From 1 December 2011, the Federal Government’s excise or customs duty will apply to gaseous fuels used for transport purposes.

As a result of these changes, the ATO will be offering fuel tax credits to any business which acquires, manufactures or imports duty paid gaseous fuels for use in eligible business activities.

Tax credits will apply to following gaseous fuels:

• liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
• liquefied natural gas (LNG)
• compressed natural gas (CNG).

Time is money! So how can your businesses develop good time management skills and improve productivity?

• Identify the most important issues, and deal with them first.
• Sort jobs in order of importance and delgate them appropriately.
• Ensure that staff are able to deal with the jobs they are given.
• Make punctuality a company policy.
• Ensure that meetings are meaningful and impose a clear-cut agenda.
• Keep distractions, such as personal e-mail and calls, to a minimum.
• Tackle the important tasks when people are at their most productive.
• Give staff rewards and incentives to encourage their productivity.
• Prepare for unexpected issues and ensure that there will be time to deal with them.

Remember, in a faced-paced work environment, efficiency equals success!

Intellectual property (IP) owned by a business, including unique inventions, designs, logos, documents and processes that you or your business have developed,  can be just as important for generating revenue as property and staff.

The free online business tool ‘Intellectual Property Explorer’ was developed to help owners identify and protect their IP assests. Users are guided through an interactive process designed to help identify IP in their business and create strategies to secure these assets.