How Planning and Budgets Make Business Better

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When I come back to work after the summer break, I spend the first week or two planning for the next financial year. I like to get a head start on it when I’ve been out of the nitty gritty of day-to-day stuff and when we’re not so busy with clients’ work.

It’s important to plan what you want the business to achieve, then look at what it has done in the past and work out how you’re going to bridge that gap.

The financial aspect of a plan is a budget. And because cash is king, the even more useful version of this is a cash-flow forecast.

It’s not unusual for a client to ask us to prepare one for them because the bank has asked for one. It then gets handed to the bank or put in a drawer and promptly forgotten. That’s about as useful to the business owner as an annual set of financial statements we prepare long after the year end to calculate the tax payments!

But a budget and cash-flow forecast can be very useful to help manage the business. Read More »


Why Billing is the New Black

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Here’s a fun factoid for you… billing your customers for the work you’ve done gets you paid!  AND, when you get paid, you can pay your bills!  And eat!

One of the most important things about running an SME is to get your invoices out- as quickly after the job is done as possible. Simply put, people won’t pay you if you don’t bill them. Invoice fast and often.

I know, I’m hearing you say that it’s the last thing you feel like doing after spending all your time on the job; you’re just too busy and it becomes a chore for the end of the month or a wet day.  But that sort of business practice is what gets you a gigantic debtors list and believe me, chasing that up is a far worse chore! Read More »


Is your business really sustainable?

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Is your business sustainable? And I don’t mean are you eco-friendly and “green”; I mean, would your business carry on if you weren’t there, working in it day after day?

So, you’re the owner of a business.  You might have started it from nothing or you could have bought it from someone else.  But often we are really self-employed, maybe with a few staff to help us out. The customers are our customers, they only want to see us and they believe we do all their work ourselves. Our staff rely on us to feed them tasks you end up doing nearly everything yourself, picking up all the bits that the staff didn’t get to. Or maybe you have to correct their work and, rather than coaching them to develop their skills, you just do it yourself because it’s quicker and easier.  You think you’re the only one that can get it right. This is the proverbial working IN the business rather than ON it. Read More »


Getting to know new clients

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When we take new clients on it’s really important that we get to know them and understand them and their business. To repeat what I said in our last blog: “We like nothing better than when our clients achieve the lifestyle they want to from their business.”.

We know that not everyone desires building a large empire that they can sell off for megabucks. Many of our clients just love being their own boss and in charge of their own destiny. But all business owners also want their business to be the best that it can be. This is where we can help.

It’s also important that new clients understand what we can do to help them. We’re not here to just do Annual accounts and tax. We understand running a business and the challenges it brings. Not only have we run our own business for many years, we constantly talk to other business owners about their business challenges.

So, when we first meet potential new clients we like to have what we call a Proactive Accounting Meeting.

Read on to find out more about a PAM, and call us if you have any questions or would like to arrange a time for us to come and meet with you. Read More »


Why systems and processes save lives

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Do you feel you are juggling all the parts of the business you own all at the same time?  You are trying to handle it all and be everything to everybody.  You neglect to take time out for yourself; there is little or no time for family and friends; and there is little or no time for a holiday

Think about your role in the business objectively and ask, “How can I improve my business without working harder?”  How could you do more but in less time?  Ask yourself, “Without me, what would happen to this business?”  What could you do with that business so you have time for family and friends and that trip you have always dreamed about?

Let’s take another moment to consider why you went into this business in the first place.  Probably to give you the ability to earn more income, to take time off when you would like, or because you did not want to work for someone else.  Are you actually achieving the goals that you set out to achieve when you went into this business? Have you considered your role in the business as a job?

Starting with the end in mind and working backwards will net you some good answers to work with.  Imagine what the end goal really looks like, then work backwards to identify the steps it took to get there.  This is where planning for the business comes to the forefront.

Breaking the cycle we are currently operating in through the use of systematisation is key.  Systems that would allow for someone to undertake your role if you were not there.

Read More »


Succession planning for dummies

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Why is advance succession planning so important?

An ageing population combined with the dynamic of younger generations who seem less motivated to acquire a business tests long held assumptions that our businesses will be our future superannuation.

SMEs need to focus on extracting the capital value of their business and with an increasing number of those businesses expected to come onto the market in the next few years we can expect the polarisation between the good and the bad to grow.

Good businesses will continue to sell and command a high price, whereas poor performing businesses will at best come under greater price pressure and at worst be unsaleable.

The ideal timetable for an effective succession plan is three to five years from initial plan through to final succession. In a perfect world we’d recommend a minimum of two years to prepare and in a sense groom the business for sale.

Read More »


Business Advisory Services

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One thing all four of us Directors agreed on when we merged was that we all love working with our clients to help them with their businesses. We like nothing better than when our clients achieve the lifestyle they want to from their business.  So we’ve been working on defining and streamlining our business advisory services to make sure our services are in the best interests of our clients’, managed consistently and using up to date business practices.  It’s all things we are very experienced at doing, just defined and managed in a better way.

Over the coming months we will feature the services in these blogs to introduce and explain them.

The best place for us to start working with you is with a Complimentary Client Review for existing clients or a Proactive Accounting Meeting for new people. This is where we find out from you what your aspirations for your business are and what’s going on in it at the moment.

Read on to find out more about a CCR, and call us if you have any questions or would like to arrange a time for us to come and meet with you.

Read More »


TrustTALK – July 2016

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As a member of NZ CA Limited we receive a quarterly newsletter from them all about Trust’s called TrustTALK.

The latest issue talks about the importance of having a will and touches on the topic of having a power of attorney.

Click the link here to receive your copy NZCA Issue 7 BW Miller Dean.

If you are interested in past issues you can find them on the NZ CA Limited website here.


Phishing Scam – important message from IRD

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Over the past two weeks Inland Revenue has received reports of a telephone phishing scam from several hundred customers around New Zealand.

The scam calls have been made to landlines and mobile phones, with messages being left on voicemail if the calls haven’t been answered.

The callers state that they are from the Inland Revenue Department and the following scenarios have been reported, that the customer:

  • is wanted for historic tax evasion or tax avoidance
  • has a red flag on their file
  • is in debt

The caller is then advising customer they or their lawyer must return the call as soon as possible. Some customers have been told to make a payment via Western Union within 30 minutes, or risk arrest.

They are often told to ring a Wellington number – (04) 830 2441 – and recommended to speak to a “Kenneth Matthews”, “James Matthews” or “Kevin Sousa” to arrange an immediate payment so as to avoid serious repercussions.

Customers have reported the callers as having “foreign sounding” accents, with many different accents reported. Sometimes the caller is female. The callers are very confident and convincing, and we have received anecdotal reports that some customers have been taken in and paid significant sums of money to the scammers.

Some customers have called the number referred to above and reported the background as sounding like a Contact Centre environment with multiple accents.
These customers have also reported the callers as becoming angry and aggressive when challenged.

If you receive a suspicious email, SMS scam message or a fraudulent call, please let us know as soon as possible so we can advise IRD.


Changes at IRD

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Changes to the interest and penalties regime

IRD have announced that from 1 April 2017 they will be changing the hated interest and penalties.  For provisional tax payers using the standard uplift method (based on prior year) there will be no interest charged on the first two instalments. I.e. they won’t take the interest calculation back to the first payment retrospectively.

For late payments on new returns filed there will still be the initial 1% penalty the day after for late payments and 4% after 7 days but the 1% monthly incremental penalties will go. UOMI will still apply.

 

Proposed Provisional Tax payment Changes

You may have heard through the media that the IRD are doing away with Provisional tax. As with a lot of their recent releases, this is only partially true. But (hopefully) from 1 April 2018 your business could qualify to pay tax using the AiM Accounting Income Method.
Read More »


Important note for all Directors

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Following on from my blog last year and comments in our recent newsletter the new Health and Safety requirements come into place on the 4th of April 2016. You have probably seen various articles, including the one about Peter Jackson, regarding mass resignations of Directors in light of the new Health and Safety Requirements for Directors.

It is easy to read the headlines and pass it off as scaremongering, although in this case there is some substance to this and all Directors (as well as anyone else involved in business) should be considering their responsibilities under the new laws.


What are new Directors responsibilities?

All directors now have a responsibility to take reasonable steps to keep up to date knowledge of work health and safety matters and have an understanding of the business and its risks, ensuring it has appropriate resources and processes to eliminate or minimise risks.

This has always been the case for those involved in the running of the business but now extends to all Directors including those with no day to day involvement.


Do you need to resign as a Director?

As per the Peter Jackson article, in a lot of cases, if you don’t have regular hands on involvement in the running of the company it can be difficult to ensure that you maintain an up to date understanding of the business risks involved and the processes that are in place.

As a director you can be held liable if duties are not met by the company.


What happens if responsibilities are not met?

The Bill increases the penalties and creates three offence tiers relating to breaches of the health and safety duties:

  • Reckless Conduct – fines up to $3 million (or $600,000 and/or up to five years’ imprisonment for individuals)
  • Failure to comply with a Duty (that could cause death or serious injury) – fines up to $1.5 million (or $300,000 for individuals)
  • Failure to comply with a Duty – fines up to $500,000 (or $100,000 for individuals)


Worksafe will still be required to work with you and help deal with risks, and has a number of codes and guides on their website to assist employers in managing specific risks.

At this time it is essential that you either get involved in the Health and Safety processes or consider your position as a Director and whether you are in a position to ensure the company is meeting the requirements.

Give Peta or I a call if you wish to further discuss your options.


The Profit & Loss Equation

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Picture1

We all know that for any business to make an income it has to make Sales.

Many business owners closely monitor the sales, compare them to previous months, previous years and, if they can get hold of the information, other businesses.

But this isn’t the only thing to monitor. You have to make sure that out of those sales proceeds you can pay all of the costs of the business and have some left over for the business to make a profit.

And as the above picture shows the amount left over can end up being only a small percentage of the sale value.

Firstly you deduct Direct costs, the costs that if you didn’t sell that product or service you wouldn’t have to pay. This leaves your Gross profit. This is a much better value to monitor closely.

And you need to do so product by product, or service by service.

You may have an overall Gross Profit but it’s hiding the fact that you sell product A at a good margin, but product B at a loss. Reducing your overall gross profit. And it may even be that Product B is a higher dollar amount so you concentrate on pushing these sales, but there is very little point in selling something for less than it cost you to get to the point of sale.

The only time a business can justify this if it’s doing it intentionally as a loss leader. A marketing ploy to get customers to come in and buy other things as well.

Then, the total Gross Profit must be enough to cover all your overheads. The costs that would continue even if you didn’t sell those particular products or services e.g. your occupation costs.

Anything left after that is your profit.

You can also turn this around the other way, from the profit you want to make, or even break-even point, you can add your overheads and margins and calculate how much sales you need to make to achieve this.

 


Our Christmas Holidays

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Holidays are always a great time of year- especially in summer! We all love to celebrate in different ways.

 

1 Peta Xmas Photo 05                1 Peta Xmas Photo 06                1 Peta Xmas photo 7

1 Peta Xmas Photo 04        Clayton Xmas Photo 01

Clayton Xmas Photo 02        Clayton Xmas Photo 03

aClayton Xmas Photo 04          aClayton Xmas Photo 05         Nicole Xmas Photo 4

IMG_6341        Jaime Xmas Photo

Nicole Xmas Photo 02 Nicole Xmas Photo 3 z20151024_140828 z20151209_201626-1


The Christmas period and paying your staff

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We’re heading into the silly season again. It’s referred to as that for a reason. In NZ with our annual close down of business we seem to go flat out to squash a months of work into 3 weeks in December. Unless you’re in retail and selling things people want for Christmas, these are never usually profitable months.

For those of us that are employers it’s a particularly expensive time of year. There’s 6 statutory days between Christmas and Waitangi day. That’s 6 days you pay staff not to turn up and do any work. Or, if you’ve got a business that’s open on those days you have to pay more and give them a day in lieu. Then when people return it always seems to take a few weeks for everyone to rev up into full productivity again.

A quick reminder on the statutory day pay obligations:  If someone would normally work on the day the holiday falls you have to pay them for it. If your business is open on the statutory day and your employee works on that day you have to pay them time and a half and give them a day in lieu. This year Boxing day, January 2nd and Waitangi day all fall on a Saturday. So these are all carried over to the Monday – Yes Waitangi Day is now Mondayised and is a statutory day on Feb 8th. If you want help working out any of your holiday pay obligations give Nicole a call, she’s our head bookkeeper and comes across all of these situations.

For some employers, you pay all the staff their annual leave as you close down at Christmas. Then there’s the GST and provisional tax payments due in January to fund as well – so a tough time of year for business cash flow.

Do any of these come as a cash shock to you and your business? If the answer is yes, perhaps your new year’s resolution should be to talk to us about helping prepare a budget and cash flow forecast for next year so you can enjoy that well-earned break.

The other side of this is we all get a chance to spend time with family and put our feet up, rest and recover for the new year. I always come back invigorated and keen to get into a new year.


Xero Tips and Tricks

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This month we are talking about getting the most out of your Xero.

In Peta’s last blog she went over a few of the common areas people make mistakes in Xero. This time I want to give you some tips so you can use Xero as efficiently as possible.

Here at BW we all use Xero on a daily basis so across the whole team we have all picked up little tips and tricks here and there to make using Xero that much easier.

Here is a list of some of our top tips in Xero: Read More »


How to get the best from your Xero

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Last month I talked about using your management accounts to tell the story of what’s happening in your business. And how important it is that those management accounts are timely and accurate.

And it’s that accuracy that’s also vital to help us in preparing your year-end Financial Statements. The more we have to change in your accounts the more time it takes us and the bigger the cost to you.

More and more of our clients process their own accounts. And systems like Xero do make this seem super easy. They make out it’s quick, simple and what’s more – fun. But at our end, we’re finding it’s a mixed bag as to the accuracy of the accounts we are given. And banks are often saying the same thing. Read More »


Interpreting your accounts – Part 2

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In my last blog I talked about the benefit of understanding your accounts and having them prepared regularly.

Now I am going to explain this in more detail.

Following are two of the most common misunderstandings of business. Reviewing your management accounts regularly can help your business by understanding these two areas.

1. Profit is not Cash

It’s not uncommon for us to be going over annual accounts with a client, telling them the profit and they say “I don’t believe we made that profit – if we did, where is it? It’s certainly not in the bank.” Read More »


Understanding the story your accounts are telling you

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Your Accounts tell the story of what’s happening in your business. They are the financial results of events that occurred and decisions you made. By knowing what that story is saying you can react to events more quickly and make better decisions.

The Profit and Loss Statement or Statement of Financial Performance is a summary of trading for a period of time, usually a year. It shows the sales that you made, and deducts off them the cost of those sales and your overheads to work out if you made a surplus from those sales.

The sales in your accounts are recognised at the time the sale is made; when you invoice it – not when you’ve got the cash in the bank for them. The costs offset against those sales are also recognised when they are incurred, not when you pay for them. This is the essence of accrual accounting.

The Balance Sheet or Statement of Financial Position is like taking a financial photograph on a certain day. It lists what you own – your assets and what you owe – your liabilities. The difference is the equity in the business.

We have an e-book on our website that explains in more detail what each part of the accounts mean.

The benefit of regular accurate management accounts

But really, how useful are the end of year accounts we prepare for you? Obviously they have to be done to correctly calculate the amount of tax you owe, and comply with the Companies Act, but in terms of helping you make useful business decisions they are often just too late. They are a summary of financial events up to the last balance date. If another six months have passed you can’t exactly react quickly to address any problems.

This is why having regular accurate management accounts prepared is vital for any business.

Very often a business owner gets the books done, just because they need to be done for the GST return to be filed. But they should be so much more than that. By reviewing those accounts and watching a few Key Performance Indicators you can understand what’s going on now and make decisions about what to do about it now.

And better yet – knowing how the business is going on a regular basis helps you plan for the future.

What story are your accounts telling you about your business? Do you review your accounts to find out? Do you even have regular accurate accounts prepared? We can help you with all of this. It’s what we love doing.