1st April always see’s changes for payroll. Below is a summary of the 1 April 2025 updates: ACC Earners Levy – updating to 1.67 cents ACC Earner threshold – updating to $152,790.00 Minimum Wage – Adult Min Wage increasing to $23.50. Starting Out/Training Wage increasing to $18.80 Extra pay Tax in Termination Pays – Updated method for calculating Extra Pay Tax on Termination Pays Tax Codes – No change this… Read more
New Zealanders on salary or wages may find that once their income tax assessment has been calculated automatically, they end up having tax to pay – and suddenly it’s panic stations! (Don’t worry, this happened to me, and I did the same!). There may be a reason for it! If you get paid on a Monday, this year there are 53 weekly pay periods, as opposed to 52 weekly pay… Read more
Parliament has been debating the merits of the Wage Theft Bill since April 2023. The Bill progressed to the final stages of the parliamentary review process recently and will now move to its third and final reading before receiving royal assent and being enacted into law. This bill clarifies that it is considered theft when an employer does not pay an employee their full legal entitlements, which may include unpaid… Read more
Sales and profit are two very different things – as a business owner, you can find yourself without the cash to pay bills despite making sales you knew were profitable. You may also be startled to discover that strong cash flows from sales deliver little profit. What exactly is cash flow? A cash flow forecast tracks cash flowing in and out of your business. The timing of these flows enables… Read more
This year, Christmas Day falls on Wednesday, with Boxing day on Thursday. The same with New Years Day and The Day After New Years Day (they so need a better name for this day!). So no Mondayising of any of these public holidays this Christmas. Here is what you need to know about rights for employees and obligations for employers. Payment for working a public holiday Employees must be paid… Read more
Most people are not aware that technically, legislation says that annual leave payments need to be paid, in full, before an employees leave is taken. Thinking about why this is, takes us back to the days of being paid with a little brown envelope fill of cash, and the fact the employee won’t be here the following pay day to collect that cash. Yes, that legislation is outdated like a… Read more
There is nothing in the Act to determine when a payment must be made when an employee’s employment is terminated. There is so much to do for a final pay, and it can become a rushed activity on the final day of employment with the potential to get it wrong. If agreed between the parties, then it can be paid on the next pay day after termination or on the… Read more
With Christmas coming up fast like a freight train without any brakes and the payroll team are working hard to manage all the extra payroll changes over this time. One of the biggest questions this year is “When do I have to pay my staff?” With Wednesday and Thursday both being public holidays, and popular days for payment of wages, what happens now that we have 24 hour banking? There… Read more
Employees are one of the biggest costs, and the most important asset to a business, and annual holidays are a really important part of your teams health and wellbeing. Ensuring your team are getting what they are entitled to is your responsibility as their employer. If you don’t get it right, it can cause frustration for the employee, friction in the workplace and could land you in hot water with… Read more
Setting the ESCT rate for the next tax year is a 1 April activity that Payroll are responsible for. As part of your payroll checks and balances, you must check your payroll system is doing as expected. If you are processing payroll manually, you will need to set the ESCT yourself. Understanding how ESCT is essential to getting this right for anyone involved in payroll. What is ESCT? ESCT (Employer… Read more
Paying overtime to salaried staff has many consequences that a lot of employers are not aware of. The purpose of a salary is to pay an all-inclusive rate that is a fixed, regular payment to an employee for the work they perform. It allows a business to plan and forecast labour costs on an annual basis and can also provide concise data for business planning over the coming years, as… Read more
Remediation of your payroll system can seem extremely intimidating. There is a lot involved in the process of checking payroll for Holidays Act 2003 compliance. This information comes from the FAQ section of the Labour Inspectorate website so we thought we would share some of this here. How far back should re-calculations go? Once non-compliance with the Holidays Act 2003 is identified, the expectation of the Labour Inspectorate is that… Read more
We so often complain about how busy we are and that there is not enough time for everything. But what is it that you are actually focusing on? Are you including all the things that are important and necessary for your health and wellbeing? If you are, then you will be living a life that is meaningful and leads to optimal health and wellbeing. If you are not, you will… Read more
As a business owner or manager, you need to be ready for the minimum wage rates increase from 1 April 2024. The details of the increase are: Adult minimum wage will go up from $22.70 to $23.15 per hour. Starting-out and training minimum wage will go up from $18.16 to $18.52 per hour. All rates are before tax and any lawful deductions, for example, PAYE tax, student loan repayment, child… Read more
As a business owner, you’re the architect of your business’s vision and culture. But in the hustle to develop products, chase sales, and keep the lights on, some of the foundation often gets lost in the mix. Core values—those guiding principles that shape your company’s identity—are more than just words on a wall or a statement in a handbook. These aren’t just buzzwords to sprinkle throughout your website – your… Read more
When was the last time you felt that you had a week’s worth of energy to pour into just four days of work? As COVID-19 has reshaped our work-life balance and continues to redefine what is essential in our professional world, the concept of a shorter workweek is gaining traction. With proposed legislation in various states and countries, and the ongoing conversation among professionals, it’s evident that the discussion around… Read more
If you’re a business owner or taxpayer in New Zealand, you’ve likely encountered terms like ‘no GST’ and ‘zero-rated GST’ transactions. These terms refer to specific tax treatments under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system in New Zealand. In this blog post, we’ll break down these concepts in simple terms to help you understand the difference. No GST transactions No GST transactions are those where the goods or services… Read more
I have just returned from a Accountants and Tax Agents Institute of NZ (ATAINZ) Workshop in Auckland, where members of the ATAINZ congregated for a day of learning and community connection. Given I am a people person, it was lovely to catching up with others in person and really being able to connect on a level you just cant get over the internet. It was great to have our ethical… Read more
The Ministry have now removed the Covid-19 rules requirement to isolate for 7 days. Changes took effect Tuesday 15th August. This means the Covid-19Leave Support Scheme is no longer in place for those testing positive. An employee who has tested positive for Covid-19 should not be permitted into the work place due to risk of spreading the virus. The employer and employee may need to consider what other options are… Read more
An employee’s time on parental leave is included as continuous service and taking parental leave does not affect entitlement to annual holidays. Employees who take parental leave will still become entitled to a minimum of four weeks of annual holidays on the anniversary of their employment start date. However payment for annual holidays that an employee becomes entitled to: during parental leave, or during a period of preference after parental… Read more