Back to Blog

Christmas before we know it…

Like us here at accounted4 you will more than likely be asking yourself where did March, April,  and May go?! It sure has been a fast start to the year and we are really winding it up even more as we crank into the start of what are traditionally the busiest months of  the year for us  - June through to October. Now is the time to start thinking about collating your 2014 financial  information.   One of our team may contact you as a friendly reminder to bring t...

Working examples of calculations for farm employees

...

Position Statement the Minimum Wage and Employment Agreements in the Agricultural Industry

Deductions from wages that employees have formally agreed to in exchange for the provision of accommodation or other goods or services by their employer can be included for the purposes of assessing compliance with the Minimum Wage Act 1983.Background Many employees in the agricultural industry are offered accommodation and other goods and services as part of their employment. This statement sets out the Labour Inspectorate’s position on how the provision of accommodation and other goods and s...

MINISTRY OF BUSINESS INNOVATION & EMPLOYMENT – Minimum Wage Order changes

The Minimum Wage Order is changing to include a fortnightly minimum wage rate. The new Order will take effect from 26 June 2014, and aims to ensure workers have stable employment and employers face fair costs when it comes to minimum wage payments. How will this change affect employers and employees? Most employers and employees will be unaffected by the new Order. It affects primarily minimum wage earners who are paid salaries. Employers: If you pay your employees either by piecework, or b...

Budget 2014 - Tax Implications

The National Government released its sixth budget on 15 May 2014, with much of the pre-release hype relating to the expectation the country’s books would finally be returning to a surplus. The Government indeed announced a budgeted surplus of $372 million for the 2014/2015 year, which they consider will be achieved thanks to improved economic conditions (cheers Farmers!), and tight fiscal management with Government expenditure forecast to be 30.3% of GDP in 2014, dropping from 34.3% of GDP in ...

Important Changes in Payment Services to Inland Revenue from 1 October 2014

 Customers will no longer be able to make cheque payments or drop off returns or forms at any Westpac bank. Any cheque payments, returns and forms will need to be posted directly to Inland Revenue. Customers can continue to make cash and eftpos payments at Westpac branches.  Online banking, credit and debit cards and international money transfers are also accepted payment methods. Payments posted to Inland Revenue need to be received by Inland Revenue on or before the due dat...

Student loan deductions for full-time employees

Tertiary students with a student loan will be required to repay their student loan at a rate of 12% of their total gross earnings above the $367 per week threshold. If a student earns under this amount, then no student loan deductions are required in that weekly period.   During the longer school holidays where a tertiary student is working full-time and earning over $367 gross, if they are still registered as a full-time tertiary student they can apply for a ‘Student loan repaymen...

Tax credits for school children

Tax credits for children The tax credit for children was repealed from 1 April 2012 and the entitlement to claim it was withdrawn in May 2012. The tax credit had covered the tax on the first $2,340 of income.   What this means for employers -  From 1 April 2013, employers must deduct PAYE from salary/wages  from all school children -  For those school children who are existing members of KiwiSaver, employee contributions will need to be deducted at 3%. No employer cont...

Farming Forum held on 15th April

Our farming forum held recently out at the new Avantidrome was a huge success. Grant Calvert, Director of accounted4 presented with guest speaker, Craig McBeth, Regional Team Manager for DairyNZ. Those attended were fortunate to receive valuable tax advice and information on Dairy Industry trends and how DairyNZ supports our farmers.    Please remember to vote on the Dairy Farmers Levy!...

Consumer Law Change

You may or may not know that new legislation is not far from coming into force in relation to Consumer Law. The Consumer Law Reform Bill was passed in December 2013, with many changes to existing laws coming into force on 18 June 2014. Other parts come into effect on 18 March 2015. The changes are in part designed to harmonise our laws with Australia by amending the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (CGA) and the Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA). This blog will look at a few of the changes coming, ...

Trustees Duties - More than meets the eye!

I recently attended a course on Trusts, which focused on the rules around Trustees Duties. I thought it would be good to discuss some of these, as a lot of people either have never known, or easily forget just what they are expected to do. It is no secret that New Zealander’s love Trusts. It is estimated there are up to 500,000 trusts operating in New Zealand. We have the highest number of trusts per capita in the world. The whole notion of Trust’s began way back with the Crusades. Ba...

The Wheel Keeps Turning...

As the 2013 financial year draws to a close we here at accounted4 are busy finishing off last years accounts and getting things geared up for 2014. We are also fast approaching our first anniversary of the change to accounted4. We are settling in some new staff, have some exciting new clients and are doing more in the community through the Chamber of Commerce and other initiatives. So while one year is ending, there is no stopping. It’s the same for you and your businesses – things...

XERO - Heralding the Future!

On the 20th and 21stof February four team members travelled up to Xerocon – a huge conference with nearly 1,000 accountants and bookkeepers to find out where things are at, and what is coming with Xero. Many of you will have heard us talking about Xero already, and 2014 will see some of you get your annual accounts prepared through Xero for the first time. It was great to see the progress being made to get Xero Farming humming – one of the last hurdles is getting Fonterra to provide ...

Accounts Team Update

As usual, when the end of the financial year is approaching it’s a good idea to make sure everything's in good order. Take a look at: How much stock you are carrying at the end of the year. Dispose of any obsolete lines or write the stock down to its net realisable value Planned dividend payments and the company’s imputation credit account balance. We will be reviewing these in March. Be aware that some DWT may be payable in April for this! Debtors: If you have taken reasonable steps...

Business Advisory Team Update

John Key has announced the election will be held on September 20. Between now and then many policies will come and go, statements will be made, fingers wagged, and babies kissed. The introduction of a Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is something we will undoubtedly hear a fair bit about. Both Labour and the Greens have the introduction of CGT as a main plank in their policy platforms. Their reasoning includes things like making the tax system ‘fairer’, responding to speculation in the housing ma...

Farming Seminar

As this newsletter goes to press we are in the planning stages of a seminar for our farmers on topical issues including Trusts, tax planning, herd schemes and succession planning. Grant Calvert will be the presenter and we will also have a guest speaker from Dairy NZ. Pencil it in your diary now and watch for the official invite to arrive soon....

In the Office

New Team Members We are pleased to announce two new members to our team; Geoff Hurst CA started in our accounting team in January 2014 and works mainly for Martyn and David. Geoff is a qualified CA and comes to us after 8 years at IRD. Geoff is married and has a baby daughter. It is great to have him on board. Karen Carroll started with us in March as our Client Services/Executive Assistant. Karen formerly worked as Events Co-ordinator and Administrator of the Cambridge Chamber of...

In the community

We recently had a Networking over Coffee event at our office as part of our involvement with the Chamber of Commerce. It was great to have about 45 local business people together to mx and mingle. It made us wonder if there is an increasing trend of businesses collaboration starting to show itself. Or, if not, whether it should be! Cambridge has a perfect opportunity at the moment to show the best aspects of collaboration with the Avantidrome bringing many elite sportspeople and their familie...

Featured Client

Our completely finished modular buildings are delivered mainly across the North Island ready for Service Connections but we have transported as far as Queenstown. We presently have 18 full-time employees and operate an extensive apprenticeship scheme. Past projects include; Tree Tops Lodge & Estate – world class luxury accommodation and spa, Orakei Korako Geyserland – a café and gift shop at this popular tourist attraction on the banks of the Waikato River, Whiritoa – a two-store...

Relay For LIfe

The accounted4 team participated in the Relay for Life again this year on the 1st and 2nd of March and reached our fundraising target of $3000. This is a fantastic event in support of the Cancer Society. Our thanks to all those who donated! We all had a great time and look forward to getting involved again next year!...

Featured Partner

Ace Payroll continues to make payroll easier for thousands of clients around the country. They recently released an Apple Mac version of Ace Payroll and a new HR module has been added, which is the beginning of further exciting change in this area. Ace Payroll makes tax calculations, KiwiSaver, direct credits and reporting easy and is backed up by a responsive and well trained helpdesk. Payslips can be emailed, your data can be backed up into the cloud and a comprehensive F1 manual ha...

Payroll Team Update

The minimum wage for adults and employees that have completed the Starting-Out wage will go up 50c to $14.25 an hour from 1 April this year. The Starting-Out and training minimum wages will increase from $11 an hour to $11.40 an hour, which is 80% of the adult minimum wage. The Start-Out wage is focused on: 16 and 17 year olds starting out in the workforce 18 and 19 year olds who have been on a benefit for six months or more; 16 to 19 year olds in training in a recognised industry-tr...

For your diary

Tax Calendar April 7 2013 Terminal Tax (March balance date) May 7 3rd instalment of 2014 Provisional Tax (March balance date) GST for March 2014 May 28 1st Instalment 2014 Provisional Tax (December balance date) GST for April 2014 Easter Office Hours - Heads Up Our office will close at 5pm on Thursday 17th April and reopen 8.30am on Wednesday 23rd April. We will also be closed on Friday 25th April for Anzac Day....

XERO - Heralding the Future! by Craig Savage CA

On the 20/21st of Feb I was among four team members who travelled up to Xerocon – a huge conference with nearly 1,000 accountants and bookkeepers to find out where things are at, and what is coming with Xero. Many of you will have heard us talking about Xero already, and 2014 will see some of you get your annual accounts prepared through Xero for the first time. It was great to see the progress being made to get Xero Farming humming – one of the last hurdles is getting Fonterra to...

Business Collaboration - it makes sense! by Craig Savage CA

We just had a Networking over Coffee event at our office as part of our involvement with the Chamber of Commerce. It was great to have about 45 local business people together to mix and mingle. It made me wonder if there is an increasing trend of businesses collaboration starting to show itself. In our industry, cloud computing and programs like XERO are really changing the game and definitely making businesses much more collaborative. We see this in the use of add-on partners. Xero h...