Running a business without a clear budget or forecast is like driving with your eyes closed — you might move forward, but you won’t know where you’re headed. For growing New Zealand businesses, having a reliable financial plan is essential for managing cashflow, setting goals, and making confident decisions.

Running a trade business in New Zealand takes skill, hard work, and long hours on the tools — but when it comes to accounting and financial management, many tradies find that’s where things get complicated. Between managing jobs, invoices, and cashflow, there’s often little time left for bookkeeping or tax planning.

The good news? With the right systems and support, keeping your finances under control doesn’t have to be hard. Here’s how tradies can simplify their accounting, stay compliant, and focus more on what they do best.

Whether you run a small business or just want your personal tax affairs tidy, the thought of an audit can be enough to unsettle anyone.

The good news is, most audits aren’t random. Inland Revenue (IRD) looks for certain patterns and red flags; knowing what these are helps you stay off their list.

In New Zealand, the line between being a contractor and an employee isn’t just paperwork; it shapes how you earn, what rights you hold, and how much control you have over your day-to-day work. Employees work under a contract of service and fall under the Employment Relations Act. Contractors, on the other hand, work under a contract for services, running their own business and setting their own terms.

Many small business owners think all accounting reports are the same, but there’s a crucial difference between tax accounts and management accounts.

Understanding this difference can help you stay compliant with the tax office while also making smarter decisions about how to run and grow your business.

Many small business owners think all accounting reports are the same, but there’s a crucial difference between tax accounts and management accounts.

Understanding this difference can help you stay compliant with the tax office while also making smarter decisions about how to run and grow your business.

Pricing can make or break a business. Yet for many tradies and small business owners, setting the right price is more guesswork than strategy.

Whether you’re undercharging, reacting to competitors, or failing to review prices regularly, common pricing mistakes can quietly eat into your profits and slow down growth.

For tradies and other project-driven businesses, success isn’t just about landing work — it’s about making sure each job is profitable. Too often, business owners don’t know how much profit (or loss) they made on a job until long after it’s finished.

Tracking job or project profitability more effectively helps you quote better, schedule more realistically, and improve margins over time.

Running your own business means juggling a lot, sales, staff, operations, marketing, and more. But while you're busy growing the business, it's easy to overlook some of the financial traps that could put your personal assets or future at risk.

Many business owners don’t even realise they're vulnerable until something goes wrong, a tax issue, a client dispute, or a cash flow crisis.

For many small business owners, accounting is a necessary, but not always exciting part of running a company. Unfortunately, that mindset can lead to believing common myths that hurt your bottom line.

Whether it’s thinking bookkeeping can wait or assuming your software does all the work, these misunderstandings can lead to missed opportunities, compliance issues, or costly mistakes.

Bringing on a business partner can be one of the most exciting and risky decisions you’ll ever make in business. The right partner can bring skills, capital, and fresh energy to help you grow faster. Before you shake hands or sign anything, it’s crucial to step back and evaluate whether a partnership truly serves your goals and if so, how to make it work from the start.

Starting or growing a business comes with both opportunity and risk. While it’s easy to get caught up in sales, branding, and day-to-day operations, one critical area that often gets overlooked is asset protection.

Without the right structure, your personal savings, home, or other assets could be at risk if something goes wrong in your business.

If you’ve been following the headlines, you’ll know the US has just increased tariffs on New Zealand exports from 10% to 15% — a surprise change that puts us at a disadvantage compared to countries like Australia, the UK, Argentina, and Uruguay, who still sit at 10%.

While tariffs might feel like a “big business” problem, they can ripple through the entire economy and that includes small businesses here in New Zealand.

In today’s fast-moving business environment, small businesses face increasing pressure to make well-informed decisions quickly.

Whether you're running a local café, a boutique agency, or an e-commerce store, having a clear and accurate picture of your financial position is crucial. This is where better financial reporting comes into play.

While it may seem like just another administrative task, robust financial reporting can be a powerful tool for driving growth.

If you’re a business owner considering purchasing new equipment, tools, or technology, pause for a moment. A new tax incentive called the Investment Boost could help you save more than you think.

The rules around asset purchases are changing, and with it comes an opportunity to improve your cash flow and reduce your tax bill. But timing and eligibility are everything—so before you click “buy now,” here’s what you need to know.

You don’t need to be a finance expert to run a successful business, but understanding your key financial metrics can make a world of difference. Financial KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) help you measure how well your business is really doing, beyond just “money in, money out.”

By regularly tracking a small set of meaningful KPIs, you can make smarter decisions, catch problems early, and drive more consistent growth.

Every business, regardless of size or industry, has one essential number it must understand to operate sustainably, the break-even point. This figure shows the minimum revenue needed to cover all your costs, and without knowing it, you're essentially flying blind.

For small business owners, understanding your break-even point helps set realistic sales goals, price goods and services strategically, and manage financial risk with greater clarity and confidence.

When was the last time you checked how much interest your money is earning? If you’ve got a decent sum sitting in a transaction account, chances are you’re missing out on hundreds - if not thousands - of dollars in passive income.

Budget 2025 has been unveiled, and while it’s a lean one, it brings some important changes for businesses across Aotearoa. 

For Kiwi businesses, two key announcements stand out: the Investment Boost and changes to KiwiSaver. Let’s take a closer look at what these mean for you.

If you’re a contractor, it can be challenging to manage a hectic schedule and complex projects, all while ensuring your paperwork, documents, and contracts are in order.

It’s important to keep a paper trail of your work and practice due diligence. Keeping all your working documents in order shows that you treat your business, customers, and subcontractors responsibly.