Blog | Accountancy & Business

How to pay less tax as a business owner

March 15, 2022

While there may be no way to avoid taxes, understanding how to manage your tax affairs as a business owner will help keep payments to a bare minimum.After many years in public practice accounting, I regularly get asked by business owners how they can pay less to the Inland R...

Approachable, patient and focused

March 11, 2022

Nick is a fantastic accountant. He is knowledgeable, helpful and gives great advice. He is professional and passionate about what he does. We’ve been with big accountancy firms in the past and treated as just a number. It’s been a far more positive and personal experienc...

How to avoid paying too much GST

February 25, 2022

Nobody likes paying more than they need to, and understanding how to control your GST payable as a business owner can save you money over the course of the financial year.Tax time is looming and many business operators are looking more closely at their accounts and wondering...

7 ways missing IRD returns and payments makes running a business ‘bad busy’

February 25, 2022

The challenges of running a business are often all-consuming, but if there’s one thing you can’t afford to let out of your sight, it’s taxes. Here’s why. Getting to grips with the admin commonly associated with the ‘back office’ side of a business isn’t for eve...

8 common ways to trigger an IRD audit

September 30, 2021

There are many things to avoid in business, and one of the most unpleasant is triggering an IRD audit. Here’s how it commonly happens. Having been involved in many tax investigations (on behalf of clients of course), I can confirm they are not very pleasant and can result ...

Business size categories in New Zealand: Definitions and why they matter

September 15, 2021

What does a “medium” business look like? Understanding how various organisations define business size categories is important for several reasons. New Zealand is a nation of small and micro businesses representing more than 97 percent of all firms. They account for 28 pe...

5 more small business GST mistakes to avoid

July 27, 2021

Many small business owners are rightly concerned about making errors with Goods and Services Tax (GST), so here are some of the more common and costly to avoid. As I wrote in my last piece on this topic, if you expect your business to bring in revenue of over $60,000 ov...

Does New Zealand have a Capital Gains Tax on property?

June 23, 2021

A hallmark of NZ’s taxation system has long been the absence of a Capital Gains Tax on the sale of property, but is that strictly still the case?A new client of mine is upset about having to pay tax at 39 percent on the sale of a property, saying that when he immigrated he...

5 common mistakes small businesses make with GST

June 18, 2021

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a tricky tax to come to grips with for those who don’t deal with it on a day-to-day basis, so here are a few items to make certain you get right. As a financial advisor and accountant, there are a few errors I see frequently made by busi...

NZ Budget 2021: An accountant’s take

May 21, 2021

The ‘Wellbeing Budget’ announced yesterday may have arrived in a pretty fancy looking folder, but the shine could be wearing off for small business owners.On Thursday, Finance Minister Grant Robertson alighted on the steps of Parliament brandishing a glossy looking folde...

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