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Bookkeeping is a significant part of any business endeavor. While it is typically not one of the more glamorous jobs, bookkeeping is at the heart of a businesses success and errors can cost the company significantly. You may be doing your own bookkeeping for your business or are just starting out on the own your own business journey. Here are some common bookkeeping mistakes that business’s make with some practical advice: Not reconciling…  Read more

Using your OWN vehicle in your business If you use your own vehicle in the business, you can claim the running costs. If you use your own vehicle for both personal and business use, you’ll need to make an adjustment to claim the business-use portion. If you use the vehicle strictly for business only, you can claim the full running costs.  If you use the vehicle to travel between home…  Read more

There is a cool little feature I came across in Microsoft Office Outlook to save a whole heap of time.  Its called Quick Parts. In Outlook, type the body of your email template out in your email. Eg: We have finalised your GST for you today.  You have GST owing of $…..  This is due by the …….. You can pay this using your internet banking.  Log in and go…  Read more

The entertainment rules can be rather confusing right?  Some things are deductible, some are 50% and some you cant claim at all.  Some you can but then FBT kicks in.  Goodness me! So I thought I would collate some info that might just help make things a little clearer.. Entertainment Expenses and their Income tax and GST Treatment General Rule If you provide entertainment for your team, clients or any other business…  Read more

The collection of paperwork for year end purposes is really important. If the correct paperwork isn’t provided to your accountant, then there is a whole lot of time spent going back and forth trying to get the information they need and in the end it just ends up costing you a whole lot more than it needs to to produce your financial statements and tax returns..  lets face it, it can…  Read more

There are a lot theories around about whether you should be GST registered or not.  My advice, if you don’t have to be, then don’t be.  And you do not need to be unless you have or are going to be turning over $60k in any 12 month period. (BTW It doesn’t necessarily make you more ‘professional’ to be registered.) Being GST registered means a whole lot more compliance for your small…  Read more

There is so much to think about when going into business.    Business plans, budgets, marketing, strategy planning, equipment purchases, patents, business structures, licences, permits, taxes and so much more..  Wow that can be overwhelming! My best advice..  talk to your accountant or trusted business adviser.  Friends and family all mean well and can certainly help, but make sure you get professional advice and understand the consequences of anything you…  Read more

A budget is the measurement of money coming in and going out.  Whether it is your personal funds or business ones, it pays to have a budget. One the biggest pain points when running your own business is managing the money. Where does it all go?  How do I make sure there is enough to cover my business expenses, and my personal ones? Do you know you need two budgets instead of just…  Read more

There are some great updates being released by Xero lately. Improvements have been made to the leave functionality in payroll. With this update: You can set up payroll to show annual leave an employee can take in advance of becoming entitled to it. When you set up a new employee in payroll, or make changes to an existing employee’s working hours, Xero will automatically calculate their annual leave entitlement. Read…  Read more

A month ago I wrote about it being award season and writing award applications for relevant organisations.  There is a huge amount of effort that goes into these award applications, and what you learn about yourself and your business whilst going through this process is a win in itself.  If you haven’t done it or are worried about doing it, just give it a go.  I am happy to chat…  Read more

Ontrack Bookkeeping was born in 2003 from a passion for helping people and seeing a need in business community for a quality, affordable and stress-free bookkeeping service.  I was working part time for the government and part-time as a bookkeeper for a plumber at the time.  As a mum of two young girls (one of who had serious health issues) I really needed to do something that meant I could…  Read more

‘You should write a blog about you’ they said.  ‘People want to know your story’ they said.  ‘They want to know the person behind the business’ they said… Really??  Well if ‘they said’, then I guess I must… So, here goes…  My name is Di.  I’m a mum of two and a wife, a boss of five, or maybe seven..  a company director and a sister of three, a daughter…  Read more

It seems to be that time of year where there are industry awards happening everywhere. The Northland Westpac Excellence in Business awards are run by the Northland Chamber of Commerce every year, and are a fantastic opportunity for all businesses.  The experience is incredible, the outside view you receive of your own business, and the recognition of your achievements is amazing. In 2007 we entered these awards as a means to grow my business and…  Read more

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Found on the Xero blog today, written by the one and only Melanie Power. https://www.xero.com/blog/2016/03/6-ways-to-build-a-strong-relationship-with-your-bookkeeper/  Read more

Wow, the amount of new features are releasing is amazing.  There is some really cool stuff, and man, its hard to stay on top of it all! There are email integration, and this was a wow for me.  Watch how GMAIL and XERO integrated on this YouTube video. There are enhancements to the CONTACTS area to help you view and manage your contacts better – did you know you can use…  Read more

We were VERY excited we were this week to find out that Xero had released a global search function.  Awesome! There was a lot of tweeting about this particular feature, and all bookkeepers and accountants will be very excited to have this functionality at our fingertips. Search is the new navigation tool within Xero, find contacts, bill, or transactions all from the toolbar. You can read all about it on the Xero blog  Read more

I came across a social media post today about assessing how far you come in your digital journey with your business.  Very interesting results… and a very useful tool.  Free….  Not much you get for free these days… So, if you want to see how your business stacks up, check out the website Digital Journey and take your free assessment.  You never know what you will learn. Take the Digital Journey Assessment…  Read more

BUDGET 2015 ANNOUNCED The Government’s 2015 Budget announced today includes tax proposals aimed at supporting children in poverty, ensuring compliance with the tax rules and strengthening the tax rules. The Budget includes proposals to: address child support penalties debt; increase the in-work tax credit and the abatement rate from 1 April 2016; strengthen the tax rules for property; repeal the $1,000 KiwiSaver incentive payment; and clarify that payments made by…  Read more

I have just spent the last few days at #Xerocon – The not to be missed conference for bookkeepers and accountants utilising the single ledger platform – WOW! This is THE conference to be at for our industry. What a fabulous few days, hosted by our very own Te Radar. This is not a conference about learning how to use Xero, if you need to know anything Xero related, contact a…  Read more