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Have you got a strategy for a financially stress-free holiday period?

Holiday breaks are a chance to recharge for the year ahead especially after the year we have had. We look forward to warmer weather and finally setting up an out-of-office email for the break. However, for business owners, this time is a stressful without careful cash-flow planning. Even if you do continue to operate through the holiday season, your customers' financial behaviour may not remain the same. The strategies and tips shared below are generalised, however, we are here if you need to ...

Profit vs Cash

1. Sales.Profit increases when you increase sales; cash increases when you collect the money from customers. To increase both your profit and cash from sales: Delight your customers Generate more leads and referrals Convert a higher number of quotes or proposals Increase transaction frequency Increase transaction value 2. Invoicing.Profit increases when you send an invoice to a customer; cash increases when you collect the invoiced amount. To increase both your profit and cash: Set clear Term...

Profit vs Cashflow

As a business owner, that’s one of your key financial aims – to make enough sales, with a big enough margin, to generate profit from your business enterprise.But how does profit differ from cashflow? And why is cash queen or king?To really understand the difference between generating profit and managing cashflow, we need to look at what both these terms mean. Being in control of your profit and cashflow is an invaluable business skill.Let’s take a look at the differences:What is profit?&nb...

What is the Difference Between Holiday Pay and Annual Leave?

In New Zealand, the terms “Holiday Pay” and “Annual Leave” refer to two different things. The following applies for all types of employees except Casuals who are having their Holiday Pay 8% paid out with every pay. Annual Leave is what an employee is entitled to after working for 12 months. The 4 weeks Annual Leave gets added in one lump after 12 months of employment, and then every 12 months after that. So, until an employee has worked for 12 months there is no Annual Leave. Annual...

Christmas gifts for your customers and team

Christmas is nearly here, and it’s a great time to let your customers and team members know how much you appreciate them. But after another unsettled year – it’s not easy to know how much to spend or whether to throw a party. Gifts, cards and donations The traditional professional Christmas gift tends to be food-related: hams; hampers; bottles of wine or spirits. Those can be ordered online and sent out, although it’s best to avoid anything that will spoil considering current delivery ...

Parties and Presents - and Tax!

Are you planning a Christmas event for your clients? Is gift-giving on your to-do list? Take a minute to refresh yourself on how much is deductible as a business-related expense. Presents Are you thinking of gifts for clients, business associates or team members? If gifts consist of food or drink, you can only claim 50% of the expense as a tax deduction. If gift baskets or hampers contain some food or drink and some other goodies, the food or drink items are 50% deductible, but other gift it...

Want more money, more time or less stress?

We believe our clients all deserve the three freedoms: Financial Freedom; Time Freedom; and Mind Freedom. In other words, more money and time to spend on important things outside of their business, along with less stress. Is your business stifling your freedom? Being in business is tough. At times, you might be worried about whether you’ll have enough cash in the bank to pay your team and suppliers. Perhaps you’re working 80-hours a week just to stay on top of things. Or, maybe the stress o...

Meeting your goals during a global slowdown

Optimism among business owners was high coming into 2022. But a number of factors are now making things a lot more challenging: Global events are pushing up energy prices to astronomical levels. Ongoing supply-chain issues are making it difficult to source raw materials. A scarcity of talent is causing problems when it comes to staffing and hiring. Covid is still around and making trading more complex and difficult. Faced with these hurdles, you might feel that your goals are no longer attain...

Key numbers to focus on in your business now

As a business owner, it’s never been more important to have a good grasp on your finances. For many businesses, priorities have changed, customer behaviours have mutated and revenue streams have had to evolve and pivot in order to create a viable business model. To track, monitor and drive your financial performance in this new business world, it’s increasingly important to have a handle on your key financial reports and metrics. Getting to grips with your financial reports Whereas in the pa...

Can you claim clothing as a business expense?

We get a lot of questions about what you can claim as a business expense, and clothing is one of the confusing topics when you’re self-employed. Most jobs have some sort of dress code – whether you wear suits and heels or overalls and steel-toed boots. Work clothes can be a significant expense for any business owner or employee. You only buy these clothes for your job, so it feels as though they should be business expenses, right? Well, not quite. What types of clothing can you claim as a bu...

How’s your work-life balance?

It’s great to be the boss – you can work any hours you like, right? Unfortunately, for many business owners, that means long hours, plenty of stress, and very few breaks and holidays. A survey done by Statistics NZ found that: 21% of employers work 60 hours per week or moreOnly 45% employers said they were satisfied with their work-life balance, compared with 76% overall. After lockdowns and restrictions due to COVID-19, you might find yourself thinking about your priorities – at least, th...

Understanding Your Balance Sheet

To understand the financial position of a business at a specific point of time, look at the balance sheet. The balance sheet may also be called the statement of financial position. Together with the Profit and Loss Statement, and possibly other reports such as the Statement of Cash-flow, these reports provide a complete understanding of the financial position and business performance. So what’s involved? - The balance sheet has three sections: assets, liabilities and equity. What are Assets? A...

Living above the line - how winners behave

There are three winning behaviours and three responses that’ll sink your team. Are you living above the line? If not, you need to get there, as it’s the easiest way to transform workplace culture and team performance. Here’s how, using the OARBED behaviour model: The acronym starts with OAR - when behaving above the line, one takes: Ownership. Accountability. Responsibility. Below the line, BED, is defined as: Blame. Excuse. Deny. No matter what, reacting in these ways is below the line. C...

One-off public holiday - what rules apply?

To mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II, there will be a one-off public holiday on Monday, 26 September. What do business owners need to know about this unexpected day off? Here are the most important points: Shop trading restrictions will not apply. (These apply on Christmas Day, Good Friday and ANZAC Day.)Employees are entitled to have the day off and be paid leave if they normally work that day.The employee can agree to work on the day.Employees who work must be paid at least time-and-a-half....

Understanding Your Profit and Loss Statement

Your profit and loss statement (P&L) helps you understand your business performance and profitability over time. It’s sometimes called an Income statement and its main purpose is to list income and expenditure. Whereas a balance sheet is a snapshot in time, the P&L shows transactions over a specific period of time. This can be a month, quarter, financial year or any other period, and it can be a stand-alone report or a comparative period report. Together with the balance sheet, these two repor...

This is the value of having a great business advisor on your side

Post covid our client was struggling with one product line in particular. This line was one of his initial lines he had when he first started in business so letting go was going to be a huge deal! We had an initial meeting to determine what was and what was not working in his business.From this we looked at systems and ran reports for periods to determine a plan regarding product/s we were looking at in particular.  We then met to discuss some outcomes and recommendations. He trusted us to ...

Let me tell you a story - Part two

Client B: " I need help understanding my business and evolve post covid " Me: "Lets discuss this more?" We can help, however lets meet to see what you really need.  The conversation continues, we arrange a time and book in a business development session which results in a further meeting involving all staff and my staff member also. Client B was sent away with some homework and I ran some 'reality' reports for him, came up with some ideas on how to drive the business forward and t...

Improve debtor days to boost your cashflow

It’s important to stay on top of your debt collection to free up cash. Establishing how long it takes you to get paid is the first step, but how can you measure this? Debtor days measures, on average, how long your customers take to pay you. While there are many complex formulas to accurately calculate this, a nice easy formula is: current debtors owing / annual sales * 365. For example, if you have annual sales of $450,000 and debtors owing of $80,000, your debtor days are 65 ($80,000 / $450,...

Let me tell you a story - Part one

Client A: " I think I need a Business Plan "Me: "Why do you think that and have you ever had one?" I can defiantly help, however lets chat. The conversation continues, we arrange a time and book in a planning session over 3 weeks. This results in a one page business plan, business goals and clarity for Client A. The turn over forecast from this was significant especially compared to last year and the goals audacious, however achievable.  So, I let him sit on it for a while with co...

Difference between profit & cash

1. Sales. Profit increases when you increase sales; cash increases when you collect the money from customers. To increase both your profit and cash from sales: Have a point of difference with your customers so they refer you onGenerate more leads and referralsConvert a higher number of quotes or proposalsIncrease transaction value 2. Invoicing. Profit increases when you send an invoice to a customer; cash increases when you collect the invoiced amount.  To increase both your profit and...

Reducing your lock up days to free up cash

It’s vital for businesses to free up as much cash as possible, particularly in these tough economic times. Your ‘lock up days’ is the number of days it takes to convert your debtors, stock and work in progress into cash. A high number of lock up days means your business needs to have more cash injected, either from you or the bank. You also have a higher risk of losing that cash, particularly if a lot of it is locked up in your debtors. Worse still, you’re likely to be paying tax on that...

How we have helped businesses by providing clarity and support.

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Our Complimentary Client Review service

It’s essential to work on your business, not just in it. Taking time out to discuss what’s happening in your business gives you clarity about your future.A 60-minute Complimentary Client Review is your opportunity to discuss:Your goals and how you plan to achieve themHow your business goals tie in with your personal and lifestyle goalsIssues and challenges you're facing in your businessHow we can work together to address theseWe’re not just advisors on your rear-facing bookkeeping - we wan...

Are you working on your Books nights and Weekends?

Easter has been and gone, yet another long weekend is coming up, how much time did you spend working on your business instead of spending it with your family, friends or on a favorite hobby?If you run a business and are struggling to keep on top of all the ins and outs of your finances, then hiring a bookkeeper can help. We can help you deal with all the day to day financial parts of your business which makes sure everything is in order for your accountant or IRD throughout the year. We will giv...

Difference between an Accountant and a Bookkeeper (us)

I called a prospective client today and this reply is all too common, "thanks but I already have an accountant" There are differences between bookkeepers and accountants, and there can often be confusion surrounding this, but any business requires both bookkeeping and accounting. Bookkeeping is the foundation of accounting and while there is often an overlap between what bookkeepers and accountants do, it’s not a matter of choosing one over the other. We work seamlessly together.Bookkeepers ar...