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Business vs personal expenses shouldn’t be mixed.

More small and medium-sized businesses may be eligible for the Business Finance Guarantee scheme, with a simplified and expanded scheme now in place. Participating banks can provide new loans, increased limits to existing loans or a revolving credit facility to eligible businesses. The scheme supports banks to take on lending by government taking on the default risk of up to 80% of the loan. Changes to the scheme mean the…  Read more

With cashflow being the number one concern on business owners’ minds, ensuring your invoices get paid on time is a key component to success. Given a lot of businesses are in the same boat, how can you get those funds in so you can then pay your suppliers who are looking for their money? In this blog we give you a simple guide on how to keep on top of your debtors.

Sometimes, an employee doesn’t have enough leave available to take paid leave when time off work is required for what would normally be a work day. As am employer, you can agree to the time off and not pay them for this time. This is usually called Leave Without Pay or LWOP. Leave without pay doesn’t end an employee’s agreement or change it, however, did you know that leave without…  Read more

Every year thousands of New Zealanders are called up to serve on a Jury, so if you have employees it is only a matter of time before one of them gets summoned for Jury Service. What should you do if this happens?   Talk to your employee Find out when they have been told to go for jury service and how long it may last. Discuss how it may affect…  Read more

In October and November Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) will be sending out annual invoices that would have normally been sent in July. They made a decision to delay these invoices for three months to help relieve the immediate financial impact felt by many businesses earlier this year.Remember to always check your BIC code (or industry code) to ensure you are on the right rate, but also check whether you are…  Read more

How easy is it to go paperless? You just need a digital filing cabinet.

In a pandemic world, setting up a strategy will guide your recovery and allow you to thrive.

IRD are no longer accepting payment via cheque, however, there is still a way that you can pay in person at Westpac Banks. You can make Cash or EFTPOS payments to the IRD by visiting a Westpac branch or Westpac Smart ATM. To do this you must either: Bring your return or statement that shows a barcode Create a barcode before your visit How to create a barcode for your…  Read more

While we are all planning our next steps as we rebuild our businesses, the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) have begun the mammoth task of auditing certain applications made under the wage subsidy scheme. This is an action that was signalled from very early on in the scheme. While the swift move into audit phase may seem harsh, the statistics that emerged regarding fraudulent claims on hardship grants after the…  Read more

The pains caused by any type of economic downturn can be excruciating, which is why most of us quiver at the thought of it. Just the word recession leaves us with so much uncertainly – it could mean massive layoffs, jobs becoming harder to find, and wages frozen. We start talking about a potential recession, the fear kicks in, and this all contributes to everyone hunkering down and spending less,…  Read more

The Government has announced that the Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme has been extended to the 31st December 2020 and can provide assistance of up to $100,000 to business’s employing 50 or fewer full time equivalent employees. The scheme is in the way of a loan from the government and will provide $10,000 to every firm and $1800 per equivalent full time employee. Loans will be interest free if they…  Read more

  As small business owners look to the future post COVID-19, there are some important questions to ask. These questions will help you determine what changes you want to keep, whether your business model is still working for you, and if there are any additional changes you may want to make to keep your company operational through future economic disruptions.It’s not always fun to do this sort of investigation, but…  Read more

Many business owners believe that hard work and dogged determination are all it takes to build and sustain a successful business. But when you consider the pressures of running a company, it seems wise to add effective stress-management to the list. Left unchecked, stress can erode your passion and undermine performance – not to mention, take a serious toll on your health. Research reveals that over 70% of professionals regularly…  Read more

From 1 July 2020, the duration of parental leave payments will extend from 22 weeks to 26 weeks and the maximum weekly rate for eligible parents will increase from $585.80 to $606.46 gross. The minimum payment rate for self-employed parents increases from $177.00 to $189.00 gross per week, which is equal to 10 hours of the current adult minimum wage. The number of ‘Keeping in Touch’ days will also increase…  Read more

Beyond COVID-19 – How to build value in your business We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – this has been an extremely difficult few months for all of us, but there is no better time to think seriously about your business. In this article, we have compiled a few tips to create value in your business. The key to building value in your business is to plan…  Read more

Managing cash flow is a vital part of running a successful business. Some business owners think managing cash flow simply means keeping track of how much money enters and leaves their business, but there’s actually more that goes into it.Cash flow forecasting, for example, is an incredibly valuable tool that helps you anticipate cash flow issues, plan for days when your cash flow is limited, and show the bank that…  Read more

Prepare a business plan for COVID-19 recovery (free template) You probably didn’t factor a global pandemic and national lockdown into your business plan! So now is definitely a good time to revisit your business plan for the next year. We know that writing a plan can feel like a big effort so we have created a template to make it easier. Please get in touch if you’d like to talk…  Read more

If you’re a small business owner whose company hasn’t gone through hardtimes, that’s great but it’s likely to happen at some point. As much as wedream about being brilliant enough at business that we’ll never face slow times,there are many things beyond our control that can negatively affect our business. It’s highly likely that the Coronavirus and it’s resulting impacts, hasput some significant pressure on your business.  Here are four…  Read more

This is a blog for small businesses about reducing cost tactics