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The Domestic Violence – Victims Protection Bill has passed its third reading in Parliament. It aims to enhance legal protections in the workplace for people affected by domestic violence. The changes will come into effect on 1 April 2019. The new law entitles employees affected by domestic violence to up to 10 days of paid domestic violence leave per year, in order to deal with the effects of domestic violence.…  Read more

With the risk of scams increasing daily, having the best security in place over your data online is becoming increasingly important. Did you know that Xero has a feature to add another layer of security to your Xero account? Best of all, it’s free and easy to set up! About two-step Authentication Two-step authentication combines something you know – your email address and Xero password – with something you have –…  Read more

Debt collection. Two words that can send shivers down the spine of most business owners, whether it’s the phone calls you get (and try not to) or the ones you have to make. Let’s face it, nobody wants to make those calls. You spent a lot of time building a relationship with your customer, they were keen and excited so you did the job, they were happy (or would hope they…  Read more

It seems the speaking circuit is calling lately with invitations to speak at a few different events coming forward. I feel very honored to be asked and extremely nervous at the same time. Hearing stories of peoples business journey is always really interesting and hopefully I can inspire a few people along the way.  I wrote a post on our journey in March. I have been invited to speak at…  Read more

Auckland builders Juno Homes and EXP fined for serious employment breach Two Auckland building companies have been fined $7,500 for employment law breaches, as they failed to keep employment records or ensure workers were paid correct holiday pay. The firms then also failed to comply with a notice to fix issues that the Labour Inspectorate sent them in March 2017. Good employment relationships start with a good recruitment process so…  Read more

Bunnings NZ have announced it will back pay staff $11 million as part of its efforts to comply with the Holidays Act 2003. Paying employees annual leave (or holiday pay) can sometimes be a confusing business, especially when the Holiday Act can be challenging to even understand in the first place. There’s been a number of businesses recently in the media who have been subject to a 2016 government report…  Read more

Employers must make deductions for PAYE, ESCT (employer superannuation contribution tax) formerly SSCWT, student loan repayments, child support and KiwiSaver contributions when required, from any payments made to employees. Failure to do this is a serious offence and can result in penalties and fines being imposed. Anyone who knowingly fails to make deductions can be fined up to $25,000 for a first offence and $50,000 for subsequent offences. Shortfall penalties…  Read more

It pays to get those employment contracts right and ensure minimum contractual requirements are meet when hiring staff. From the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment 5 April 2018 A Christchurch business owner has been banned from hiring staff for three years after he was found to have intentionally and persistently breached employment law. The former owner of Christchurch bar and eatery, Watershed Bar and Restaurant, and restaurant, Sequoia 88, and the…  Read more

Bookkeepers and business owners have been on pin cushions this last weekend with the IR being closed for the latest on the business transformation project.  On 17 April, improved myIR online services went live, “making tax simpler for you”.  The latest improvements are designed to make it easier to do business the Inland Revenue.    But change can be hard right? The Inland Revenue have created some quick tour videos of the…  Read more

Our journey started just over 15 years ago.  I was a solo mum with 2 wee girls aged 8 and 5, one of who had some pretty big health challenges.  I was working 20 hours a week for MFISH and doing the bookwork for a plumber as a second job.  What started as an idea to be able to work from home and be present for my kids morphed into…  Read more

The payroll landscape is constantly changing, and not just for businesses and staff, but those of us who have responsibility of ensuring employees pay is correct.  The Payday Reporting legislation is currently before parliament and proposes to change the way payroll information is reported to the IR. Currently reporting is done on a monthly basis by way of filing our PAYE returns (EMS and EDF schedules along with Kiwisaver forms).…  Read more

Pay-as-you-earn tax (AIM) – what does that mean for you? From April 2018, small businesses, sole traders and contractors can choose a new pay-as-you-earn option, rather than paying provisional tax in instalments several times a year. The IR are introducing the Accounting Income Method (AIM) so you can pay tax based on the profit in your business during the year.  This aligns with the GST monthly or two monthly periods…  Read more

MULTIFACTOR AUTHENTICATION – WHAT IS THAT ALL ABOUT? Sometimes called two-factor, sometimes multi-factor, sometimes sign-in, sometimes login, sometimes authentication…  whatever the name, you should be using it! Wikipedia explains: Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a method of computer access control in which a user is granted access only after successfully presenting several separate pieces of evidence to an authentication mechanism – typically at least two of the following categories: knowledge (something they know), possession (something they have),…  Read more

Do you travel for work?  There are expenses you can claim against your income and there are those you cant.  Here business.govt.nz gives us the low down. What can you claim? In general, when you’re away from home you can claim for: flights taxis, or mileage if you use your own car for business travel accommodation meals and snacks. Accommodation If you’re attending a work-related meeting, conference or training course…  Read more

Entertainment – these rules create a huge amount of confusion don’t they?  In this blog we will try and clarify this for you. You may be able to claim as business expenses events such as Christmas functions or giving gifts to employees. However, you may not be able to claim all of the costs, and they may also be subject to fringe benefit tax (FBT). FBT is a tax paid…  Read more

Payroll is one of the most important tasks of running a business and can be pretty intimidating with the screeds of legislation to trawl through. For many NZ employers, organising it all can be a bit of a struggle – especially when trying to juggle complex government requirements, tricky leave calculations and Kiwisaver and paperwork. We have compiled a list of the top 6 payroll mistakes employers make when employing staff:…  Read more

Do you know if the information in your financial software is current and correct ?  A small business owner either does this themselves, or relies on someone else to do this ‘job’ for them.  There is a whole lot of faith and trust given that the processes are followed and the data is correct. So who in your business checks and confirms the accuracy of this financial information for your business?   Who manages this risk within…  Read more

If you’re a small business with simple job costing needs, projects is likely the perfect solution for you. It’s important to know which jobs that you do deliver the best return on investment, and which ones need to be reined in.  Xero have released their latest feature to help with this, Xero Projects.  This is a simple way to capture, track and report on the time and money spent on…  Read more

Payroll is one of the most important tasks of running a business and can be pretty intimidating with the screeds of legislation to trawl through. For many NZ employers, organising it all can be a bit of a struggle – especially when trying to juggle complex government requirements, tricky leave calculations and Kiwisaver. Regardless of the size or complexity of your business, Ontrack Payroll has you sorted work hard to make your payroll easy as possible for…  Read more

The last couple of months have seen me on a plane (or a bus….) more often than not, so it has been lovely to spend the last two weeks at home with my family. Sometimes work seems to take over and the ever elusive ‘work/life balance’ goes out the window. Are you ensuring you are looking after yourself and have balance in your life? September saw me attend Xerocon in…  Read more