In today’s fast-paced and ever-evolving digital landscape, small businesses face unprecedented challenges and opportunities. With technology reshaping industries and consumer behavior, the ability to adapt and thrive in the digital realm has become essential for long-term success. One of the most effective strategies for small businesses to stay competitive and relevant is through digital upskilling – the process of acquiring new digital skills or improving existing ones. In this article, we’ll explore the importance of digital upskilling for small businesses and how it can unlock growth, inno ..read more

The Small Business Association of Australia has teamed up with Retinue Accounting in a new partnership set to benefit our members. Retinue, one of Australia’s fastest growing accounting firms, offers small businesses a new approach to accounting and bookkeeping. With fixed monthly fees, a 24/7 support line and a proactive approach to accounting, Retinue is set to reshape how financial support is offered to small businesses. “We believe in an accounting model that is proactive and forward-looking. No more hourly based-billing. Your accountant should be a trusted adviser who will be there when y ..read more

Wage Inspectorate Victoria promotes and enforces Victoria’s long service leave, child employment and owner driver laws. Last financial year we helped 15,000 Victorian businesses and workers, with another 425,000 people accessing our educational tools and website resources, a 49 per cent increase on the previous year. Long service leave In the last financial year alone, we received over 6,000 calls about long service leave. Most Victorian workers qualify for long service leave if they have worked continuously with one employer for at least 7 years. This applies to work that is full time, part t ..read more

It’s difficult to visit almost any social media channel and not come across video content. It’s not surprising given how effective it is at capturing and holding people’s attention. Did you know that the average person spends 17 hours per week watching online video? (source) That’s a lot of TV time! Another interesting fact: videos are twice as likely as any other type of content to be shared (source). As a result, if you want to create engaging and shareable content, video is the way to go. Also, more people are watching videos with closed captions (source). This is partly due to accessibilit ..read more

BRISBANE, Australia – February 20, 2024 – In an announcement that highlights the strength and innovation of Queensland businesses on the world stage, the Premier of Queensland has proudly recognised Cryptoloc, a Brisbane-based technology firm, for its groundbreaking collaboration with Microsoft 365. This significant achievement not only underscores Cryptoloc’s position as a leader in secure cloud storage solutions but also establishes it as the first company globally to offer a zero-knowledge environment for editing, collaborating, and securing Microsoft 365 documents, ensuring users have excl ..read more

It’s difficult to visit almost any social media channel and not come across video content. It’s not surprising given how effective it is at capturing and holding people’s attention. Did you know that the average person spends 17 hours per week watching online video? (source) That’s a lot of TV time! Another interesting fact: videos are twice as likely as any other type of content to be shared (source). As a result, if you want to create engaging and shareable content, video is the way to go. Also, more people are watching videos with closed captions (source). This is partly due to accessibilit ..read more

In an era where digital proficiency is increasingly becoming a necessity, the Small Business Association of Australia (SBAA) has taken a significant step forward by partnering with the Queensland Government and Future Learn to establish the SBAA Digital Upskilling Hub. This initiative aims to empower mature-aged citizens, regional remote workers, and the general public by providing valuable resources, workshops and networking opportunities to enhance their digital skill sets. It is estimated that Queensland will need an additional 10,000 digital professionals by 2024 to ensure the states econo ..read more

MYOB, Australia and New Zealand’s leading business management platform, is proud to announce its partnership with The Small Business Association of Australia. Started in 1991, MYOB has grown from an accounting software company into a SaaS business management platform, empowering businesses to start, survive and succeed over the past 30 years. Using this platform allows businesses to manage their workflows and be decisive and adaptable by connecting key processes across customers, supply chain, projects, employees, finances, and accounting & tax. Having built strong connections with SMEs th ..read more

Small business owners should seek advice when signing agreements to avoid unintended exposure to financial responsibility. It is common practice in property purchase contracts that a company director sign a personal guarantee when a company purchases Real Estate. What is their liability if they do so? Is it a personal guarantee given to ensure that that the company performs the Contract for Sale of Land? In this case, the personal liability of the guarantor is to pay damages to the vendor if the company fails to perform the agreement, which is normally the short fall on re-sale of the property ..read more

The Banking Code of Practice (the Code) of the Australian Banking Association is a voluntary Code that all of the major banks and most of the smaller banks have committed to. The provisions of the Code are contract terms in the agreement between the participating bank and the customer. The courts have enforced the provisions of the Code as contract terms. Since its first publication in 1993 there have been a number of amendments and revisions, the last in 2021. The Code reflects the guiding principles of the banks. These are trust and confidence, integrity, service, transparency and accountabi ..read more