Accounting and Finance (Page 5)

In a long tradition of getting almost all my predictions wrong I will once again gaze into the oracle and see what gazes back. But, before I do, I want to spend a few paragraphs reflecting on what I think is the least appealing trend in big business over the past 12 months. This trend has been going on for some years, but I feel like we hit peak corporate ambivalence in 2019. The social commentator and demographer Bernard Salt has written a couple of articles recently which I would commend to you. Bernard reflects on the state of corporate Australia and, in particular, theRead More →

Congratulations. You have read the title of this month’s missive and you are still with us. Well done. A less engaged reader would have switched off immediately and grabbed a copy of Who weekly. Surely more entertaining to learn that Brad and Angelina are splitting, and Prince Harry is in fact an alien. You couldn’t make that stuff up………! But I digress. Back in the day I worked for a bank and from time to time had the dubious pleasure of managing teams of people. I also had the even more dubious pleasure of being managed by a range of more senior but, in someRead More →

“Value : A quality or idea that is considered important. The word value comes from the Latin Valere, which means: Be worth. Value is defined as the worth, usefulness or importance of someone or something.” Courtesy of Professor Google Value for money. I value our friendship. Value versus return. My personal values. Value of my personal wealth.  Valuations.  Loan to valuation ratio. Value of the dollar. Value of my time. Our corporate values. Value Value Value………………….it’s a blur but what does it really mean? I’m prepared to have a crack but first, a caveat.  Given that trying to discern value in its many forms is a bit like attemptingRead More →

As some of you will no doubt have figured out by now, I have a weakness for cars.  Old cars, new cars, fast cars, slow cars, even electric cars and the occasional motorcycle. I am fascinated by cars and the auto industry. This basic flaw in my good judgement has led to me investing wisely in a few vehicles, much to the dismay of the managing director.  By wise investment I mean spending more than said vehicles will ever be worth and then justifying the “investment” by grossly overinflating the values when debating the matter with my accountant, bank manager and afore mentioned MD. MyRead More →

Before you read any further it’s important that you take the time to dial up Bobby McFerrin on You Tube and get into the reggae groove.  The following will simply not work otherwise! Here’s a little song I wrote You might want to sing it note for note Don’t worry, be happy Some say credit crunch I say bugger that, let’s do a long lunch Don’t worry, be happy In your loan application, there is some trouble Royal Commission might make it double Don’t Worry, Be Happy Ain’t got no cash or equity You can always call on me Don’t worry, be happy. With apologiesRead More →

I trust this letter finds you well.  Please forgive me for not writing earlier but I have been meeting clients all weekend and every evening. Thanks so much for your recent correspondence albeit at 950 + pages I must confess I have not read the entire document in detail.  Sufficient to say that what I have read, particularly in relation to finance brokers and mortgage brokers troubles me, not least because your findings seem to reflect a lack of understanding of what it is that finance brokers actually do. How could this be I wondered? Surely the many days that you and Rowena spent imbeddedRead More →

We have talked in the past about our view that we are moving into a tighter credit environment in which bank lending guidelines will become stricter. We also talked about challenges existing borrowers are having with annual business loan reviews and extended interest only periods. I am less than delighted to announce that for once our predications have come to fruition.  Daily feedback from borrowers suggests that times are indeed becoming challenging both for new borrowers and for existing operators. To be frank some of the concerns raised with us are of the borrower’s own making and reflect a lack of understanding of the termsRead More →

By the time you read this the holiday season will be behind us (mostly) and 2019 upon us. As always, a time to reflect and give thanks that the MD continues to put up with me and my children still remember my birthday. And what a funny old year 2018 turned out to be. Poor dear Malcolm gets the bums rush, The Donald is still in the White House, the Aussie cricket team can’t even get cheating right, the cash rate remains lethargic and people are still borrowing for business. In 2018 I started to notice two significant trends in Australia which I am goingRead More →