EDMs are a powerful way for pharmacies to connect with patients, sharing tips, promotions, and updates that build loyalty and trust. At Peak, we’ve seen firsthand how well-crafted emails drive engagement. Ready to make your EDMs stand out? Here are key strategies to help your emails resonate and inspire action.

Priya breaks down the basics of tax brackets and how they impact your earnings, whether you’re an employee, business owner, or investor.

With Stage 3 tax cuts in effect, now’s the perfect time to refresh your understanding. Priya explains how marginal and average tax rates work, why tax brackets matter, and how strategies like super contributions and deductions can help you optimise your tax position.

Data is more than just raw information—it tells a story. By understanding the insights it provides, you can make smarter, more informed decisions that drive innovation. At Peak Strategies and Strongroom AI, we’re passionate about data, and we’re excited to launch a new series offering insights and strategies on how data can benefit you and your pharmacy. To kick things off, we’ll be exploring how data can help you build stronger relationships with your patients, paving the way for personalised and effective care.

In celebrating my 10 years at Peak, I want to highlight 10 things I’ve learned and why my love for Peak continues to grow. On 1 September 2014, I entered through Peak’s doors and started my incredible journey into the world of pharmacy. I had just returned from a 2-year hiatus from accounting where I was travelling on the other side of the world and experiencing what it had to offer.

Cash flow is the lifeblood of your pharmacy, essential for keeping operations running seamlessly. It's the available funds at any moment that allow you to meet daily expenses, pay your suppliers, and invest in the growth of your business. Grasping the nuances of cash flow management is critical for the sustained success of your pharmacy. Patty outlines the key strategies for maintaining healthy cash flow in your pharmacy.

July has finally arrived which means the new beginnings of another financial year. Our team are currently working with our pharmacy clients to prepare the annual budget for the next financial year. This part excites us as we get to review the past year’s performance to see goals our clients have achieved, review what worked and what didn’t work for the business and discuss challenges and opportunities that are occurring in the business.

Hello hello, I’m not sure about you but I feel like I have just blinked and it’s already the end of the financial year! Marcus and I have been working with our amazing team on compliance for our clients. As we complete these returns, we often get asked by clients if there is anything they can do to reduce their tax. Unfortunately, at that point in time there are no options available to reduce their tax liability. 

Last Monday, we enjoyed a public holiday here in a not-so-sunny Western Australia. Around midday, our team chat started buzzing with excitement: the Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement (8CPA) had been signed! This agreement is a significant win for the industry, and we at Peak Strategies are eager to delve into the details as they emerge. Early feedback from clients and other pharmacists has been positive, especially after the tumultuous year marked by the 60-Day Dispensing policy and the preceding challenges of COVID.

The countdown to the end of the financial year has begun, and its high time for pharmacy owners to take charge and prepare for a stellar finish. As we inch closer to 30 June, we often receive an influx of inquiries from pharmacy owners and managers, all echoing the same question: "What must we do before the year ends?" Well, fret not, for we have the answers you seek. In this article, we'll delve into the crucial items that demand your attention as you wrap up the year. Get ready to uncover the key tasks that will ensure your pharmacy enters the new fiscal year on a strong footing. Let's dive in!

I find when it comes to marketing, everyone's first thought is to set up a strong social media presence. While it's a fantastic tool for raising awareness, pharmacies must explore other channels to connect with their community. And believe it or not, focusing on these channels can be even more crucial than social media! So, stepping away from the digital marketing strategies for this blog, I’ve highlighted below why and how you can begin to tap into generating engagement for your pharmacy at a local level!

Labour Treasurer, Jim Chalmers’ has released the 2024-2025 federal budget, focusing again on easing cost-of-living pressures, cheaper medicines, investing in Australian manufacturing and critical minerals for the clean energy transition.

It's astonishing to see how some buyers dismiss due diligence as a mere inconvenience and expense in the process of purchasing a business, without fully considering the risks involved. Unlike buying a house, acquiring a pharmacy entails numerous potential pitfalls, each with the potential for significant consequences. Moreover, the emotional aspect of the buyer adds another layer of complexity, as it may lead them to overlook crucial risk factors. This oversight leaves the buyer exceptionally vulnerable to unforeseen challenges.

In previous blogs I have written, I have from time to time mentioned something called Fringe Benefits. Some of you who have attended Curtin University in Perth might know Fringe Benefits as the hair salon on campus, however in the accounting world, I am referring to Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT). With the current market of finding good employees and providing benefits for them to stay or benefits made to business owners under a Company or Trust, the topic of FBT isn’t considered more frequently than it should and sometimes business owners are caught paying additional taxes before they realise it. As the FBT year has now finished for the year, I wanted to give a general overview and explore if you may have a tax obligation with the ATO that needs to be actioned now and/or what you can do to plan for the next FBT year.

There are the necessities of bank funding and compliance, using the equity in your pharmacy to remove debt securities from your family home, determining a value for selling, partnership equity changes, sometimes for tax reasons, and sometimes unfortunately for Family Court reasons. Now some pharmacy owners will take a valuation report, go straight to the $value and ignore everything in between. Some will aggressively try to persuade me to change my opinion. Others think they know valuation theory more than me (some do by the way). Some will go through the valuation with a fine-tooth comb and focus on each word and sentence but are so respectful and balanced with it (yes, you know who you are).

When it comes to pharmacists and marketing, I often come across this common assumption that it's all a bit wishy-washy and tough to keep tabs on. Sure I get it – from the outside it might seem like all we do in marketing is whip up snappy captions for videos and scroll through social media. But you know what? What I get excited about in marketing is the data. Call me biased, but surrounded by accountants as I am, I believe that good data is the key to making solid decisions. So, today, I'm excited to dive into some analytics through different avenues that I think are crucial to track in a pharmacy setting from a marketing perspective. Let's get into it!

Over six months have passed since the implementation of sixty-day dispensing (60 DD). In a recent LinkedIn video, John noted that he now has over six months of post-policy data for pharmacy valuations. He mentioned that the impact hasn't been as significant as initially anticipated, emphasising that it's still early days and the pharmacy landscape is ever evolving.

It's been a while since community pharmacies in sunny WA started offering UTI prescribing. As a strong advocate for the full scope of practice, I welcomed this stride in providing accessible healthcare for our community. However, recently, I've observed a lack of awareness among the public regarding pharmacists and UTIs. Many are still unaware that this service is available at their local pharmacy. I've had more than three conversations with family members and friends who were surprised to learn about this offering.

At Peak, we're not just about staying ahead in the pharmacy industry; we're all about immersing ourselves in the heart of it. So, when Patricia, (Bookkeeping Manager), and Priya, Director, jetted off to the Australian Pharmacy Conference (APP) 2024, it was more than just a conference—it was an adventure. Let's dive into their three-day whirlwind, filled with insights and connections.

Changing or choosing a brand for your pharmacy is no doubt a massive decision, and certainly nothing to be undertaken lightly. Akin to you all of a sudden changing your own personality and how you present yourself, your store will also take part in the next stage of its evolution in changing its personality and how it presents itself. It is a big decision that can have big implications to the future success of your pharmacy.

The countdown for Australia’s biggest pharmacy conference, APP, is just around the corner. I have been honoured to attend in past years’ and have always enjoyed meeting others who are passionate about all thing’s pharmacy. Plus, there is the learning and updating myself with the pharmacy landscape so I can come back home and share this knowledge. Seminars, conferences, workshops and training for employees and owners are important to career development. It allows you to learn and upskill yourselves to do a better job, provide a better service and open doors to opportunities.

At Peak Strategies we get to see a lot of pharmacy financial data, whether from our own compliance or bookkeeping clients, or from the valuations we do. One of the most important aspects of managing your pharmacy’s finances is cashflow. Cashflow is king. It is the lifeblood of your pharmacy and therefore needs to be given priority. What often comes up though is the slow creep of cashflow tightening.

I might not own a business, but I do oversee a department here at Peak. The start to this year has been a bit off for me – kind of wonky. But you know what? Out of all this wonkiness, I've dug deep and discovered quite a bit about myself. It's also made me reflect on my job and how to run the show smoothly. I've also learnt a solid lesson along the way, something I believe any pharmacy owner or business head could relate to. So, in classic Peak style, I've written a blog sharing my newfound wisdom…

We've noticed a gap in our marketing content: while we strive to provide comprehensive marketing insights, we haven't delved much into the practical "how-to" aspect of implementing these strategies. Specifically, we haven't tackled the use of design and branding software to elevate your pharmacy's content.

It has only just occurred to me, but 7 Feb 2024 will mark my time of 30 years since I got my first job in accounting. I knew I wanted to be in public accounting, and I knew I wanted to be a Chartered Accountant. It was just a question of where I was going to get my opportunity. I was super excited. But it wasn’t what I dreamt it would be.

During our meetings, we delve into crucial topics such as effective structures, borrowing capacity, cash flow, tax position, and equity position. While financial statements hold the answers to these questions, the real challenge for our clients is often, "do you understand your financial statements?"

It is often said that partnerships are like marriages. When they click, they're a beautiful thing; when they don't, it can be quite a disaster. Regarding pharmacies, we've witnessed some remarkably successful partnerships that have led to significant accomplishments. On the flip side, there have been bitter and ugly "divorces." Partnerships aren't a one-size-fits-all solution. While some owners thrive working independently, others find their groove within a partnership. It's a unique dynamic that doesn't suit everyone, and it is up to each person to go through that journey to discover if they work better alone or together.

I'm sure, just like many, you've been taking a bird's-eye view of your pharmacy as a business and setting some goals to kick off the next 12 months. Reflecting on last year as an industry, it's safe to assume that one of these goals might revolve around revenue growth and a solid marketing plan, right?

It is that time, when I do another year end wrap up blog, after another amazing, interesting, challenging and perhaps pivoting year. This will one of those years that will be forever highlighted as significant shifting moment for the pharmacy industry, with several major critical issues thrust upon everyone unwillingly through the impact of 60 DD, post 60 DD, expanding scope of service and many, many other issues.

Throughout August to November, I've had the privilege of connecting with pharmacy owners all over Australia. It has been immensely rewarding and I have met so many inspiring pharmacy owners. Obviously, 60 Day Dispensing continues to dominate conversations, and particularly what owners need to be doing now and the impact on valuations. Not only are the conversations on valuation impacts, but also on the strategies that owners must be employing to reduce the impact of the hit.