Benchmarks for industries are constantly being released by the ATO. You can check on your industry by going to the ATO website and select the business option on the left of the screen. This will give you a menu for business tax, right down the bottom are the ATO industry benchmarks.

The following are examples:

Building Contractors

Material uses                                                                                  41.13%

Sub Contractors                                                                             23.37%

Gross Profit                                                                                    35.34%

Wages & Salaries (staff only, not owners)                                             9.63%

Motor Vehicle costs                                                                          3.11%

Net Profit (before owners' salary and benefits)                                     15.08%

Debtors                                                                                        28 days

Hourly charge rates                                                                              $34

Child  Care Centres

Total Income                                                                               $363,271

Consumable Items & Educational Resources                                           3.78%

Staff On-Costs                                                                                 3.94%

Wages & Salaries (Staff only)                                                            50.61%

Rent of Premises                                                                               9.50%

Food & Drink                                                                                    1.89%

Other Depreciation, Lease and Hire Purchase                                         2.17%

Interest, Bank Charges                                                                      2.11%

Net Profit (before owner's salary and benefits)                                     17.93%

Net Profit Margin (after owner's salary)                                                 3.23%

Subsidies Received as a Percentage of Total Income                             44.00%

Operating Hours per week                                                                        55

Weeks Centre open per year                                                                    51

Maximum Enrolments at any one time                                                         53

Children @ 30 June per Person                                                                 5.8

Cleaning Contractors

Materials used                                                                                  4.23%

Wages & Salaries (staff only) plus Sub Contractors                               21.28%

Other depreciation, Lease and Hire Purchase                                          2.63%

Vehicle Operating Costs                                                                     8.97%

Net Profit (before owners' salary and benefits)                                     51.80%

Consulting Engineers

Wages and Salaries (staff only) and Contract Staff                               33.92%

Non-Vehicle depreciation, Lease & Hire Purchase                                    3.27%

Independent Sub Contractors                                                             5.90%

Rent of Premises                                                                               4.12%

Staff on costs                                                                                  3.57%

Vehicle operating  costs                                                                     2.83%

Net profit (before principals salaries and benefits)                                 33.65%

Debtors                                                                                        55 days

Hourly charge rates                                                                             $111

Floor Covering Retailers

Total Income                                                                               $598,000

Gross Profit                                                                                    34.37%

Interest and Bank Charges                                                                 2.13%

Rent of Premises                                                                              5.18%

Wages and Salaries (Staff only)                                                         11.41%

Vehicle Operating Costs                                                                     2.70%

Net Profit (before owners' salary and benefits)                                       7.42%

Stockturn Ratio                                                                                   10.9

Days Debtors                                                                                        37

Sales Area as a Percentage of Total Area                                                63%

Trading Hours per Week                                                                          47

Owner's equity as % of total assets                                                  26.00%  

General Practitioners

Total Income                                                                               $822,000

Drugs, Supplies, Consumables                                                             2.16%

Wages & Salaries (staff only)                                                            25.30%

Rent on Premises                                                                              5.52%

Staff-0n-Costs                                                                                 2.23%

Non-Vehicle depreciation, Lease and Hire Purchase                                 2.70%

Net Profit (before principals' salaries and benefits)                                 49.22%

Support Staff per Practitioner                                                                1.52

Average Consult Length (minutes)                                                             15

Average No. of Consults per Doctor per week                                            156

Opening Hours per day                                                                         9.51

Opening Days per Week                                                                        5.50

Menswear Retailers

Gross Profit                                                                                    39.54%

Wages & Salaries (staff only)                                                              7.33%

Rent of Premises                                                                               7.72%

Interest, Bank Charges                                                                      2.28%

Advertising, Promotion                                                                       2.63%

Net Profit (before owner's salaries and benefits)                                   11.24%

Stock Turnover ratio                                                                            2.55

Trading Hours per week                                                                           50

Sales area as percentage of Total Area                                                   88%

Sales area per sales person (including owner)                                   54 sq.mtrs

Tiling Contractors

Total Income                                                                               $100,684

Materials used                                                                                16.04%

Sub Contractors                                                                               3.33%

Gross Profit                                                                                    80.63%

Wages & Salaries (staff only, not owners)                                             7.83%

Vehicle operating costs                                                                    10.99%

Other depreciation, Lease and Hire Purchase                                          2.12%

Net Profit (before owners' salary and benefits)                                     49.69%

Gross Profit per person                                                                    $47,605

Gross profit per completed job                                                            $1,453

Hourly charge rate                                                                                $29

Painters

On repaints 15% to 20% of the price charged goes into paint. New work 30%. 8 to 10 litres used per day. Price charged $25 to $50 per hour

These benchmarking guides are meant to give you an idea of where your business falls in relation to the samples shown and give you a better understanding of your relative strengths and weaknesses.

Please contact me for a more detailed analysis or if your business or service is not included in the adjoining list.