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October’s Key Tax Dates - and things to note

We’ve put together key October tax date reminders for you to mark on your calendar.5 October: PAYE - Large employers payments due for deductions made 16 – 30 September. File employment information within two working days after payday.20 October: FBT - Payment and return due.20 October: PAYE - Large employers payments due for deductions made 1 – 15 October. Small employers payments for deductions made in September. File employment information within two working days after pay...

Getting in control of your inventory – to unlock efficiency and cashflow

As a manufacturing or product-based business, efficient stock management is a big part of running a smooth operation. But the way we manage stock and inventory has changed radically in the past decade, in no small part due to the evolution of inventory technology.With cloud-based inventory management systems now available for even the smallest business, and direct integration with your accounting and finance systems, there's no excuse for not being in control of your inventory and stock purchasi...

Which business expenses can you claim against tax?

Incurring expenses is an unavoidable fact of running a business. But which expenses can you claim tax deductions against and which don’t meet the tax-free criteria?Here’s our lowdown on which expenses you can claim against tax.Which business expenses can you claim deductions against?If your business expense is directly related to earning your assessable income then you should be able to claim a tax deduction against this particular cost.For example, everyday business expenses that you may be...

Should you invest in residential or commercial property?

Kiwis love investing in property, and it’s traditionally been a great way to build up your wealth over the long term.Property has one major advantage when compared to investing in other asset classes: it’s much easier to borrow to buy property than it is to buy shares. This can maximise your potential gains – or losses – of owning property.Over time, property prices tend to increase. However, in the short term they can fall quite significantly. This means property investment requires a l...

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 31th July they will not 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 Jul...

Have you got a plan for growth in your business?

Growth doesn’t need to mean more risk, more hours and more headaches.It may be as simple as identifying where the opportunities for growth are in your business and industry. Once you've done this you can establish what you and your team are going to have to do in order to maximise these opportunities, and how you will navigate the likely obstacles.Here are a couple of tips to get you thinking about growth:Do an audit to document your growth over time. Analyse all the information you have to un...

Planning for upcoming tax deadlines in August

Remembering the filing and payment deadlines for your business can be challenging. And forgetting about tax payments coming up can seriously disrupt your cash flow planning.We have summarised tax deadlines coming up in August for you to prevent you from missing any deadlines and facing a penalty.Tax Dates for August 20237 August - PAYE - Large employers payments due for deductions made 16th to 31st July. File employment information within two working days after payday.21 August - RWT -...

Can you outsource leadership?

One of the biggest challenges in business stems from TLT - Too Little Time. A great solution to this is to delegate more - either to existing team members or outsourcing. Look at the number of hats you’re wearing and see if you can delegate any of them.A reminder of the 10 departments, or hats, in every business:Shareholder.Director.Leadership.Product / Service Development.Operations.Marketing.Sales.Finance.HR.Administration / IT.As business owners, can we delegate the leadership of the busine...

Business tips: Building your brand to create a competitive advantage

In a crowded marketplace, it can be difficult to make your products and services stand out clearly from the competition. A key way to do this is to focus on building brand awareness and turning your existing customers and targets into advocates for your brand.Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Creating that competitive advantage won’t always be easy, but it is key to carving out a niche and scaling up to meet your customers’ needs.Clearly define your brand valuesOnce your brand values have been es...

The importance of goodwill in your business

Goodwill in accounting refers to the intangible value that a company can hold, above and beyond the pure financial value of its assets. This covers areas like brand reputation, intellectual property, and both external and internal relationships.A business that can show its goodwill in the marketplace is actually worth more – both intangibly and financially. When a company is up for sale, the price a buyer is willing to pay will be greatly increased if the seller can demonstrate this quality of...

Hiring employees who share your core values

At the beginning of your startup journey, you and your co-founders will be in charge of selecting and hiring the key members of your new team.The people you choose will identify with your core aims for the business and will (usually) share your core values too. For example, if being green is a key value, the people you hire need to resonate with this. But as the business grows and expands, it's likely that the hiring process will move to your operations director, human resources director or peop...

Could your business survive without you?

Would your business still thrive, or would it suffer a catastrophic failure if you suddenly stepped away?It’s tough to remove yourself from the day-to-day operations when you’re passionate and busy. However sudden accidents, illnesses, or family emergencies can – and will – happen and you need to be able to step back knowing your systems are robust enough to cope.For your business to work for you, you need to make yourself replaceable. Large corporations have plans in place to mitigate w...

Business tips - Setting up the compliance foundations

To trade as a business, you need to meet the right compliance requirements. It’s certainly not the most exciting part of creating a business, but setting up the right legal, accounting and tax compliance foundations ensures that you’re doing everything by the letter of the law.Here are the main compliance steps to think about, and why they’re so important to the smooth running of your business.Decide on a legal structure for the businessFirst off, you’ll need to make a decision about the...

Business Tips - Defining your business idea

Having that Eureka moment when you cook up a great new business idea is a great moment. You’ll be full of ambition and eager to begin building your startup. But once you've had that initial rough idea, how do you assess and plan out your business idea to make sure that it has legs?For a startup, the key thing is to define what your idea brings to the marketplace. This way, you know WHY you’re starting this venture and – crucially – whether it’s a viable business model.Research the exis...

Are You Suffering from Business Burnout?

The last two years have been demanding and exhausting for many business owners. Are you one of them?The challenges have been relentless, and we know many small business owners have had to navigate unprecedented demands because of the pandemic and related government regulations.Burnout results from long-term stress and can manifest in emotional and physical exhaustion, which may affect your enthusiasm for running the business you once loved.So, What Can You Do About it?We understand that as a bus...

Don’t trip! GST mistakes to avoid

GST can be a thorn in your side but if you understand when it’s due, what to pay, and you make the most of your accounting software, you’ll escape unscathed. Here are four of the most common mistakes we see business owners make with their GST.Not putting aside money to pay GST - For better cashflow, keep 15% of your taxable supplies in a separate account. If you’re registered for GST on a quarterly basis, you’ll be expected to pay the GST collected minus the GST you paid for that qu...

Cash is not profit and vice versa

The purpose of a business is to make money, and that means you need to know the difference between profit and cash flow.Net profit is what you have left after you deduct all your business expenses from all your revenue. You can improve net profit only by changing the things that affect revenue and expenses.For example, if:You renegotiate with your suppliers, you may get stock cheaper, or carry less inventoryYour staff engage with customers better, you can learn more about what they do and don’...

Efficiency through automation

The past few years have forced us to rethink the way we operate our business. The barrier of procrastination has been removed and we’ve had to adopt new technology and automate our processes.Technology exists to increase efficiency, but it can be a double-edged sword. When you apply automation to an efficient operation, it will magnify the efficiency. However, automating an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. In other words, we must first ensure our systems and processes are e...

Strategic business partnerships: the benefits of working together

Your business may compete head-to-head with a number of other companies, but this doesn’t mean you have to treat ALL other businesses as if they are the competition. In fact, there are real benefits in creating strategic alliances with other like-minded organisations.When you look at the wider marketplace, you’ll see that there are businesses out there that may well compliment your offering. And by working together (rather than against each other) it’s possible to become valued strategic p...

Creating a landing page that converts prospects into leads

Global attention spans are narrowing, according to numerous studies. With more and more information online we tend to jump more quickly from one thing to another. So how do you capture the attention of people that visit your website or social channels and convert them into leads, customers or subscribers?A landing page is a standalone webpage that is created with the purpose of getting your audience to perform a specific action, such as filling out a form, signing up, downloading a guide, or reg...

Which business expenses can you claim against tax?

Incurring expenses is an unavoidable fact of running a business. But which expenses can you claim tax deductions against and which don’t meet the tax-free criteria?Here’s our lowdown on which expenses you can claim against tax.Which business expenses can you claim deductions against?If your business expense is directly related to earning your assessable income then you should be able to claim a tax deduction against this particular cost.For example, everyday business expenses that you may be...

A strong strategy is the heart of your successful business

Businesses that have clear objectives or goals, robust accountability and a shared sense of purpose should always outperform those that just show up and go through the motions.Strategy lies at the heart of most successful businesses. To achieve this you need to resource and execute with a clear purpose. Few businesses have a strategic plan or a robust planning process. Changing this situation should be a top priority! Here are two top tips for business owners.1. Process Creates the PlanGetting s...

Understanding Your Statement of Cash Flows

The statement of cash flows, (also known as the cash flow statement), shows how your business has generated and used cash (and cash equivalents) within a specific time period.For each of the reporting categories, receipts and payments are listed (money in and money out), and this is reported as a net increase or decrease in cash held for that category.The net change in all categories is added to the amount of cash on hand at the start of the reporting period to arrive at the current cash on hand...

How staff training expands the skill-set of your business

Spending time and money on staff training is a must. When your employees can see that you're invested in their future, they feel valued, empowered and engaged with your company vision. That's excellent news for your employee satisfaction scores and your team spirit – not to mention the overall productivity of the workforce.Investing in the future of your teamIf you want great things from your people, you’ve got to give them the very best support. A job is not a static thing. It’s a role th...