Yesterday Monarch Institute helped welcome eight new students into the I CAN with MYOB Program as it takes off for the second year.ts.

What's an Ideathon? Alex finds out...

"Not only does it improve your work skills but it also improves your personal skills, building your confidence and being a team player”.

There are more jobs in logistics than ever.

How do you grow your Instagram influence and personal brand?

How does someone go from no experience, to practicing as a finance and mortgage broker?

Students are often a long way away from their teachers, but that doesn’t mean they are alone. Here's our study tips you really should know...

What are the unique qualities and features of Australian Leadership?

Businesses that can put altruism and authenticity at the core of what they do, build a community of loyal followers.

Oh cloud how I love thee

If you are wondering what digital storytelling is, here’s a quick explanation.

Who is FASEA and what are these new rules?

There's a lot to be said for 'YOLO'. But at the same time how do you invest in your future?

“I definitely have a natural interest in bookkeeping and accounting that’s always been there, but the course has given me the confidence to really make a difference in my community”

Succession planning can mean the difference between success and failure for a family business.

Bitcoin is the biggest bubble in town….. or is it?

As a small business owner, you’re the master of all departments. Here’s our top reasons to consider up-skilling within your small business.

Students often ask how they can formally add ‘BAS Agent Registration’ to their career portfolio. But what IS a BAS?

How do you make sure you actually nail online learning?

A sibling or relative as your small business partner. What could go wrong?

Network Ten's voluntary administration. How did we get here?

Logistics in the Asia Pacific region is undergoing changes. Are we meeting Australia's needs?

Wrong! The law is, well, the law!

Customer service needs to be at the core of your business.

E-commerce retailers are the future. Does this shift represent the start of a terminal death spiral for iconic Aussie retail players, or something else?

Productivity is real, it can raise living standards. It can allow consumers to become wealthier and businesses to become more profitable.

Driver-less vehicles are coming. So where does that leave demerit points?

Unless your ego is huge or you were born like Bill Gates, don't compare yourself to Elon Musk - you'll feel lazy.

Despite Kodak inventing the digital camera, it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012. Why?

What happens when you sit with a bona fide conspiracy theorist at a financial advice event?

You know the feeling, when you are on the brink of something new? Yeah me too.

What did you learn? Everything...

What happens to your brain after eight weeks of mindfulness?

Is starting a small business good for you?

here today; gone tomorrow. Dick Smith's journey wasn't unexpected.

How do we decide what success means to us and how can we achieve it?

How do you get smarter, quicker?

Ok before you shake your head in despair, I have a confession to make.

Bookkeeping and accounting professionals have technology to thank.

Our students that do our courses range from 17 years old to 70 years old. Can it work?

Loving yourself is the new black.

This is the first time a deal has been made between an Australian bank and Bitcoin putting Westpac at the forefront of cryptocurrency investment in Australia...

MYOB listed on the stock exchange in May 2015 at a commanding 2 Billion dollar price tag! If there was ever a question about precisely how valuable this accounting software company was, the share market debut confirmed it.

Investing in cash is simple right? Well in the most part yes. However, different investment options do exist when it comes to deciding how to invest in cash or fixed interest investment options. But first let’s get a little perspective.

With numerous software packages out in the accounting and bookkeeping arenas, choosing the best one for your business needs can be confusing.

If you are in need of a little inspiration, knowledge and ideas from time to time and you DON’T want to study within a 'paid' course, are there other options? In short yes. But first, a confession.

When talking about life insurance it's certainly not one-size fits all. Whoever said, ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’, was dead wrong when it comes to life insurance.

Most people are pretty clear that Accountants and Financial Planners provide different services (...in the most part). Accountants specialise in providing tax advice and managing their client's tax obligations with the ATO.

Did you know nearly 12% of ALL jobs are full times sales positions?

The ultimate question - how do I become a BAS Agent?

If you thought providing Centrelink advice was exclusively for the disadvantaged and destitute, think again! Did you know millionaires in Australia are eligible for part Age Pensions?

Changing your career at any age need not be a daunting prospect, it can be a fun and stimulating process.

Studying online offers flexibility for people with busy lifestyles. Students find they can combine family, work and social commitments more effectively when they are able to self-pace their learning rate.

Forget the winter football fever, the big challenge facing financial advisers is how to legally help their clients reduce their tax bill before the financial year.

Yes correct....for a limited time, you will receive a FREE 12 month student membership into the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) when enrolling in either the Certificate IV in Bookkeeping, Certificate IV in Accounting or Dual Qualification.

Real world experience...you bet. Whoever said studying accounting and bookkeeping wouldn't give you "real life" experience! Did you know when studying our Online Certificate IV in Accounting or Certificate IV in Bookkeeping, Monarch provides you access to a state-of-the-art learning management system?

Many students studying financial planning and accounting and bookkeeping with us are naturally focussed on becoming technically proficient with the subject matter at hand. This is of course a very good thing!

We hope you have a fantastic forthcoming year...we can't believe it is already the start of February! As always we want to make sure our Blogs are timely, relevant and make you think.

When trying to motivate staff, many managers think “reward” and automatically jump to “money” alone. But though money can rent loyalty, it can’t buy it.

All business sectors go through challenges at some point in their life cycle. Just ask Apple. Can you believe there was talk about Apple moving into bankruptcy prior to the introduction of the iPod in 2001.

Things are moving quickly in the education space, and Monarch not surprisingly has chosen to be a forerunner. What does that mean for you, our valued students? A better experience. After all that is what we obsess about. And who said being obsessive is always a bad thing :)

As a specialist financial services training provider, we often get asked about programs sponsored by companies working within the financial planing industry. The AMP Horizons program is one of those programs we frequently get asked about. As the name suggests, it is run by AMP and offers candidates anywhere in Australia the opportunity to get into the financial planning sector via a unique pathway.

When entering a new industry like financial planning, it is important to ask as many questions and to gain as much valuable wisdom from successful professionals that have "been there and done that" before you. Success is something that doesn't happen over night, but it certainly can be learnt.

A recent article in the Financial Planning online insurance journal 'Riskinfo' outlines how social media programs are being launched by large financial planning dealer groups to help improve the engagement of financial planners with their clients and the community.

If you are on this blog, you are probably aware that being RG146 accredited in superannuation (either being able to provide personal and/or general advice) is a pre-requisite to working in most job roles in superannuation within the financial services industry.

Ethical, socially responsible, sustainable.... call it what you like, however investing with a conscience has moved to centre stage since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) as returns of the top responsible funds have outpaced the market.

A student of ours took a photo of this billboard yesterday located on an intersection in Kew, Melbourne. It's still there apparently.....

We were fortunate to hear from ANZ Bank CEO, Mike Smith last night at their Chinese New Year function that we were kindly invited to. Mike Smith discussed China mainly (...given the theme) and how important China's economy is to Australia's continued prosperity.

I read with interest an article the other day in Money Management that said there has been a significant increase in financial planners over the last 3 months who have chosen to list their practice for sale with specialist brokers.

Did you know that not everyone's superannuation money is sitting in their account ready to be taken at retirement? Some people's super money is merely 'synthetic' meaning an amount of money exists that the policyholder is entitled to, yet its in the form of an IOU!

The inevitable consolidation between accounting practices and financial planning practices is not a new concept. However, the timing is gathering pace according to many well known industry sources leading many to speculate the next 5 years will see a dramatic merging of traditional financial advice and tax accounting business models into a 'one stop' financial advice shop.

The 'modern' financial planning industry now only allows commission to be paid to financial advisers on the sale of life insurance products. All other income must be generated via a fee for service arrangement with a client. Now getting back to insurance, these products can include a variety of policy types including Income Protection, Trauma, TPD and Life insurance.

They both are gobbling up anything in sight, that's the commonality! In the last 12 months, participants in the financial planning industry have increased their appetite for acquisitions - you might want to call it a feeding frenzy. You only need to look at some of the deals of late.

A few changes have occurred this new financial year (...and we are only 2 days in) in the superannuation area impacting many people, particularly older Australians nearing retirement. These changes have forced financial advisers to re-assess investment and broader super strategies with their clients - a good thing because client reviews on a regular basis are crucial to good long term financial planning.

Monarch recently launched a new online assessment tool for students. The student feedback has been overwhelming, instant and very positive - a fantastic result for all staff that worked hard on getting it 'right' first time around. The main student comments have been that the new tool is intuitive, easy to use and ultra efficient.

The only certainty in life - death and taxes won't change anytime soon. But whilst we are on the subject of the latter, the Financial Services Minister Bill Shorten's announcement on 27th April 2012 that the superannuation tax is changing effective July 1st 2012 for people earning $300,000 may be just the start of the government tinkering more with super going forward.

Most natural disasters – which you can confidently categorise the Storm financial debacle fitting snuggly into, run a routine path.