Frequently Asked Questions
What is
Barter?
How will my business profit
from barter?
How does Barter work with a
trade exchange?
What companies are involved
in barter?
Are there any tax
advantages to bartering?
How to treat barter
transactions in accounting record?
What if I get too little /
too much business?
What if I don't know what
to buy?
What if I need to make a
purchase before I've earned trade dollars in the system?
How should I price my
products and services?
Can I barter outside
Singapore?
What are the fees involved?
What do the fees cover?
How to Join Ozone Barter?
What is Barter?
A simple explanation of barter refers to the exchange of goods and
services without the use of cash. Bartering is also commonly known as
counter-trade at a corporate level, and in higher end international
trades.
How will my
business profit from barter?
Barter produces new business - allowing you to expand your market and
maintain your cash-paying customers. Barter conserves cash. For
example, if you owned a restaurant that had is vacant during lunch and
you need some advertising or marketing costing $3,000. Barter provides
a way in which you can buy the advertising and marketing services, and
fill your restaurant via selling of restaurant vouchers and maintain
your cash.
The same is true for filling empty rooms in a hotel, moving inventory
for retailers and manufacturers or increasing billable hours for
service business. Barter provides a competitive edge. Barter clients
are new clients that bypass competing businesses to do business at your
establishment while you are maintaining your existing cash clients.
How does Barter
work with a trade exchange?
A trade exchange eliminates the restrictions of one-on-one trading
where each business must want what the other has to offer. Ozone Barter
works with you to bring your company new sales, increased market share
and to minimize cash outlay for everyday business expenses. Clients of
an exchange use trade dollars, instead of cash, to handle their
transactions. An exchange acts as a third party record keeper,
providing monthly statements to clients, which reflects all trade
purchases, sales, and a current trade dollar balance.
What companies are
involved in barter?
All sorts of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) are in Ozone
which currently has over 5,000 members in Australia, New Zealand, South
Africa and Thailand and Singapore. Ozone is growing daily, increasing
the number of members that you can trade with. In Singapore, we have a
diverse group of members that form part of our trade exchange.
Are there any tax
advantages to bartering?
Barter income is treated the same as cash income. There are no tax
advantages or disadvantages to bartering your goods and services.
Barter is used as a financial tool, not a tax tool.
Ozone Barter provides your company with a statement of accounts which
you can view and download on your own from our website. It records all
of the sales and purchases you had transacted each month. Cash
purchases that are normally tax deductible as business expenses are
also tax deductible when purchased on barter.
How to treat barter
transactions in accounting record?
In accordance with General Accepted Accounting Principles, members must
record all transactions at fair market value. The member creates an
additional bank account in their General Ledger to record all trade
dollar transactions. Similar to a cash sale, when a sale occurs, the
revenue account is credited and the trade bank account debited. When
purchases occur, the asset, or expense, account is debited and the
trade bank account is credited. The trade bank account will equal the
balance if your Ozone statement at the end of the month.
What if I get too
little / too much business?
If you don’t receive additional customers as quickly as you
would like to, Ozone will give your business free promotion through
email or special mention on event(s) to all Ozone members in support of
your sales. If you receive too much additional business and
can’t keep up, Ozone will work to find additional businesses
with the same product or service, so that the demand is spread out.
Ozone works to make sure that its members are satisfied with the level
of business they receive through barter.
What if I don't
know what to buy?
Every member business is assigned an account service manager from Ozone
Barter. They can do a complete spending analysis with you on your
current purchasing as well as projections for your business in the
future. You can spend your trade in many of the same ways you spend
your cash.
What if I need to
make a purchase before I've earned trade dollars in the system?
Ozone will extend a trade credit to all new members so that you can
start purchasing immediately.
How should I price
my products and services?
Prices quoted to barter clients are the same prices quoted to cash
paying customers. At Ozone we use a recommended retail price as a
guide. Business owners are educated shoppers. Barter is simply a mode
of payment - just like a credit card or cash. If the items are over
priced, you will find that customers will not make that purchase.
Can I barter
outside Singapore?
Yes, you can trade easily and seamlessly with any member in any of the
5 Ozone exchanges. Ozone Barter has a built in currency converter that
is based on current cash currency exchange rates.
What are the fees
involved?
To join Ozone, a standard one-time application fee of S$800 (Cash) will
be charged. No monthly subscription fee, account maintenance fee, or
membership renewal fee to worry about.
Once you are an Ozone member, Ozone acts like a commissioned sales
force for your company. Bringing you new business through the exchange
and earning small cash commission on that business through transaction
fees. In the same way that a credit card company would bill you for the
transactions incurred. Ozone bills its members, and this is done at a
very competitive rate, at 5% of the value of each transaction.
What do the fees
cover?
- Account setup and maintenance
- Member’s directory
- Record-keeping services
- Telephone access to your Account Service
Manager
- Free online marketing and advertising to
other Ozone members
- Free Trading Session and other sessions
- Invitation to networking sessions, like
barter trading night, Ozone bazaar, trading trip to other Ozone
operating countries
How to Join Ozone
Barter?
In order to join Ozone, you must be running your own business (i.e. a
registered business or company with ACRA). Apart from that, most
businesses qualify to join Ozone and all are welcome.
To register, please visit our website at www.ozonebarter.com.sg or call us at
6255 5486/5429
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