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In the Office

Congratulations – Jamie Fisher Jamie has recently been admitted to CAANZ as a fully Chartered Accountant. We now have 11 Chartered Accountants in our team. New Team Member - Paula Kilgour We are pleased to announce a new member to our team; Paula Kilgour. Paula started on 16th March as our Receptionist and Marketing Assistant . She will work closely with Marie until 1 April when she takes over the reins at the front desk. Belinda Kremesec moving on ...

For your Office

Minimum Wage Increase On the 1st April 2016 the minimum wage will increase by 50c to $15.25 per hour. This rate applies to all employees 18 years and over. The starting-out and training hourly minimum wage rates will increase to $12.20 per hour, remaining at 80% of the adult minimum wage. PAYE decrease due to ACC Earner Levy reduction The ACC Earner Premium reduces from 1.45% to 1.39% per $100 liable earnings on 1st April 2016. This results in a small tax reduction for all employees. If your e...

In the Industry

Inland Revenue's crackdown on 'cashies' continues with their focus on undeclared cash in the construction and hospitality sectors. Last year the Auckland region saw the most activity. Inland Revenue are now widening their reach. They've been trying to change attitudes among tradies and subcontracting businesses and their efforts seem to be getting results. Inland Revenue acknowledges people trying to cheat on tax are in the minority but stress that they're a very expensive minority. The so-cal...

Business Advisory Update

Most people are familiar with the concept of breaking even. Your breakeven point tells you how many units you need to sell or what dollar value in sales you need to achieve just to cover your costs. Once you know that, you know the point you need to pass to turn a profit. Pretty Easy right? But a breakeven point isn't set in stone. It will shift as your business grows, costs fluctuate and as you continue to surf a constantly changing business environment. Monitoring Breakeven A breakeven point ...

Terms of Engagement Renewal

A requirement that falls under the banner of being a registered Chartered Accountancy Practice is to have an up-to-date terms of engagement with our clients. With this in mind, this year we will be sending all of our clients a new terms of engagement letter (either electronically or via the post). It is very important that you read it, sign the last page and return the signed page to us prior to the start of your financial statements. ...

New Annual Questionnaire Process

Sustainability and Efficiency are both very important to us at Accounted4 and we strive to keep changing for the better. Consequently, for the 2016 financial year (for the majority of our clients) we are trialling a new process of receiving the information that we require from you electronically rather than posting you out a paper questionnaire. In March we will be sending out a more detailed letter to clients affected by the change explaining the new process and what to expect. If you h...

Urgent Review of Holidays Act Required

BusinessNZ and the NZ Payroll Practitioners' Association (NZPPA) are calling for an urgent review of the Holidays Act after a release in the media this week stated that 'when an employee takes annual leave, you should pay them the … average of the last four weeks, or the last year'. The Accounted4 Payroll team would like to make it clear that this statement is INCORRECT. The Holidays Act 2003 clearly states that an employee should be paid the HIGHER of their 'ANNUAL AVERAGE' or their 'ORD...

Health & Safety - it's time

When it comes to how employers are reacting to the upcoming changes in the health and safety legislation, I've found there are three types of employers. The first is the employer who just sees it as part of business, and will get on with it. Then there's the employer who is a bit apprehensive and needs a helping hand, but quite willing to do it. And the third type is the employer who thinks it's just more red tape and interference, and who is unconvinced it will affect them. The ethos of our h...

Risk and Reward - Targeting the Cash Economy

Inland Revenue's crackdown on 'cashies' continues with their focus on undeclared cash in the construction and hospitality sectors. Last year, the Auckland region saw the most activity. Inland Revenue are now widening their reach. They've been trying to change attitudes among tradies and subcontracting businesses and their efforts seem to be getting results. Inland Revenue acknowledge people trying to cheat on tax are in the minority but stress that they're a very expensive minority. The so-cal...

Better Administration of PAYE - Submission to IRD

At Accounted4 we provide a payroll service for clients using various payroll providers that best fit our client's individual needs. I am all for reducing compliance costs for businesses but I think the Government needs to look at the complicated payroll legislation that we have in NZ first. We have so many different types of pay calculations for annual leave, sick leave, bereavement leave, public holidays with ordinary daily pay, 52 week average, annual average and 4 weekly average under the...

2016....Eyes Front, No Rear Vision

Recently at Accounted4 we reached six decades of business success and it was certainly great to celebrate this fantastic milestone with the team and their families. That's all well and good but, the question now looking forward is, how do we continue on the journey? How do we continue to remain relevant, competitive and successful not only in 2016 but for the next decade? Here's a few of my thoughts… I recently heard the saying "Culture eats Strategy for Lunch" and I have to agree with ...

Christmas Greetings

The team at accounted4 would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas, a safe and happy holiday season with family and friends, and a prosperous New Year. Our office will be closed from 5pm on Wednesday 23rd December, and re-opening on Thursday 14th January. If you need urgent assistance during this time, please call Grant Calvert on 027 251 2707. Thank you once again for your support and business in 2015. We look forward to working with you in 2016. ...

Time to Celebrate!

Accounted4 recently celebrated a special milestone, one that marked 60 years of service to Cambridge and its surrounding district. In the beginning the Company's roots were formed with the first kernel of an idea taking shape after Jack Shannon came from Ashburton to purchase Ted Littler's practice in late 1955. Accounting practices were relatively new to Cambridge then, as most local businesses had their accounting needs taken care of in Hamilton. Close collaboration with other working profes...

In the community

Recently, as part of the 'Cambridge Girls Day Out', there was an extra special race on Melbourne Cup day – the Office Chair Race. Anne Bland from our office took part. She was dressed for battle and did an outstanding effort, despite fierce antics from fellow competitors. Well done Anne!...

In the office

Baby news: The latest Accounted4 family member was born on 26th October. Congratulations to Geoff and Sandra on the safe arrival of Zoe. She's absolutely beautiful! Staff changes: We welcome Kathryn Leong to our team. Kathryn will be working part-time in the payroll & tax teams. Kathryn is making a comeback as she has a past association with the firm, having worked for Shannon Wrigley from 1989-1994 as a payroll and accounts clerk. Welcome back to the team Kathryn! Unfortunately we f...

In the industry

New legislation affects property sales made from 1 October 2015 onwards. The changes hit in a variety of ways. Bright-line test and residential land New tax rules now apply to residential property sales made from 1 October. A new 'bright-line test' will apply where a person who has purchased a residential property on or after 1 October 2015 then sells it within two years. The sale will be taxed unless the property is the seller's main home, inherited from a deceased estate or sold as part o...

Accounts team update

Many people who run a small business use an area in the home for work purposes. You do not have to have an area specifically set aside for the business. If you're doing this, you can make a claim for the area so long as you keep a full record of all expenses you wish to claim. If there isn't a separate area for the business the apportionment will need to take into account criteria such as the amount of time spent on income-earning activities and the area used at home. ...

Featured Client

Cambridge Vets Services has been helping Cambridge animals since 1944. The original business was created as a 'Club', whereby farmers paid a small fee to become members, with benefits coming back to them in terms of cheaper fees. In the intervening years they have progressed to become a 24 vet practice, with vets concentrating on either production animals, equine, or companion animals. The Club system remains in effect for their farming clients. Along with this expansion, their services and pr...

Featured Partner

High Performance Sport New Zealand leads the high performance sport system in New Zealand. HPSNZ works in partnership with national sport organisations, coaches and athletes so that more New Zealanders can win on the world stage at Olympic and Paralympic Games and world championships. With over 160 athletes based here, including World Champions and Olympic medallists, Cambridge is a major hub for HPSNZ. The HPSNZ National Performance Centre is based in the Avantidrome and includes conditioning, ...

Payroll team update

The holiday season is a chance to relax with family and friends. Take the time to calculate and pay your staff what they're entitled to, and everyone will have a merry Christmas. Public holidays, annual closedowns, different pay rates – there are many considerations in the run-up to Christmas apart from buying presents. Employees are entitled to a paid day off on a public holiday if it would otherwise be a working day. Many businesses have an annual close down during the Christmas period, whe...

Tax talk!

These are the rules for the various payment types: by post - must be received by IRD before or on the due date electronic payments, local and from overseas - must be paid into IRD bank account before or on the due date internet banking - payments made on the due date must be made before the end of the bank's business day to be treated in time cash and eftpos - these are accepted at Westpac branches and must be made before or on the due date before the end of the bank's business day c...

Sensible seasonal housekeeping

If your business peaks during the holidays, have your marketing organised and plan your staffing. Is there a planned approach to when everyone is taking their holidays? Have extra business cards or other marketing giveaways on hand - it's a great season for networking. Magnetic car signs can attract enquiries as well Everyone is used to being cash strapped in the New Year but no one ever really prepares for it. Follow up with debtors to encourage payment before Christmas - help your cashfl...

Bright-line property rule is now law

The bright-line rule Government proposed as part of Budget 2015 has just passed into law. This rule will apply to residential property bought on or after 1 October 2015. What's changing? The new bright-line rule requires people who sell residential property within two years of buying it to pay income tax on the sale, unless: it's their main home they inherited the property they receive a property as a part of a relationship settlement. All existing property tax rules, for example ...

Using your home for business

Many people who run a small business use an area in the home for work purposes. You do not have to have an area specifically set aside for the business. If you're doing this, you can make a claim for the area so long as you keep a full record of all expenses you wish to claim. If there isn't a separate area for the business the apportionment will need to take into account criteria such as the amount of time spent on income-earning activities and the area used at home. No deduction is permitted...

Flexitax – New Zealand’s most flexible way to pay income tax

Businesses wanting to ease the burden income tax payments have on cashflow and have greater flexibility around their payments now have another way to pay. They can pay their provisional and terminal tax through Tax Management NZ (TMNZ) via monthly instalments, where they pay what they can, when they can. Tax pooling intermediaries, which are approved by Inland Revenue (IRD), reduce IRD interest costs and eliminate the late payment penalties. Businesses that owe a substantial amount of...