• Office Energy Boosters

    | Categories: Business

    Is there a dead spot in your day? It’s probably a good time to look at boosting your energy. Lack of energy is a motivation crusher for you and those around you. It’s unhealthy too – it leads to bad posture which in turn can cause workplace injuries. And of course lack of energy shows up in your office output or, rather, lack of output.

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  • Party party party

    | Categories: Business , New Zealand

    Blog by Fuel Accountants

    IMPORTANT: This post is specific to New Zealand. If you are not a New Zealand business/taxpayer then it is probably not applicable to you.

    p>Are you planning a Christmas function for special clients and/or suppliers and business contacts? Be aware that this will come under the entertainment regime for purposes of tax deductibility. Any expenditure on food and drink
    that your business provides off your business premises will be 50% deductible. This extends to any incidental expenditure on things like hireage of crockery, glassware or utensils, waiting staff, and music or other entertainment provided for the function you’re planning.

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  • Paying Expenses/Making Multiple Personalities Work for You

    | Categories: Building Strategy , Business , Business Growth

    Blog by Fuel Accountants

    When you own a business everyone’s got their hands out for some of your money. Whether it’s employees, suppliers, the government or even customers – you’re paying bills and paying people left-right, and center. But it’s not just business – you have a family and friends and the sports club and the girl's night out – many things that require you to make payments. Sometimes it can be a challenge to keep it all straight. In fact – it really is like having multiple personalities with you that sometimes all try to come out together,

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  • When Should You Call Your Accountant

    | Categories: Business

    Blog by Fuel Accountants

    Most people in business avoid calling their accountant. It’s a bit like going to the Dentist – you don’t know what they’re going to say but you presume that it’s not what you want to hear and you always get a big bill for the privilege. However, like going to the dentist, not checking with your accountant before making business decisions can often lead to more trouble down the line. Your accountant can often save you money by structuring things efficiently or avoiding pitfalls. It’s usually easier to start out the right way than trying to fix it after the fact.

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  • Evaluating employment changes

    | Categories: Business , New Zealand

    A new report by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment looks at outcomes of key changes to employment law made in 2011 to see if they are working as intended.
    What the changes were meant to do
    The broad aims of the changes were to:

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  • Moments Of Truth

    | Categories: Small Business , Business

    Blog by Fuel Accountants

    Creating Outstanding Customer Service Levels To Obliterate The Competition

    In 1987 Jan Carlzon, the CEO of Scandinavian Airlines, wrote the book, ‘Moments Of Truth’. It explained how he took the airline from deficit to profit by ‘moving’ the airline to a customer-focused organisation.

    Now, as you know, there have been many books written on customer service, but where this book and Carlzon’s strategies really differ is his focus on each interaction the customer has with the business.

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  • Minimum Wage heads up

    | Categories: Business , New Zealand

    IMPORTANT: This post is specific to New Zealand. If you are not a New Zealand business/taxpayer then it is probably not applicable to you.

    After the government increased the minimum wage rates earlier this year, it made a further amendment to the Minimum Wage Order, issuing a new fortnightly rate. The fortnightly rate is $1,140 for adult employees and $912 for starting-out workers and trainees. If you’re an employer already fully compliant with minimum wage requirements and your employees’ hours don’t vary from week to week, stop reading here. For you, nothing has changed.

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  • Focus On Customer Frustrations & Your Profits Will Take Care Of Themselves!

    | Categories: Business

    We recently returned from a week’s holiday in Turkey. I love spending time away with the family—these days it’s the only real quality time we get together. Plus, it gives me time to catch up on reading. I often read what I consider to be ‘classics’ again and again. One of those books is ‘Broken Windows, Broken Business’ by Michael Levine. I read it again in Turkey.
    The book focuses on the principle that neglecting ‘small’ problems ultimately ends in anarchy. It was a principle founded by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling in 1982 and put into practice by mayor Rudy Giuliani in 1993. He basically cleaned up New York with his tough stance and zero tolerance on the ‘small’ crimes such as graffiti and prostitution.

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  • Update on Changes to Financial Reporting

    | Categories: Business

    You may have heard about changes to the financial reporting legislation. In the short term, many people are finding it a bit hard to work out how or whether the changes affect them.
    The requirements are changing for some businesses that used to have to file financial statements based on the New Zealand version of International Financial Reporting Standards (NZ IFRS). For example, your requirements have changed if your business:

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  • Is Facebook right for your business

    | Categories: Business

    Blog by Fuel Accountants

    The world of social media has come a long way in recent years and Facebook, in order to stay at the top of its game, has taken the phenomenon one step further. Offering strategic marketing solutions, paid advertising and even the option to sell retail online, Facebook has created a portal for businesses to get their name out in the marketplace with ease and in real-time.

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  • Why Businesses STOP Growing

    | Categories: Business , Business Growth

    To understand why growth slows or stagnates in any business, we first need to look at how a typical business evolves and why the frustration starts to mount as this growth slows. We call this the ‘Growth Roller-Coaster’.

    Word is spread by customers and referrers about the great, cost-effective products or services and new business is easily gained. The business quickly expands to a peak at point A, driven by the personalities and skills of its owners.

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  • Business New Year Resolutions

    | Categories: Business

    Blog by Fuel Accountants

    Generally, we want to indulge less, exercise more and be better people…. However it’s time to ponder some specific (and accomplishable) new year’s resolutions for your business.

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  • Pimping your ride: motor vehicles and taxes

    | Categories: Business , New Zealand

    Blog by Fuel Accountants

    IMPORTANT: This post is specific to New Zealand. If you are not a New Zealand business/taxpayer then it is probably not applicable to you.

    Having access to a vehicle is quite a necessity for a business these days. If you are in business for yourself your company vehicle is probably also the family car. This gives rise to some interesting tax questions about how much of your ride you can claim as a valid business deduction. There are a lot of things to consider – more than I can go through in this short article, but here are the three main methods for claiming a vehicle on your tax return.

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  • When an invoice is not a Tax Invoice

    | Categories: Business , New Zealand

    Blog by Fuel Accountants

    IMPORTANT: This post is specific to New Zealand. If you are not a New Zealand business/taxpayer then it is probably not applicable to you.

    I find it frustrating when I buy something for business and get given a receipt or till docket and find that it is not a valid tax invoice. It’s amazing how many businesses issue invoices that aren’t valid tax invoices for GST purposes. So, having the personality that I do, I point this out to the clerk/owner and politely request a “valid” tax invoice. The most common response I get is “we’ve been giving them out like this for years and no one has complained.” Yeah – maybe. But that doesn’t make it right! These rules haven’t changed in the time that GST has been around so there really is no excuse for not getting them right

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  • Getting Ready for your Year-End Accounts

    | Categories: Business , New Zealand

    Blog by Fuel Accountants

    IMPORTANT: This post is specific to New Zealand. If you are not a New Zealand business/taxpayer then it is probably not applicable to you.

    Last month I wrote about things that you should do BEFORE 31 March that could save you time or tax. This month I will highlight things that you should be doing now to make the process of creating your year-end accounts easier.

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