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Minimum wage increases to $23.15 per hour

The Workplace Relations and Safety Minister has announced a bump in the adult minimum wage to $23.15 per hour starting 1 April 2024, marking a 2% increase from the current rate of $22.70. Brooke van Velden had initially proposed a 1.3% increase, while the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment recommended 4%.Both the Starting-Out and Training minimum wage rates will rise to $18.52 per hour, staying at 80% of the adult minimum wage.This change affects a large number of workers, estimated...

Five Steps To Better Cash Flow

Need a hand managing cash flow? You’re not alone. The key is getting your invoicing right, by invoicing customers as soon as possible and using tools like Xero’s invoice reminders to move payments along.That said, there are a few other simple rules you can apply to manage your cash flow and get your invoices paid even faster:Keep your books accurate and up to date - so you can see your financial state at a glance.Don’t be too lenient with your customers - you can be direct and st...

Navigating the New Year: A Guide to Setting and Achieving Your Business Goals

The beginning of a new year is like hitting the reset button, right? If you're a business owner, this is the perfect time to take a step back and think about where you're at and what you want to achieve in the upcoming year.Setting goals is like the secret sauce for personal and professional growth. Whether you're dreaming big or just plotting out some day-to-day projects, like getting paid faster or tightening up your expenses, it's all important. Maybe you're even thinking about automating som...

Small Business Holiday Season Checklist

As the holiday season approaches, it's essential for businesses to not only embrace the festive spirit but also strategically navigate the challenges that come with year-end operations. Ensuring a smooth cash flow, optimising marketing efforts, and preemptively addressing staffing and inventory concerns can significantly contribute to a successful transition into the new year. In this guide, we'll explore key aspects of holiday business management, providing insights on financial planning, marke...

Striking the Right Balance: Navigating Automation Without Losing the Human Touch

Transforming your business into a cutting-edge, digital powerhouse involves embracing automation. However, in our quest for efficiency, are we neglecting the personal, human touch that certain areas may benefit from?Creating a personalized customer experience is crucial, and automation can contribute significantly by tailoring experiences based on data. Yet, not everyone is enamored with automation. According to a recent survey, 36% of customers prefer waiting on hold to speak with a human agent...

Strategic steps - Preparing your business for sale

Selling your business is a significant step, and we understand the value you've built over the years. It's not just about getting the best price; it's securing the best future for your legacy. To help you navigate this journey, we've outlined five practical steps to maximize the value of your business and make it an attractive prospect on the market....

Wellbeing toolkit at your fingertips

Heard of The Five Ways to Wellbeing? They are simple and proven actions you can introduce in your workplace to help staff find balance, build resilience, and boost their mental health and wellbeing:Connect: feeling close to and valued by others boosts wellbeing. Take a moment every day to connect with colleagues.Be Active: being physically active improves physical health and can improve mood and wellbeing, decreasing stress, depression, and anxiety. Go for a walk or run. Step outside.Take Notice...

How do you track your goals and measure success?

How do you know if your business is on track with your goals? If you’re not where you want to be, how do you know what will take you there? This is where Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are important for your business.KPIs represent general performance and overall efficiency and you should measure them regularly. Information from various areas of your business helps you tell how well you are tracking against your business goals.How do you measure success? To run your business as efficiently ...

5 vital things to set up before you pass away

No-one wants to spend too much time thinking about their own mortality. But the reality is that forward planning removes a lot of the uncertainty for your loved ones in the event of your death. The following guidance may also be useful to help you guide others.Passing on without any clear legal instructions regarding your finances, assets and estate can leave your nearest and dearest in a very difficult position. It’s far better to make plans well in advance and to have these documents safely ...

Time to upgrade to New Reports in Xero

Are you still using older versions of Xero Reports?Xero has had two versions of their reports for a while — the older version and their ‘new’ reports. As of 31 July they will no longer be maintaining and providing technical support for the older versions. These will be retired on 31 July 2023 at 6am NZST.This means you’ll need to upgrade, if you haven't already. Note: You will need to do your month-end reporting for July 2023 in new reports.What’s going to happen on 31 July 2...

5 ways to ensure you get paid on time

Worrying whether customers will pay you on time is a continual concern for business owners.Late payment can lead to cashflow issues, unpaid supplier bills and the need to dip into your own pocket to cover your operational expenses. If you can improve the speed and likelihood of customers paying on time, that's good news for your accounts receivable targets and the company's overall liquidity and cashflow position....

Do you need to improve the cash flow position for your business?

Keeping on top of the financial management of your business can be hard work. It's possible to have a profitable business that is struggling to find the cash flow to pay expenses and fund growth. Likewise, you could have positive cash flow but are not turning a profit, particularly if you are scaling.Turning a profit is at the heart of running any successful company But without an even and predictable flow of cash into the company, you can't cover your overheads, you can't pay your employees and...

Budget Alert 2023

‘Support for today building for tomorrow’.Like the rest of the world, New Zealand has reeled from the aftermath of Covid, rising inflation and interest rates, and the cost-of-living crisis. This year we also have a massive storm damage repair bill.The 2023 Wellbeing Budget was distinctly lacking in a lolly scramble. Treasury believes we have headed off recession for this year. Inflation is predicted to fall to 4.5% by late 2023. The budget forecasts a $7.6b deficit for this year, rowing back...

Profit improvement and productivity

Do you already track your gross and net profit but are at a bit of a standstill on how to increase profitability? Think about the relationship between business profit and productivity. You can increase profitability if you produce more and pay less for what you need to produce and sell your goods or services.It's not about cost-cutting. It’s about looking closely at the value you get for what you spend and how you can best create value for your customers.The relationship between productivity a...

Provisional tax: What you need to know

If you are an employee, your employer sorts out PAYE on your behalf. But when you’re self-employed, you need to pay your own income tax.For example, if you earned $100,000 from your business, the income tax on that income would be just under $24,000. This can be a lot to pay all at once. Provisional tax breaks your income tax lump sum into installments that are paid throughout the year, smoothing out your tax burden....

Which employee gifts are tax exempt?

Whether it’s for reaching a sales target, a birthday, Christmas or just to say thanks, sometimes you want to buy gifts for your employees.Although it’s a nice gesture, as a business owner it can be unexpectedly complex to provide staff perks. Perks like subsidised gym memberships and discounted products will attract fringe benefit tax, while cash and cash-redeemable vouchers are taxed as part of PAYE....

Top tips for getting your financial year end work completed

A new financial year is upon us and that means that it’s time to check the accuracy of your financial information in your accounting software for the past financial year, and to gather the documentation that we, as your accountant, will need to finalise your accounts and file your tax returns.The sooner we have this information the sooner we can complete your accounts and notify you of your tax position. It’s a good idea to have this information as soon as possible so that you can make infor...

Terminal Tax Due - 7 April 2023

The end of the tax year is upon us, so this is a quick reminder that your terminal tax payment is due on 7 April.If cashflow is a problem and you’re not confident in your ability to make your payment, please get in touch. We understand that cashflow continues to be tough for some businesses and clients, so you’re not alone....

Increase to the minimum wage

The adult minimum wage increased to $22.70 per hour on 1 April.The starting-out and training minimum wage rates have also gone up to $18.16 per hour.Employers who pay their employees by the day, week, or fortnight, or pay them an annual salary, need to make sure employees are paid at least the minimum wage appropriate to the basis on which they are paid. Additional time must be paid at least $22.70 per hour....

New GST invoice rules - making life easier

No more piles of receipts and invoices required!Dealing with GST invoices is now much simpler. Inland Revenue’s new rules, from 1 April, 2023 aim to modernise your record-keeping systems, which means you’ll be able to get closer to a completely paperless business.Physical paperwork or PDFs no longer required.From April, you no longer need to keep a physical copy of a tax invoice, a credit note or a debit note. Your taxable information supply can be digital – included in your accounting sof...

End of tax year tips: rules for trusts, asset write-offs and sales

It can be challenging coming up to 31 March, to consider all the factors which may have an impact on your tax position. We will soon be sending out questionnaires which will allow you to work your way methodically through the information we need to prepare your financial statements and tax returns. ...

Adding value to your business prior to an exit

Generally speaking, an exit strategy will be put in place years before your planned exit date. This gives you time to work on your sale plan and deal with any succession issues. But more importantly, it gives you the time needed to add additional value to the business prior to a sale.Every business has its own unique sale value, based on the size of the business, the worth of its assets and the perceived value of the company on the open market.But what can you do to add value to your business an...

Happy New Year!

We wish you a Happy and Prosperous 2023 - we hope it brings you health, wealth, and happiness.For business owners, this is often the time of year when you reflect on where you are at and think about your business goals for the year ahead.These could be lofty goals, or even setting out a plan to achieve some more mundane (but equally important) projects. Whether that is getting paid faster, reassessing expenses, or bigger things like automation of processes and new markets.We are here to help you...

Manage your Christmas cash flow

Christmas means many things to may people but for business owners it can mean disruptions to cash flow Take some simple steps to manage it and save yourself a headache going into the new year. You can prevent problems from spilling into the New Year by: Getting your invoices out early. Ensure December and January invoices go out well before Christmas to give your customers the chance to pay before the break. Encourage customers to pay before Christmas if they are closing over summer.Chasing up y...

Tricky tax questions at Christmas time

No matter how well you’ve planned in advance of the Christmas flurry or whether you’re still taking care of last-minute items, be aware of what you can claim tax deductions for, or where you might be liable for tax. Here are some answers to common tax questions at this time of year....