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
With winter illness at an all-time high, a lot of employees are having to take time off work to rest and recover. We have been fielding lots of questions around sick leave, covid subsidies and getting it right when paying staff. Using the right calculation for payment of sick leave is crucial to ensure the employees get paid correctly and it’s a logistical jigsaw when managing those in conjunction with… Read more
Under the Small Business Cash Flow Loan Scheme the Government provides loans to small businesses, including sole traders and the self-employed, impacted by COVID-19 to support their cash flow needs. If you’ve previously applied for a SBCS and have fully repaid it, you can apply again. Applications are open until 31 December 2023. You can apply through myIR. The small business cash flow loan scheme will provide assistance of up… Read more
You started your business with plans of earning a living and being successful, but an unfortunate fact of business life is that companies suffer financial hardships. Whether those hardships are pandemic-related or linked to other urgent situations, the effect is still the same. Your finances are negatively affected and it’s up to you to lead the recovery. Here are 5 steps you can take to help your business recover after… Read more
The Government has announced new legislation outlining workplace vaccination requirements, taking the next step in their endeavours to vaccinate the population. The new legislation is to guide decisions on what work needs vaccination. To align with the recently announced COVID-19 Protection Framework, the Government will mandate vaccinations for workers at businesses where customers need to show COVID-19 Vaccination Certificates, such as hospitality and close-contact businesses. The Government is continuing to work… Read more
Fixed Assets On 17th March 2020, the government announced that for one year, any assets purchased for a business under $5,000 (exc GST) can be expensed in the year it is purchased. This means the full cost of that asset can be claimed as a deductible expense in that period. As this was only a short term adjustment, this is due to finish on 16th March 2021 (yes next week)… Read more
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
In a pandemic world, setting up a strategy will guide your recovery and allow you to thrive.
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
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
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
Economic Response Package Finance Minister Grant Robertson today outlined a $12.1 billion package to support New Zealanders and their jobs from the global impact of COVID-19. The global economic impact of COVID-19 on New Zealand’s economy is going to be significant, so we are acting now to soften that impact. The $12.1 billion package is worth 4% of GDP, a larger plan than that implemented in response to the Global… Read more