[CCC News] Draft: Assorted News 52: GST and Survey Time :)

[Michael Kean]

*In this edition:*

This edition comes to you from Black Mountain.

*Latest News:*

     Where's My Bill?
     Customer Pricing and Satisfaction Survey!


*Other Stuff:*

     Chromecast vs Apple TV
     I'm Ba-aack...
     Jason Mills
     Wireless NBN a mixed bag.

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*Where's My Bill?*

As some of you have probably noticed, very few invoices have been sent 
out since May. The reason? I've made too much money! Well, not really, 
but my turnover is too high.

Several years ago I deregistered from GST because it made jobs for home 
customers a little cheaper and it meant I didn't have to do all that 
pesky GST paperwork. The rule was that if your turnover is less than 
$75,000 per year, you didn't need to be registered for GST.

This has become problematic because it has meant I have had to watch how 
much I 'proxy spend' for customers - and recently some customers have 
asked me to make large purchases of computer gear on their behalf and 
then invoice them - something I make very little money on but which of 
course counts against turnover and also prevents them claiming GST.

When I was doing some financial forecasting just before nicking off to 
Ireland again, my accounting system said "hey Mate, you've nearly hit 
the $75K limit!" (Well it didn't literally say that, my accounting 
system isn't programmed to speak although that could be fun!)  Since 
this legally requires me to re-register for GST, I've temorarily stopped 
sending accounts and am living on savings until I can get that taken 
care of. Otherwise I would have to re-issue a bunch of invoices!

*Customer Pricing and Satisfaction Survey!*

Re-Registering for GST means I will lose 10% of my income to the ATO, so 
I guess it is time to consider increasing my rates a bit. I will still 
retain the low income and pensioner ~30% discount on labour costs, 
although at particularly busy times these customers may be delayed by 
full paying customers.

To have you say on what you think the pricing should be, and also to 
provide optional feedback on what you find good and bad about my 
services to you, feel free to fill out this seven question anonymous 
survey <https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LQ25YPC> - should take about 3 - 
5 minutes. (Limit 100 customer responses.)

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*ChromeCast vs Apple TV*

What are they? They are little things you can plug into your flat screen 
TV that turn them into "Smart" TVs

How much are they? $49 all up or the Chromecast; or $89 (plus an HDMI 
cable) for the Apple TV.

How are they the same? Both let you watch movies and listen to music 
that you have on your computer, or that you find on the Internet.

How are they different? The Chromecast is controlled entirely from your 
mobile phone or computer. The Apple TV is controlled either by your 
computer or the included remote control.

The Chromecast is entirely dependent on phones or a computer to tell it 
what to show you on your TV. The Apple TV can work independently for 
streaming YouTube, etc.

Which should you buy? Up to you :) If you are predominantly an Android 
and Windows family, the Chromecast is great. If you're more into iTunes 
and Apple stuff, the Apple TV is great too.

Do they need broadband to work? No. You just need a WiFi network, or 
Ethernet is OK for the Apple TV.

Can they play pirated movies from hard drives? In most cases, yes; via a 
computer or phone / tablet. The Apple TV requires you to tell iTunes 
about the movies first. There are apps for Windows, Android phones and 
tablets that will let you stream most files from them to your TV too.

Are there other alternatives? Yes - almost all modern laptops can plug 
straight into your TV and your TV becomes a big laptop screen. These 
devices just add convenience.

One final point - the Chromecast is not much bigger than a memory stick, 
and in many cases can be powered by your TV so you might not need an 
extra power point.

*I'm Baa-aaack :)*

Yes, I'm back from my trip to Ireland - and yes, Caroline returned with 
me again :) Our migration process still has up to four months to run, 
and the peculiarities of the process require her to be out of the 
country when a decision is made; so our exact future is still up in the 
air.  She also can only stay for three months at a time on the current 
visa, so that adds to the excitement. She is not allowed to work yet 
either - good news for my belly as I'm being well fed; not so good news 
for the Guyra and Black Mountain roadhouses that were feeding me 
beforehand! Fingers crossed that we have a convincing enough case when 
they get around to looking at all our masses of paperwork and evidence!

*Jason Mills.*

A few of you made use of Jason Mills' services while I was away last. It 
is a relief to know he's handy if I am unable to work for any reason - 
that's always been a point of stress in my job. He still plans to stay 
on in the area doing IT work, so if you can't catch me or I've ticked 
you off somehow (!) you can try him on 0408690435. He's only part time 
due to his other commitments.

*Wireless NBN a Mixed Bag.*

The Wireless NBN in Guyra is up and running, and I have about 6 
customers signed up to it so far. The results are mostly good - the 
connections are fairly stable, certainly moreso than their Optus 
Wireless connections. The only issues I'm having so far are intermittent 
periods of disconnection on one service despite full signal strength, 
and speeds well below those advertised in all cases. (12Mbps services 
rarely exceed 4Mbps, 25Mbps services rarely exceed 10Mbps.) It's still 
well worth the money; but isn't quite living up to the promise.

/Well, that's it for another newsletter. Wishing you all a pleasant winter!

Cheers, Mike.
/**

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*Old Editions
*You can find old editions of this newsletter on the CCC Blog. 
http://coolhelp.com.au/blog/

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Michael Kean
*Proprietor, Cool Country Consulting.*
Trading Hours: 10am to 8pm weekdays.
http://coolhelp.com.au/
Tel: 02 6775 0239  Mob: 0427 644 825
Skype: cccons

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