How well are your staff performing? Do they love their job? Performance reviews, an open two-way conversation held once or twice a year, are a great way to find out. While you’re not legally bound to do appraisals, they’re a great tool to keep your business running smoothly.
Find a better balance with these helpful hacks Working harder is not always smarter. Burnout is common among business owners and staff who are pushed to the limits. Ultimately, it’s not good for business or your personal life to be burning the candle at both ends. But how on earth are you expected to fit … Read more
If you’re protecting your family property in a trust, there may be changes you need to make before the new Trusts Act comes into force in January 2021. The changes to the Trusts Act (the first in more than 60 years!) aim to make trust law more efficient and accessible, lower admin costs, simplify core … Read more
Did you know that you still have to pay tax on your debtors, even if you haven’t yet collected them? This is because you pay tax on your sales figures, whether you’ve collected the cash or not. So, how do you collect your debtors faster? Reducing the average time frame on payments for your business … Read more
Are you selling the wrong thing to the wrong person, not defining the value, or selling inadequately? Here are the top 4 reasons why you may be struggling to sell goods or services to your customers: 1. Selling the wrong thing One of the biggest challenges when selling is accurately understanding customer needs. It’s all … Read more
This handy feature in Xero allows you to assign any purchases you have made with a supplier and on charge these to a customer you need to invoice. It’s a great way to check all your expenses and disbursements you want to recover from your customer are being captured. For more information on how this … Read more
Every year legislators make small changes and tweaks to existing compliance and tax laws, that can leave businesses scratching their heads, and with a myriad of financial decisions encompassing everything from cash flow management to minimising tax liability. Accounting firms make it their mission to keep on top of new tax laws, and many offer … Read more
Join us for our Building a Better Business in 10 Steps seminar – presented by Louise Neville and learn the strategies you can implement in your business to reach its true potential. Date: Tuesday 13th of AugustStarts at: 4pmDuration: 1.5 hoursVenue: Accounting Solutions Limited77 Gasson Street, Sydenham, Christchurch 8023Price: $20 Donation per person (incl GST)All proceeds from this seminar will be … Read more
According to where all the statistics are pointing, our economy over the next 2 years will provide a great opportunity for business, not just in Christchurch but nationwide. If you take a look at the above graph the predicted Gross Domestic Profit (GDP) is expected to rise another 1% over the next 2 years. So … Read more
Have you checked your KiwiSaver contributions for the year to make sure you will get your government contribution? Just a reminder that if you are wanting the full government contributions to your KiwiSaver which is $521.43, you’ll need to have contributed a total of $1,042.86 between 1 July 2018 to 30 of June 2019. This … Read more
Every business can be broken down into 10 core departments with unique functions – two are strategic and the rest are operational. It’s essential to understand the 10 departments, the function of each, and the key responsibilities of each person in each department. The 10 departments and their functions are: 1. Shareholder: Funds the business.2. … Read more
It’s great to hear the government has broken the budget into a Wellbeing and Economic budget. With mental health now affecting business productivity, it’s about time that this was addressed. While there were no new tax announcements and very little in the budget to help transform the economy, there were aspects of the budget that … Read more
The Reserve Bank has cut the official cash rate (OCR) this month by 0.25% to a record low of 1.5% to put this in perspective in 2008 the OCR was as high as 8.25%. The immediate benefits have been, a falling NZ dollar against the U.S. Dollar which is really good for exporters. The OCR … Read more
I’m sure you are all aware of the recent changes to the myIR page. The IRD has now officially switched off their old system and completely transitioned onto the new system. The new system is meant to be a significant upgrade to the old, however we have come across a number of issues and some … Read more
There are a number of tax and employment changes coming into effect on 1 April 2019 and some of which have already been implemented. Our handy guide below has been created to let you know what is changing, what those changes mean to business owners and when they take effect to help you meet your … Read more
If you answered yes to any of the above, I’d like to extend an invitation for you to join me and Matt Cave from Employsure who will share what impact the below changes will have on you and your business and how to prepare for them. The topics we’ll be covering include: Event Details Tuesday … Read more
Hundreds of Kiwi business owners are enjoying the benefits of payday filing – are you? If not, you’ll need to be by 1 April when payday filing becomes compulsory. Now’s the time to work out how you’re going to integrate it into your payroll processes and save time on your tax obligations. Here’s what payday … Read more
Soft skills are the personal qualities that make people easy to work with and they’re key for business success. Here are 6 important soft skills and the best open-ended interview questions you can ask to help find out whether a candidate is right for your business. 1. Communication Give me an example of a time … Read more
When my husband Brett died Louise was one of the first people I turned to. At the time I had a whole host of complicated estates, trust accounts, companies and financial affairs to sort out. She flew to Queenstown and handled it all for me. She dealt with the IRD, our solicitors and other family … Read more
“The LIFT – Wealth & Lifestyle Mentoring programme was fantastic and it helped us take our business to the next level.” These are the words of Robyn Bennett who is part owner with husband Rick in one of Christchurch’s leading plastering companies, Premier Plastering Christchurch. We recently talked to Robyn to find out where things … Read more
Over the past 10 years, Richard and Aimee Trent have grown their business, Trent Building Solutions Ltd, from a ‘one-man-band’ out of the back of a shed to a thriving building business with a team of 15, based in Christchurch. As the business grew so did Richard’s workload; from managing projects and making final decisions … Read more
Planning a summer business trip with a personal holiday tacked on the end? Renting out the bach and unsure what expenses can be claimed? Whatever your situation, we want to make sure you’re getting the expense claim tax break you’re entitled to. Here’s the lowdown on legal costs for trust admin, travel expenses, mixed-use assets, … Read more
At 5,895m, the world’s tallest freestanding mountain and Africa’s tallest peak, Mt Kilimanjaro is certainly imposing but that didn’t stop Larry Beck from achieving his life-long goal of reaching its summit on 24 October 2018. When you talk to Larry about his experience you’ll learn that climbing Mt Kilimanjaro comes with many challenges; much like … Read more
Do you have a family trust or are you thinking of forming one as a way to future-proof your assets for you and your children? Take note – the Trustee Act is getting a makeover! While there are still a few parliamentary hurdles to jump, now’s the time to get your head around what the … Read more
Be aware, there have been at least 3 articles in the paper in June 2018 alone reporting on the reasons and penalties being imposed by the ERA to companies for paying holiday pay at incorrect rates, underpaying employees or for not having current Employment Agreements for their employees. Any penalty has to be paid to … Read more