When it comes to your money, whether it be loans, insurance, savings or superannuation, having a ‘set and forget’ attitude can be detrimental to your long term finances. Checking in on the different aspects that make up your finances every now and then to see if they need freshening up is a good way to ensure you are getting the most out of your money.
Your budget:
Since a person’s income and expenses will change over time, making sure your budget is up to date can help keep track of your spending and calculate how long it will take to reach your savings goal. This is also impacted more by day to day and surprise expenses you may incur so regular assessment will better your planning.
Your savings:
Spring is the perfect time to reconsider the type of savings product you currently have and whether the return you receive on your savings is at the best rate out there. For those with a term deposit that is about to mature, consider whether there is another savings account that pays higher interest or if another term deposit is a better option.
Your superannuation:
To get to know your superannuation better this Spring, find your latest super statement and check the following:
- If you have multiple super accounts: consolidating all of your super accounts to just one will save you fees and make it easier to keep track of.
- Investment options: consider the best investment option for each stage of life when choosing super investments. How close an individual is to retirement can affect how aggressive or conservative they want their investment strategy.
- Contributions: consider how much you are currently contributing to your super; the sooner you start contributing extra, the less you have to give up each week to make a difference in the long-term.
Posted on 3 September '19, under money. No Comments.
From 29 August 2019, the interest IRD charges when tax is unpaid or underpaid is increasing from 8.22% to 8.35%. This is often referred to as use of money interest (UOMI) AND applies to most tax obligations such as income tax, PAYE, FBT, withholding taxes and GST. The new rate comes as part of the Order in Council changes made on 1 July 2019.
Along with the use of money interest rates payable on underpayments of tax being increased, the rate of interest for overpayments of tax will decrease from 1.02% to 0.81%. Late payment penalties will also apply if a taxpayer does not pay on time. IRD late payment penalties work as such:
- One per cent the day after payment was due.
- An additional four per cent if the tax, including late payment penalties, is still outstanding after seven days.
- A further one per cent every month after.
The last IRD interest rate change was in March 2017. The new rates are based on the floating first mortgage new customer housing rate and the 90-day bank bill rate. Both are determined by the market and can move independently of each other and the Official Cash Rate.
Taxpayers can be entitled to a deduction for their UOMI payments for the interest paid on underpayments of tax, provided the deduction is made in the year the UOMI is paid.
Posted on 3 September '19, under tax. No Comments.
While email marketing remains one of the most effective platforms for businesses to reach clients on a personal level, it does not always deliver the results you may be after. If you’re finding that email marketing isn’t going as well as you had hoped, here are five simple ways to improve your campaign:
Experiment with your “from” name:
Seeing “from” information that isn’t clearly related to a person or place that clients know, is often a red flag for individuals who are becoming increasingly wary of email spammers. Make sure your recipients know they’re getting emails from someone they actually asked to hear from by making your “from” information as obvious as possible.
Target behaviour:
While segmenting an email list by demographics can produce results, it is much more effective to segment subscribers by their behaviour. Send clients targeted messages based on their service or purchase history, send loyalty offers to those who consistently open your emails or re-engagement campaigns to those who never do.
Remember mobile optimisation:
With approximately 53% of emails being opened on mobile devices, using mobile-friendly layouts and graphics will help with continued engagement. If the content doesn’t appear properly on a mobile device, chances are the subscriber will be less likely to open another email. Make sure images do not look stretched or take too long to load and use appropriate ratios on all platforms.
Posted on 28 August '19, under business. No Comments.
Maintaining healthy cash flow can be challenging; between ongoing expenses and bills, poor cash flow can severely impact your customers, staff and bottom line. Business owners need to understand the differences between short and long-term financing when developing a cash flow strategy.
There are various sources of financing available, with each being useful for different situations. Choosing the right source and mix is key for good cash flow, with financing options often being classified into two categories based on time period: short-term and long-term. To find the right plan for you, determine your needs and then match a financing option to meet those needs.
Short-term financing:
Short term financing, or working capital financing, looks at needs that arise in relation to financing current assets – for a period of less than one year. Working capital is the funds that are used in the day-to-day trading operations of a business. Short-term financing can help you to pay suppliers, increase inventory and cover expenses when you do not have sufficient cash on hand.
Long-term financing:
Long-term financing options can help you invest in overall improvements to your business, for a period of more than 5 years. Capital expenditures, such as upgrading equipment, buying additional vehicles and renovating are funded using long-term sources of finance.
Posted on 19 August '19, under money. No Comments.
Business owners are faced with constant challenges and tough decisions to make on a day-to-day basis. Risk-taking is often necessary to achieve more in the business, but owners need to make informed choices to avoid potential damages. To manage risk effectively, a proactive stance needs to be taken in identifying and responding to risks before a crisis strikes.
Identify risks:
Risks can be hazard-based, uncertainty-based or opportunity-based, with both tangible and intangible items posing risks for your business. Owners may find it easy to list the physical items at risk such as assets and infrastructure, yet neglect intangibles such as injury to staff, loss of important business information and more. It is important for business owners to be aware of the risks they could face in their business.
Calculate your risks:
Making an educated assessment of both the likelihood and potential severity of risks can help prioritise your responses. Once the risks have been identified they should be ranked on the likelihood of occurrence and the severity of consequence it might impose on the business. Risk ranking can help you to determine what situations need more time, attention and resources.
Manage your risks:
Finally, the risks need to be managed effectively. Avoidance is not always the best or viable solution as there is no way to ever be completely risk free. Transferring is a common way of avoiding damage as the risk is no longer your problem, for example, insurance and product warranties. Reduction of risk comes from a sound knowledge of your business and little things you can do that make a difference. Acceptance is for those owners with experience and a clear mind. Nothing in life is without risk, the business owners who accept this and learn from challenges are the ones who find success.
Posted on 19 August '19, under business. No Comments.
You may be entitled to the KiwiSaver HomeStart Grant after you have been contributing to your KiwiSaver for three years. The Grant is administered by Housing New Zealand which operates outside of KiwiSaver and will be paid to your solicitor.
What are the grants?
There are two HomeStart Grants. These are:
- For purchasing an existing home, it is between $3,000 and $5,000 based on $1,000 each year of KiwiSaver membership.
- For building or purchasing a new home or for purchasing land to build a home on, it is doubled to $2,000 per year of membership. This can be up to a maximum of $10,000 for five years of membership.
Eligibility:
To be eligible for the HomeStart Grant, you must be a member of KiwiSaver, another complying superannuation fund or exempt employer scheme, be 18 years or older, and have not received a HomeStart Grant or a KiwiSaver withdrawal before. You must have contributed the minimum percentage of your income to a KiwiSaver scheme for at least three years, although they do not need to be consecutive. You must have a household income, before tax, of less than $85,000 per year for one person, or less than $130,000 per year for two or more people. You must have a deposit that is 10% or more of the purchase price, including the addition of the grant. You should note that income and house price caps will also apply.
In some circumstances, you may still be eligible for the HomeStart Grant if you’ve owned a house before. Housing New Zealand will need to determine if you are in the same financial position as a first home buyer. For further advice or information, consult your financial advisor.
Posted on 12 August '19, under super. No Comments.
Managing cash flow is critical to the success of a small business. While it is necessary to be profitable, your profit is a number that shows up on your accounts at the end of the year whereas your cash is the money you have in the bank. By incorporating the following tricks, you can help to maintain the flow of money coming in and keep the business running smoothly.
Prepare a cash flow projection:
There are always unforeseen challenges or changes in the marketplace. While you won’t always be able to predict or forecast these, you can gain a better grasp on industry trends and patterns. Drawing up a cash flow projection can help you plan the ups and downs of your spending. In your projection, be sure to include:
- Cash receipts, including income from sales and income from financing.
- Cash disbursements, including all expenses (cost of goods, operating expenses, loan payments, income tax payments, etc).
- Net cash flow — opening cash balance plus receipts, minus disbursements.
- Ending cash balance.
Generate new business:
The business is going well; you’re meeting your targets, money is coming in, and you’re happy. This is not a time to relax, it is a time to be seeking out and generating more business. Cash flow may keep your business alive, but sales are what keeps cash flow alive. Keep expanding and preparing your business to cater for growth. This will help prevent you from chasing your tail when times are tough.
Posted on 6 August '19, under money. No Comments.
All businesses need to look at ways to increase the productivity of their staff. When your employees get more work done, it will ultimately lead to the business making a bigger profit. As well as increasing productivity, employers should also aim to improve the happiness and wellbeing of their workers. Here are some ways to boost employee productivity without losing staff engagement.
Use feedback:
Collect as much data as you can from your employees. This can inform how you create the workplace to best suit their needs. Data you might collect could include information on their performance levels by installing productivity tracking software on their devices. You could also regularly survey your staff to gain more qualitative data on their personal insights and happiness levels at work.
Provide good tools:
A business can only foster a productive environment when employees have access to the best tools. Provide your staff with excellent hardware, software and office supplies. This includes laptops, office furniture, and amenities. The more comfortable that your employees feel at work, the more work they will get done. High-quality software will also help your business to achieve work more efficiently.
Allow flexibility:
Having an employee schedule in place may be one way for you to ensure your workers stay on task and produce a consistently high standard of work. However, rigid schedules do not always suit all employees. Allowing your employees to make minor changes, such as swapping shifts, flexible start or finish times and remote working arrangements can actually improve productivity and loyalty to the business. It can also benefit employee communication, dependance and engagement.
Posted on 6 August '19, under business. No Comments.
Inland Revenue is making provisional tax simpler for New Zealand small businesses through the Accounting Income Method (AIM). Now in its second year, AIM allows business owners to pay a tax bill only when they’re making a profit.
Under the previous rules of provisional tax, payments must be made three times a year and in equal amounts. As most businesses don’t earn their income equally across the year, this can cause strain on the business’s cash flow if taxes are paid earlier than profit is made.
AIM does not replace existing methods, but is available alongside previous ways of paying provisional tax. It is currently provided through three accounting software providers and aims to take the guesswork out of provisional tax by using a business’s real-time account information. This can then provide them with more certainty that they are paying the right amount of tax at the correct time. AIM also reduces a business’s exposure to penalties and interest on provisional tax.
AIM is currently provided as part of software accounting packages from MYOB, Reckon and Xero. To find out whether AIM will assist your business, speak with your accountant or tax agent.
Posted on 6 August '19, under tax. No Comments.
Business owners have a responsibility to look after their staff and ensure they have a healthy working environment. This extends to mental health as well as physical. With one in five people experiencing a mental health issue at some stage in their life, there is a greater need to have mental health support specifically within the workplace environment of small businesses.
While most workers can successfully manage their illness without it impacting on their work, some may require support for a short period of time and others may require ongoing workplace strategies. Employers should be aware of mental health issues they can encounter and how best to approach them. Research is key in helping to understand what your employee is going through, how to recognise the illness and ways to successfully manage it.
Employers need to recognise the role in which work can play in an individual’s mental health. An ‘unhealthy’ work environment or a workplace incident can cause considerable stress and possibly contribute to or worsen mental illness. Employers must make changes to the workplace to enable someone with anxiety and/or depression to remain at or return to work, provided they can continue to meet the core requirements of their role. These changes can be temporary or permanent.
Further ways to promote mental health initiatives within your business include encouraging members of your workplace to seek help, reducing the stigma surrounding mental illness, and fostering connectivity and communication. Managing mental health within your business by avoiding conditions that lead to excessive stress and encouraging awareness and support can have many positive outcomes and cultivate a mentally safe and healthy workplace. Employers should also familiarise themselves with the work health and safety regulatory body in their state or territory.
Posted on 29 July '19, under business. No Comments.
