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
Small Business Cash flow Loan Scheme ExtensionThe Small Business Cash flow loan scheme applications were due to close today, but this has now been extended until 24 July 2020. If you missed our previous newsletters, you can find out more about this here. KiwiSaver Government Contribution ReminderJust a reminder that if you are wanting the … Read more
Wage Subsidy Extension threshold now 40% revenue drop In our previous blog we talked about your business needing to have a 50% drop in revenue to apply for the wage subsidy extension, but today the government announced this has changed to a 40% drop in revenue for a 30 day period, in the 40 days … Read more
Here are a few COVID-19 Updates and reminder’s you may find useful: RedundanciesThe Government announced a $570million scheme called the COVID Income Relief Payment. This is aimed at people who have lost their job due to the impact of COVID-19 between 1 March 2020 and 30 October 2020, to help people adjust and find new … Read more
Yesterday, the Government announced a $50 Billion Rebuilding Together 2020 Well-being budget. This response and recovery fund is the biggest NZ Government spend in history. Below is what I think is most relevant for business: The Wage Subsidy Extension I will start by saying do not apply for this straight away without understanding the 50% … Read more
More details have been released today about the SBCS Loan (Small Business Cashflow Scheme). In case you missed our previous blogs, here is a quick overview and some updates: The reason why you should speak to us or your accountant first is because if you are short on equity, applying for this loan could affect … Read more
The Government is announcing when we will be moving to Alert Level 2 next Monday (11/05). As we move into Alert Level 2, some restrictions will ease, but here is some more information about what life will look like for businesses: • Most businesses can reopen as long as they can do so safely. This … Read more
Here are some things we think you might find interesting for the first week of Level 3 for your business: Important Business Government Updates A big announcement today – Interest Free LoansThe Government will provide interest-free loans of up to $100,000 to small businesses grappling with the impacts of COVID-19, after banks failed to … Read more
New Zealand will be moving to Alert Level 3 on Tuesday 28th of April but what does this mean for you and your business? Here’s a summary: This week is a great week to prepare your Business and COVID-19 Alert Level 3 Plan for reopening. Here is some useful information and templates to help you … Read more
On Tuesday I was at a really interesting talk put on by the ExportNZ through the Chamber of Commerce, and as you would guess, the hot topic was “how is Coronavirus affecting New Zealand’s exports, business and economy? This is my basic interpretation of the two very intelligent speakers, Westpac Senior Economist Satish Ranchhod and … Read more
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
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