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5 ways to overcome economic uncertainty

Economic uncertainty is an ongoing worry for any business owner.You can control your own financial management, but you don’t have any direct control over the wider macro-economy. And in the first few years of the 2020s, there have certainly been plenty of tricky ups and downs for your business to navigate.Current economic uncertainty stems from a number of factors, including:Fluctuating marketsGeopolitical tensionsPandemic recoveryThe impact of climate change.This unpredictability poses signif...

Who might look at my business credit score and why?

Business credit reports are a summary of your business’s credit status and payment history. Anyone who extends credit to your business can access your business credit report, such as utility companies, banks, and suppliers. The report is a vital tool to help businesses decide whether to offer your business credit, based on your financial track record and potential risk of payment default. The report features a credit score that indicates how likely your business is to pay its bills on tim...

Consumer credit reports explained

A consumer credit report summarises how often a person has bought products or services on credit, and how reliable they are at paying for these items. If you’re considering offering money, goods or services on credit to a consumer, it’s the best way to know how likely they are to pay their bills on time.The information in consumer credit reports is collected from multiple sources including banks, utility companies, debt collection agencies and payment history data from creditors. Anyone who ...

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...

5 tips for running good performance reviews

When times get tough, it can be easy to let some of your people processes fall away as you concentrate on the basics of the business.Take the performance review. They can be unpopular, sucking up a lot of time and making employees and managers stressed. So why not skip them?Because good performance reviews work. They’re an effective way to track people's progress, provide feedback, gain insight, support development, and align individual performance with company goals, which helps the business ...

Plain English guide to cashflow

What is cashflow?Cashflow refers to the movement of money into and out of your business over a specific period.In the most basic terms, cashflow is the process of cash moving out of the business (cash outflows), and cash coming into the business (cash inflows). The ideal scenario is to be in a ‘positive cashflow position’. This means that your inflows outweigh your outflows – i.e. that more cash is coming into the business than is going out.When you’re cashflow positive, the main benefit...

Scam Savvy Business

What is a scam?Scams are deceptive, uninvited approaches designed to trick you into giving away your money, login credentials, payment card details, or personal information.Every year BNZ updates and promotes their Scam Savvy website. This is a fantastic resource which provides information, resources, and a quiz, on how to spot and avoid scams.  This is a very friendly, easy to use, and useful resource, and I would encourage you all to look at this and share this with those who you think co...

How to conduct workplace trials

Workplace trials are a great tool for evaluating potential employees, but it's important to approach them carefully to ensure they are fair and lawful.Here are some important factors to consider during the trial process:The business can’t benefit financially - don’t get a person to do work one of your paid employees would typically do, e.g. serve paying customers.Don’t pay the person - trials are voluntary and only for assessment purposes.Keep it short - the longer a trial g...

What’s the difference between employees and contractors? And why does it matter.

Does your business use both employees and contractors? It’s important to distinguish between them as they are paid and taxed differently.Despite what you may call the individual concerned, that description is not definitive. If the status of the worker is questioned in the Employment Court or Employment Relations Authority, for example, the Employment Relations Act 2000 requires a consideration of the ‘real nature of the relationship’.Common law tests assist in determining what that is. Th...

Which business expenses can you claim against tax?

Incurring expenses is an unavoidable fact of running a business. But which expenses can you claim tax deductions against and which don’t meet the tax-free criteria?Here’s our lowdown on which expenses you can claim against tax.Which business expenses can you claim deductions against?If your business expense is directly related to earning your assessable income then you should be able to claim a tax deduction against this particular cost.For example, everyday business expenses that you may be...

Proving your ongoing business viability through 5 financial reports

Whether you’re applying for government subsidies, taking out a business loan or seeking investor support, you need to be able to demonstrate your ongoing viability as a business.To prove this viability, it’s important to have the right financial information at your fingertips. This information is also just as important for your own internal planning and decision-making.So, where do you start and what are the reports that you’ll need?The numbers that prove you’re a business with a futureA...

5 top lead magnets for your marketing

Bringing leads into your business is what drives sales. So, how do you create the most effective lead magnets to draw potential customers into your sales funnel?Yes, we know, there’s a lot of jargon in sales and marketing. But, ultimately, every business wants to attract customers, get their details and try to convert them into a sale. It’s this continual process of pulling leads into your funnel that gives you stable sales and solid revenues.To help you, we’ve highlighted five of the top ...

Have you got a plan for growth in your business?

Growth doesn’t need to mean more risk, more hours and more headaches.It may be as simple as identifying where the opportunities for growth are in your business and industry. Once you've done this you can establish what you and your team are going to have to do in order to maximise these opportunities, and how you will navigate the likely obstacles.Here are a couple of tips to get you thinking about growth:Do an audit to document your growth over time. Analyse all the information you have to un...

5 questions to ask when you are buying a business

Purchasing an existing company is a great way to expand your business empire. You can buy out a close competitor, or dip a toe into a new industry and expand your reach as a business group. But whatever the reason for the acquisition, you need to ensure you’re not buying a lemon!Doing your research is a crucial part of the purchase process. As is asking some probing and insightful questions to help you determine if this acquisition is a good (or bad) idea.Questions to ask before you make an of...

Withdrawing a job offer - What are the rules in NZ?

You’ve found a great candidate for the role, after reading through piles of CVs and conducting interviews, and have offered the person a job.But what happens if something comes to light that makes you change your mind? You might have done some reference checking and found out something about them that means they’re no longer the right fit for the position or the organisation. Or there might be some sudden pressure on your bottom line or you need to quickly change direction to meet new market...

Keeping your business cash liquid – the difference between cashflow and profit

The foundational goal of any business is to make a profit. As a business owner, that’s one of your key financial aims – to make enough sales, at a big enough margin, to generate profit from your enterprise. But how does profit differ from cashflow? And why is cash king?How do profit and cashflow differ?To really understand the difference between generating profit and managing cashflow, we need to look at what both these terms mean. You might think that delving into the accounts is a job for ...

5 challenges for small business - and how to beat them!

Founding, building and growing your own small business is a hugely rewarding experience for many entrepreneurs. But the road ahead isn't always smooth.There are common challenges that crop up and ongoing issues that need to be factored into your business plan, your strategy and your own personal thinking.So, what can you do to beat these challenges and make the journey as frictionless as possible?5 proactive ways to overcome your business challengesWe’d all love to know what lies around the co...

Go walking: keep you and your business healthy

Being able to run a business from a laptop is an amazing thing. But it does mean that you spend a LOT of time sitting in front of a screen not being very active. Research shows that office workers spend 75% of their waking hours sitting down – and that’s not great for your health.A good walk may well be the answer to this issue, with walking being a great way to get yourself fit and to add some energy to your business thinking too.Get active and become a more effective leaderSitting down for...

Fair Pay Agreements

MBIE has approved 5 applications from unions to start bargaining for Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs):Early childhood education industryCommercial cleaner occupationHospitality industrySecurity officers and guards occupationBus transport industryApplications to start FPA bargaining for the Waterside workers occupation and the Supermarket and Grocery Store industry are still being considered by MBIE. What employers need to doIf you employ people in an occupation or industry which is covered by a F...

Leveraging the “SME Advantage”

It's challenging times for employers, with high levels of employee turnover, shortages of skilled staff in a tight labour market, low unemployment, and wages rising to keep pace with surging inflation.Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may find it harder to compete with the deep pockets of large corporations, but there are plenty of advantages SMEs have in being able to attract and retain talent by tailoring creative, meaningful remuneration packages for each employee.Here are some key ti...

Goodwill: What’s it worth?

Goodwill is one of your business assets – but you can’t measure it and it’s very tricky to put a price on it. When you sell your business, goodwill is the intangibles in your business that add value beyond the physical assets and guaranteed income stream.Goodwill includes:Your brand’s great reputationYour loyal customer baseYour positive customer relationshipsYour happy employees who want to stayProprietary data and intellectual propertyThe great systems that make your business run smoot...

10 steps to Business Continuity Planning

‘Business continuity’ is the process of planning out how your company can continue trading – when disaster hits. In essence, it’s your Plan B for how to set up a means of trading, when you don’t have access to your usual offices, workspaces or equipment.10 key elements to include for your ongoing business continuity planDigital communication and cloud technology have given us the ability to access company information, applications and communication channels. For many businesses this wi...

Do you need to improve the cash flow position for your business?

Keeping on top of the financial management of your business can be hard work. It's possible to have a profitable business that is struggling to find the cash flow to pay expenses and fund growth. Likewise, you could have positive cash flow but are not turning a profit, particularly if you are scaling.Turning a profit is at the heart of running any successful company But without an even and predictable flow of cash into the company, you can't cover your overheads, you can't pay your employees and...

The 'No frills' 2023 budget - What does it mean for you?

How will the latest Budget affect your business and your household?Here are some of the changes most likely to have an impact on Kiwi business owners.Extended free childcare hoursIf you have young children, or your team members do, the extension of the ECE subsidy to include two-year-olds will be welcome news. This should make it easier for some parents or grandparents to re-enter the work force. Businesses in this sector will also feel the benefits.Higher trustee tax rateThe trustee tax rate is...

5 ways to ensure you get paid on time

Worrying whether customers will pay you on time is a continual concern for business owners.Late payment can lead to cashflow issues, unpaid supplier bills and the need to dip into your own pocket to cover your operational expenses. If you can improve the speed and likelihood of customers paying on time, that's good news for your accounts receivable targets and the company's overall liquidity and cashflow position.Speeding up payment timesA sale is not a sale until the customer has actually paid ...