Month: May 2019

Regardless of what many may think or say, first impressions do count and never more so than attending your first interview and especially if that interview is for a position within a professional organization such as banking or finance. So, it cannot be over emphasized that you must present a polished professional image the second you walk into the building.

It wouldn’t be the first time that I have attended an interview and the person due to interview me or a member of the HR department was already waiting for me in the company’s reception area.

Always remember that companies of the stature of which you have shown an interest are looking to hire professional people. People who care about themselves and their career so, look the part and act the part. Dress conservatively. Preferably wear a well pressed suit and avoid wearing too much jewelry or fragrances. Accompany the suit with a clean white shirt and tie. It’s also important to remember your personal hygiene and cleanliness. Bathe or take a shower, brush your teeth, and make sure your hair is well groomed before an interview as well to present a polished professional image.

Prepare in Advance

Whether you have attended many banking or finance interviews or not, it is likely that you can predict at least some of the questions you will be asked. Take the time to practice giving your answers to these questions. Even though you are not asked that question exactly, there is a very good chance you will be asked a question similar to it. The more you practice the more confident you will be in the interview.

Prepare to give well structured answers as well as practicing the tone and method of delivery. You want to give the impression of being confident but not arrogant. Good interviewers will know that you have prepared and that is no bad thing as they will appreciate how much this opportunity means to you.

Moreover looking the part and being well prepared for the interview will definitely minimize any anxiety or nervousness that almost all interviewees suffer when they walk into an interview.

You have prepared to answer questions. You also need to prepare to ask questions. It is in your best interest to gather as much information as you can about the company and the job opportunity you are about to be interviewed for.

Impress the interviewer by doing your homework. Research the company prior to the interview and gather key information with which you can prepare interesting and intelligent questions to ask the interviewer. This knowledge will help to demonstrate that you have a genuine interest in the company and the opportunity for which you are being interviewed.

This knowledge can also give you an edge over your competitors. You can use it to prepare examples of how the skills set you possess and the experience you have are an excellent fit to meet the needs and challenges facing the organization.

Banking is a significant component within the varied mix of business-related topics you’ll need to address in your beauty salon or day spa business. If you’ve decided to operate under your own name as a sole trader, you can use your regular savings account to run your business. However, you’ll require a number of banking products to help you do so in the most practical and efficient manner.

Salon banking is relatively an easy component of your business responsibilities within your salon systems and thanks to online banking these days, you don’t even need a salon software to manage the task.

So, what other kinds of accounts might you need? I advise anyone intending to go into the salon or spa business to consider setting up the following, which are examined in more detail below.

o A personal account.
o A business account.
o Personal and business credit cards.
o A taxation account.
o A merchant facility, (credit card processing).
o A superannuation account.

1. Business account

Unless you’ve chosen to trade under a name other than your own, this will be opened using your business name. You will need your Business Registration details from the Department of Fair Trade to open the account, along with other proof of identification. Request monthly bank statements so you can track your business success and manage your money on a regular basis. You should also have a chequebook, an internet banking facility, a merchant facility (more on this later) and direct debit capability.

NB: if you are not the most disciplined person DO NOT have a key card attached to this account. Pay yourself a weekly salary from it and don’t touch it for any purpose other than paying business-related expenses. That way, you’ll always know where you stand financially.

2. Personal account (savings)

This can be an account you already have, and will be used for all non-business-related bills and purchases.

3. Personal and business credit cards

You may want to take advantage of Frequent Flyer miles and other loyalty bonuses by using a credit card for all your business purchases. If you do, you may not require a traditional business bank account. Watch out, though, that the flexibility of the credit card doesn’t encourage you to spend on things that won’t help your business! If you do choose to use a credit card only, do as you would with the traditional accounts and have two: one for your personal and one for your business expenses.

4. Taxation account

Hopefully, your taxation bank account will be the most rewarding. Sadly, we all have to pay tax, and if you’ve got a tax bill you’ve made money. If you don’t have the money saved to pay the Tax Department, then the lifestyle you have is outside the financial parameters of your business. To ensure you always have the readies for your tax, open a bank account especially for that. Set it up so that 15 to 18 per cent of you total turnover is withdrawn direct from your business account and transferred into your tax account WEEKLY. If you’re registered for GST, add another 10%. This will prepare you for your taxation commitments and enable you to concentrate solely on making money, rather than worrying about not having enough at the end of the year. Most banks have special accounts for precisely this purpose.

If you’re a lousy saver or don’t trust yourself with money in the bank, set your tax account up in the following way.

o As a fixed-term account that must contain a designated amount before withdrawals can be made.
o Have a co-signatory on the account – your partner, a parent, a best friend or someone you trust implicitly.
o No key card.
o Not linked to any other account.
o Not linked to the internet.

You can set up the direct debiting facility from your online banking facility. That way, you can have a set amount credited to your tax account or pay precisely the right percentage each week by making a ritual payment at the end of the week as part of your business housekeeping.

Tip bit:
o Keep your business and personal expenses separate, using clear and defined account and record-keeping procedures. It’s a must for a business of any size, from micro to macho. It’s the simplest way to see how your business is travelling (at a glance). If you have any questions about separating your business and personal finances, consult your accountant/ CPA or business coach.

o If you can get to the money in the account for any purpose other than paying tax you’ll rip yourself off. Don’t go into business if you want to spend your life avoiding tax. You’ll fail, if not sooner then later! Be consumed with making money, not hiding it! You won’t enjoy being self-employed if you don’t have enough funds to cover your income and GST tax obligations as they arise. Save for your tax!

o Bank as and when you collect the money, especially cheques. Make going to the bank a daily discipline.

o Whatever bank and accounts you decide to use, consult your accountant/ CPA to ensure this aspect of your business is set up correctly right from day 1.

o Have two separate filing boxes and get into the habit of sorting all your receipts in the appropriate files during and at the end of each week. Don’t get to the end of the financial year and start then – if you haven’t made good notes on each receipt you may find it too hard to remember where it should go.

Offshore online banking BVI emphasizes that last December 2001, the enactment about financial service commission act 2001 completely establish in British Virgin Islands Financial Service Commission considering the regulatory autonomous authorities that responsible for supervision, inspection, and regulation on entire financing services within the island’s jurisdiction area.

Services include offshore online banking BVI, business trustee, insurance, mutual funding for business, company management, company registration, intellectual property, and limited partnership. As of now, the commission of overseas to entire regulatory responsibilities will be handling Financial Services Department governance.

The BVI banking system and Fiduciary Division guarantee that an entire bank account and corporate services will operate within the island’s jurisdiction. Also, it allows of complying the needed requirements with emphasizes on mere establishment of international standard regulation.

This type of finance and banking system consider as one best business transaction that operates the island that significantly goes along the British Virgin Islands laws or regulation.
British Virgin Island will improvise the modern financing infrastructure particularly offshore online banking BVI that handle with complete and due diligence intended for business requirements in nowadays banking system.

This finance and banking system processes also applicable on trust companies that started of conforming on Banks and Trust Companies Act 1990 with the emphasizes of continuing amendment Act 1995. The commission will offer a tasks function upon acquiring newer responsibilities that includes promotion of public understanding related to financing system. This system primary deals both products and perimeter policy upon regulating activities, reducing the finance related crimes, and avoiding marketing system abuse.

The legal requirements offers a good venue upon acquiring bank licenses in British Virgin Islands as to completely govern the Banks and Trust Companies Act 1990 particularly dealing offshore online banking transactions. In Section 3 of Banks and Trust Companies Act 1990, it emphasizes that no person, individuals, or company will be incorporated in British Virgin Island jurisdiction area unless that certain individual or company already acquire a license provided by Banks and Trust Companies Act 1990.

Furthermore in section 4(4) of Banks and Trust Companies Act 1990 clearly convey that if certain commissions already acquire satisfaction related to their application carried by the banking business operation must not anymore go against any public interest. But, still the applicant should be an individual that qualifies of carrying the business banking account transaction.

Somehow, it may grant other applications and even re-issue an applicant subject licenses along the terms and condition that suites on everyone needs. Indeed, the offshore online banking in this island offers wider opportunity for business to flourish all throughout and even earn higher profit that ensure asset protection. Also, it guarantees owners or clients to have an identity closure for safety purposes.

Singapore private banking has grown massively over the past decade. Assets under management at Singapore private banks have grown to around 300Bn, 6 times what they were 10 years ago. It is estimated that Singapore manages around 5% of the world’s private wealth, while Swiss private banking manages around a quarter.

Singapore has benefited from tight bank secrecy regulation, in addition to a rise in the number of Asian millionaires, especially the type that want to invest with private banks and financial instruments rather than in property.

Yet in response to demand from the G20 group of developed countries, Singapore has promised to rethink its ultra private secrecy laws. Like Switzerland, Singapore has to walk the tightrope between keeping its sovereignty and international acceptance of its laws and banks.

One of the reasons why Singapore has grown is because it already was a large financial center in its own right. Unlike smaller tax havens and dependencies of other countries which have been accused of ”inventing” laws to benefit from capital flight, Singapore is a long-standing trading hub and center of international financial settlements.

There are several arguments in favour of Singapore keeping its privacy laws. Many private banking clients in Singapore are very powerful people among neighbours like China, Indonesia and Thailand. It’s in their interest to ensure that Singapore bank secrecy is not relaxed. Furthermore, Singapore is an international financial center – it cannot be blackmailed in the same way as other jurisdictions.

However Singapore has made concessions, and may not necessarily see its future in harbouring Western tax evaders. Singapore has signed TIEAS with a number of countries and promised to adopt article 26 of the OECD model tax convention on information exchange over tax matters.

After Swiss banking secrecy was put under the spotlight, it was widely reported that bankers were urging a massive flight of capital to Singapore, where bank secrecy rules still held strong. But in reality, basing any structure on bank secrecy is like building a house on a fault line, it’s bound to change. The smartest investors instead used techniques which do not depend on bank secrecy in any single country.

Savvy private banking clients are now using distinct structures which operate independent of bank secrecy such as investing through trusts or trust companies.

Further, the reasons for banking in an offshore centre like Switerland do not depend entirely on tax. In fact the biggest reason is security. Hundreds of banks have been going under in the US, not Switzerland. Investors are also escaping from currency devaluations, civil forfeiture and frivolous lawsuits.

Singapore wealth management is certainly growing in sophistication, but it is still in a learning phase. During the mid 2000’s when Singapore’s private banking industry was growing rapidly, it was alleged that ther were not enough bankers to meet demand. Singapore private banks were instead employing local hairdressers and carsalesmen with good people skills and turning them into private bankers.

Singapore private banking is modelled closely on Swiss private banking, even down to its family trust law. In terms of weathering geo-political events like the war on bank secrecy, Singapore may have to follow the Swiss lead also.