Latest News

Stay informed about NZ Government updates impacting you and your business. Navigate changes, seize opportunities. Regularly check in with us for important news updates.

While a new Government is certain, its exact form remains a question. Whether a National & Act coalition or a three-party one with NZ First, significant changes lie ahead. How will this affect you and your business?

Businesses were not mentioned much in the most recent budget, but we have collated the main points that we think would be of interest to you: The Projections Summary Points You can read more summary points here.Overall the ‘Support for Today, Building for Tomorrow’ Budget for 2023 has a new operating spend of approximately $4.8 … Read more

Our thoughts go out to all who have been affected by the recent weather events. It saddens us to hear about some of the impacts this has had on people, animals, homes and businesses. We have learnt a lot about how natural disasters can impact your personal and business life, since the earthquakes, so Louise … Read more

We’ve put together, in plain English, a summary of how the Fair Payment Agreement Act will affect your business. What is a fair pay agreement? (FPA) The government is bringing in a new Fair Pay Agreement system, where employer/employee associations and unions will bargain for minimum employment terms across an occupation or industry. These organisations … Read more

ACCREDITED EMPLOYER WORK VISA – NOW OPEN The third and final stage for a new simplified work visa is now live. This Accredited Employer Work Visa was introduced to help with skilled worker shortages and allows offshore migrants to apply and work for a New Zealand-accredited employer. Partners and dependents of work visa applicants are … Read more

What’s in the Budget for you, as Business Owners: If you are like me, I’ve been extremely worried about the Government’s spending and I was hoping to see some belts being tightened. But we also need the Government to spend, to stimulate the economy, so tightening the purse strings can upset the economy too. If … Read more

A lot of us are experiencing various disruptions due to Covid outbreak at the moment, so we wanted to remind you that there is various types of Goverment support available. If your business is experiencing disruptions such as supply chain issues (or maybe your customers are), your production and sales are down, or you have … Read more

There has been quite a few updates since our last newsletter, and questions from clients about paying your employees during the Covid outbreak, this has been included in today’s newsletter as well as the following: Employee Leave and Pay Entitlements During COVID-19 As the COVID-19 cases continue to increase we are going to see a … Read more

Now that Omicron is in the country and we have moved to the Red traffic light system, it’s recommended, if you haven’t already, that your business has a policy/plan about how you will protect and manage COVID-19, to ensure the least amount of disruption. It’s the best thing you can plan for because it will … Read more

At 11:59pm tonight – 2nd of December 2021 all of New Zealand will move to the new COVID-19 Protection Framework (traffic light system). You can read about what this mean’s for businesses and about the capacity limits / defined spaces in the following links:• Requiring My Vaccine Passes for Entry – How you can check … Read more

The Government’s announcement on the next stage of the COVID-19 response plan introduces a new framework of measures that will commence when 90% of eligible New Zealanders are fully vaccinated. The new framework has three levels: Red, Orange and Green. Each has different levels of restrictions. At all levels businesses will be able to operate, … Read more

Cashflow is a business’s lifeline. Without it, there’s a significant chance a business will cease to exist; even if it’s profitable. Wondering if your cashflow is worth taking time to think about? Then consider this. If you are: Then you have a cashflow management problem. If you’re breaking out in a sweat right now, rest … Read more

This month we were invited to BNZ’s 4 panelists discussion on who’s at the forefront of our future supply & freight issues in & out of New Zealand.It was quite a sobering talk for me, as I thought as soon as Covid had settled and in 6 months’ time, things will just go back to … Read more

UPDATES ON LAST WEEK’S NEWSLETTER The wage subsidy – the main points to be aware of Important note: Make sure when you complete your invoicing that the dates of your invoices are when you completed the sale/job, not dated during the Level 4 lockdown period (the 14 day period MSD is counting as your fortnight … Read more

FINANCIAL SUPPORT AVAILABLE FOR BUSINESSES – WHAT HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED SO FAR: THE WAGE SUBSIDY – NEW AMOUNT The Government has announced that eligible businesses will be able to apply for the wage subsidy scheme via the Work and Income website from Friday (20/08). The new subsidy amounts will be $600 per week, per full-time … Read more

OUTCOME OF LAST WEEKS RESERVE BANK ANNOUNCEMENT:AUGUST OCR HIKE PREDICTION AND REDUCED ECONOMIC STIMULUS What we know…The Reserve Bank has just announced that the official cash rate will remain at 0.25%. This can be seen as the wholesale rate that the banks can borrow from the Reserve Bank at, essentially the lower the number the … Read more

JUNE 2021 UPDATES & NEWSLETTER RESIDENTIAL INVESTOR TAX RULE CHANGESThe Government recently confirmed a few more details for the changes to tax rules for property. The news confirms that anyone who has purchased a residential investment property before 27 March 2021 will see interest deductibility be phased out between October 2021 and March 2025, and … Read more

Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s 2021 budget is a cautious balancing act between incurring further debt and increasing spending on measures designed to reduce child poverty. After the dramatic March tax announcements that caused a tailspin among property investors, Budget 2021 is silent on any significant new tax proposals. However, the Government’s Budget 2021 document refers … Read more

1. NEW RULES TO KEEP CASH FLOWINGIf money is a bit tight, here are some tax measures focused on providing and enabling cashflow that you might like to consider:• The tax loss carry-back rule, which means if you’re expecting a tax loss for the year ended 31 March 2021, you might be eligible for a … Read more

The Government made some important announcements yesterday morning (23/03/2021) to help try and address the supply and demand for residential properties. They include: 1. THE BRIGHTLINE TEST FOR HOUSES WILL INCREASE FROM 5-10 YEARS.The bright-line test is increasing from 5 to 10 years from 27th of March 2021, meaning anyone who buys and sells a … Read more

REVISED BUSINESS FINANCE GUARANTEE SCHEMEThe Business Finance Guarantee Scheme was revised late last year to become more fit for purpose and to help more businesses recover from the ongoing effects of COVID-19. Rules regarding what the loans can be used for have now loosened and things such as CAPEX, working capital, business expansion etc can … Read more

Happy New Year!What a year 2020 was… none of us saw that coming! We hope you had a well-deserved & relaxing break! While there’s a lot of uncertainty about what 2021 will bring, we can take our 2020 learnings and plan for a better 2021.Just remember, no matter what road-blocks may happen this year, we … Read more

As of the 1st of December the Privacy Act 2020 will be introduced and this will impact all of us within New Zealand. What does this mean for you? Perhaps the biggest aspect of the new legislation is that compliance is now compulsory. Previously, compliance within the Act has been good practice. From the 1st … Read more

THE SMALL BUSINESS LOAN SCHEME EXTENSIONThe Small Business Loan Scheme was set to expire at the end of this year, but this has now been extended 3 years, and will now be available until 31 December 2023. The interest free period has also been extended from one to two years. For more details and how … Read more

I can’t believe we’re almost in October. Where has the year gone!It’s been a while since our last blog so there are a few things we wanted to update you on: THE SMALL BUSINESS LOAN SCHEME – STILL AVAILABLEThe Small Business Loan Scheme has been extended again, and you can still apply for this up … Read more

Here is a quick update on what Government Support is currently available: Wage Subsidies New Resurgence Wage Subsidy The Government Announced a new two-week Resurgence Wage Subsidy (RWS) Scheme yesterday. It is for businesses who have had / or predict that they will have a 40% drop in revenue, within a 14 day period between … Read more

Paid Parental Leave Changes from 1 July 2020 Parents with children due on or after 1 July 2020 will now receive 26 weeks paid parental leave (previously 22 weeks), and the maximum weekly rate for eligible parents will increase from $585.80 to $606.40 gross. The minimum payment rate for self-employed parents increases from $177.00 to … Read more

Apprenticeship Boost for BusinessesWe now have more specific detail on the $380.6 million initiative to help keep apprentices employed, and to ensure apprentices continue to start training throughout the recovery of COVID-19. Here are a few of the main details:• The Apprenticeship Boost will support up to 36,000 apprentices per year (including new apprentices), by … Read more

Before we get into what’s been going on this week. We’d really like to acknowledge all of our lovely clients for their stick-ability and adaptability to making a change in their business. You all need a holiday after the strain you and your businesses have been through. Make sure you are taking care of yourself … Read more