you opt for insurance cover

Make sure your policy includes hospital cover not just extras

Set your excess level to less than $750 (for singles) or $1500 (for couples or families)

If you switch insurance providers, make sure there’s no gaps in cover i.e. one policy finishes and the other starts on the same day.

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