Starting a business in New Zealand is relatively easy. Here’s a quick guide to the four most common structures:

• Sole trader
• Limited company
• Partnership
• Joint venture

There is no social enterprise status in New Zealand (NZ). Businesses wanting to operate as a social enterprise can do so, but...

Some business owners choose not to set a budget, using excuses like:

• it’s onerous to do
• it’s complicated
• it’s out of date after a month.

The reality is quite different. Think of a budget as a guiding light for where your business is going to go within a specified period. Setting a budget:

...

March 31 has just passed us by, and many business owners who carry stock dread this time of year. Why? Because March 31 means stocktake!

But do stocktakes have to be something you hate? Here’s why you should approach stocktaking as a necessary and positive part of your business.

What’s the point o...

The importance of financial literacy for entrepreneurs and business owners

Do you understand the financial indicators in the business that you run? Are you across the financial mechanisms that underpin your business? Are you making decisions based on a full understanding of the key metrics you shou...

You’ve read it before: cash is king. It’s the lifeblood of a business. You know it.

You also know that your accounting system only tells you what’s happened previously. It doesn’t help with any sort of forecast or prediction of the future.

The advantages of a cashflow forecast are many. But, if yo...

Many SME owners in New Zealand want to make improvements to outdated and inefficient business systems and processes.

The problem is knowing which systems to focus on first and finding the right systems for your business.  Investing a bit of time educating yourself in advance is important.

Modern, ...

Cashflow is a constant challenge for small business owners – whether you’re selling goods or services.

The first step to addressing this challenge is by improving your understanding of working capital.

But what is a working capital cycle – and how exactly does it affect your cashflow?

What is ...

When it comes to income protection, many New Zealanders think that the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) will cover them – and, in a lot of cases, it does.

However, ACC only offers coverage for loss of earnings if you’ve been injured in an accident. It doesn’t cover:

• illness
• degeneration
...

What is AIM provisional tax?

The AIM provisional tax regime was introduced on April 1st 2018 in an attempt to simplify provisional tax for small businesses in New Zealand.

Since its introduction, the new tax regime has been successful for all sorts of NZ businesses.

Sole traders –  new and exi...