Back to Blog

The Tax Double Whammy That Catches Out Business Owners

Most business owners think they are on top of their tax until one year they are hit with a bill that feels completely unfair. They have worked hard, bounced back from tough seasons, and finally built up a strong profit. Instead of celebrating, they find themselves scrambling to cover not one, but two years’ worth of tax at the same time. We call this the “double whammy”, and it has caught out many otherwise successful operators.Why the Timing Creates PainThe problem comes down to timing. L...

Stop Flying Blind: How Smarter Job Tracking Protects Your Profit

One of the biggest frustrations I hear from business owners is not knowing in real time how much money they are making on each job. They look at Xero at the end of the month, see a healthy number, and assume things are on track. Then six months later, when cash is tight, they realise some jobs barely broke even or were loss-making. The damage is already done. Without clear job tracking, you are driving blind.The Cost of Poor VisibilityTake the example of a contractor who grew from $1.5 million t...

The GP Lever How a 2 Change Can Transform Your Bottom Line

Most business owners think more sales is the answer. The reality is that chasing turnover without watching gross profit just makes you busier, not wealthier. Gross profit is the most underused lever in business, and even small changes here can create big results.Why Gross Profit MattersGross profit is the difference between what you sell and what it costs you to deliver. It is the simplest measure of whether your jobs are truly profitable. Every extra dollar of gross profit goes almost entirely ...

Letting Go to Grow: The Key to Scaling Your Business

“It’s just easier if I do it myself.”If you have ever said this to yourself, you are not alone. Almost every business owner feels this way at some point. The problem is, this mindset is one of the biggest barriers to growth. When you choose to do everything yourself, you are choosing control over growth. And that tradeoff will hold your business back and keep you stuck working harder than you need to. At some point, your role must evolve. Your job is no longer to do everything. Your job is...

The Real Path to Wealth

Building wealth isn’t about luck — it’s about a repeatable strategy that works every time.When most people think about building wealth, they imagine hitting it big – launching the next tech unicorn, flipping properties overnight, or scoring big on crypto. But true, lasting wealth rarely comes from luck or speculation.In the case of our most succession financial clients, over my experience as being their accountant, it comes from having a clear, repeatable strategy and sticking to it.We b...

What would happen if your biggest client walked away tomorrow?

For many business owners, that single decision could wipe out half their revenue overnight. It is a scenario we have seen more than once, and it rarely ends well. What felt like loyalty suddenly becomes vulnerability.The pain of concentration is hidden until it strikes. When 2 or 3 clients make up most of the income, all it takes is a leadership change, a restructure, or a shift offshore to throw everything into chaos. The immediate cost is lost revenue, but the real toll is sleepless nights, de...

Is your business running you, instead of the other way around?

Most business owners start with excitement and a vision for freedom. But somewhere along the way, that freedom slips. The business begins to call the shots, and the owner becomes the one working longer hours than anyone else.If you feel like you are constantly chasing your tail, you are not alone. Many owners spend their days putting out fires, juggling staff rosters, handling customers, and then trying to do the books at night. The urgent always wins, and the important never gets done. But here...

Nothing ruins Christmas faster than a family loan gone wrong

It often starts with good intentions. You set up trusts, lend money to family members, or build layered structures to protect assets and help the next generation. On paper it all looks fine. But over time, what was meant to safeguard wealth can turn into a tangled web that quietly puts everything at risk.The danger is not obvious until it is too late. Informal family loans are never repaid, trusts own shares in companies, and no one is entirely sure who owes what. When the time comes to sell an ...

Personal vs Trust Ownership for Rentals What Business Owners Need to Know

When you buy a rental property, the structure you choose matters. It is not just about tax, it is about risk, protection, and long-term planning. Many business owners overlook this and simply default to personal ownership, without realising the consequences.Personal OwnershipPurchasing the rental in your own names is straightforward and low cost. It may be the same as how you own your home or company shares. There is little administration involved, and you prevent the set-up costs and ongoing co...

The Hidden Handbrake on Your Next Big Opportunity

Picture this: your new business idea is flying. You’ve got interest from investors, banks are nodding along, and partners are excited. Then, out of nowhere, an old company or unpaid tax bill you barely think about anymore drags everything to a halt.Most business owners underestimate how much their past structures impact their future opportunities. A messy legacy company, a shareholder loan that was never tidied up, or old GST arrears can be the difference between securing finance and hearing �...

Should Your Vehicle Be in the Business or Personal Name?

Your vehicle might be costing you thousands more in tax than it should.Most business owners assume it is simple: put the car through the company and claim everything, or keep it private and claim nothing. But that is not the full story. The choice you make now affects your tax, GST, and compliance costs .Here is the catch:Buy it in the wrong name and you could be stuck paying fringe benefit tax (FBT)Keep it personal when it is genuinely a business tool and you are leaving money on the table, mis...

Own rentals in a company? Beware the capital extraction trap

If you own multiple properties in an ordinary company structure, you’re at risk of not being able to extract tax free capital gains. When buying property, a small decision today to get the structure right from the start can save tax, admin, and stress later....

Surprise IRD Has Access to Your EFTPOS Merchant Data

They’re matching your EFTPOS data to your bank account. Are your books up to scratch?Most business owners think, “We’ll tidy up the records if IRD ever asks.”But here’s the reality:The IRD probably already has the data. And they’re matching it against your GST returns, line by line.We were recently involved in an IRD risk review.IRD had access to the client’s EFTPOS transaction data, not from the business, but directly from the payment provider.They were comparing it against bank a...

What Are You Really Optimising For?

Most people optimise for tax. The smart ones optimise for time, clarity, control, and peace of mind.It might be time to rethink your trust or structureWe often meet clients with long-standing trust structures, partnership accounts, or company entities that were set up for the right reasons at the time.But life changes.Family dynamics shift. Assets evolve. Priorities mature.And yet, many people continue operating with legacy structures simply because “it’s always worked.” The real question ...

You're Not Charging Too Much. You're Charging the Wrong People

It’s easy to assume that cashflow pressure means you need more clients.But what if the real issue isn’t volume, it’s value?If you are working harder, billing more hours, and still not seeing it in the bank, your customer and pricing strategy might need a reset.Here’s a hard truth:If you are constantly negotiating on price, chasing invoices, or discounting to win work, you are attracting the wrong clients.Not all customers are good customers.And not all pricing is profitable, even if it �...

Is Your Cashflow Trapped in Stock and Half-Finished Work?

You might not need more sales.You might just need to finish what you started.If you’ve got shelves full of slow-moving inventory or jobs sitting in limbo, you are not just stuck; you are bleeding cash.Cashflow issues are not always about late payers or low revenue.Sometimes the real problem is sitting in your storeroom or buried in your workflow board.Here’s the reality:Stock is cash waiting to become useful.Unfinished jobs? That is money you cannot invoice.The longer things sit, the more th...

Profit is Hiding in Plain Sight (You Just Need to Look)

Most businesses are leaking money every month.Not because they are unprofitable, but because they are not paying attention.Want to boost cashflow without increasing sales? Start by cutting waste.If you are not reviewing your expenses at least quarterly, you are probably paying for things that:• No one uses• Do not move the needle• Were once a good idea, but are now dead weightAnd no, this is not about being cheap. It is about being smart.Here is how to review expenses ruthlessly without tu...

Why You’re Waiting Too Long to Get Paid (And What to Do About It)

Cashflow stress isn’t just frustrating. It’s the silent killer of many otherwise profitable businesses.You’ve done the work, delivered the value, and yet your bank account is gasping for air. Sound familiar?Here’s the uncomfortable truth:If your customers are paying you late, it’s because you’re letting them.Late payments aren’t just a client issue. They’re a systems issue.The good news? Systems can be fixed.Here are some low-effort, high-impact tactics to speed up cashflow witho...

Build a Cash Buffer Before You Need One

If you’re running a service business, you’re not just selling time; you’re managing timing.And that means one unexpected cashflow hiccup can undo months of momentum.Growth doesn’t kill businesses.Poor cash flow does.Many agency owners focus on profit (which is essential). But profit is an accounting concept.Cash is what keeps the lights on.The uncomfortable truth is that most businesses don’t fail because they’re unprofitable; they fail because they run out of cash.Here’s what we�...

Xero Tap to Pay: accept contactless payments with just your phone

Xero Tap to Pay (sometimes called Tap to Go) lets you take a card, phone, or smartwatch payment on the spot without buying a separate terminal. Open the Xero Accounting app, raise an invoice, and your customer taps their device on yours. Stripe processes the payment and Xero marks the invoice as paid, all in a few seconds....

Stop Blurring the Lines: Keep Business Spending Separate and Watch Your Numbers Tell the Truth

Running a business already takes grit. Mixing company costs with groceries and Netflix takes that grit and turns it into quicksand. The mess feels small at first but it drags you under when you least expect it. It creates increased costs, confusion, risk and unnecessary complexity.“Everything lands on one credit card and I’ll sort it out later.”Sound familiar? It’s one of the most common accounting shortcut we see and it always ends the same:Sleepless nights before tax time as you trawl ...

GST and the AirBnB Trap: When One Property Affects the Whole Trust

It’s not uncommon for family trusts to own a mix of commercial and residential properties. As property use changes over time, especially with the rise of short-term rentals like AirBnB, GST obligations can become unexpectedly complicated and expensive.Here’s a situation we recently helped a client work through (changed for anonymous reasons), including what to be aware of to prevent complicated situations.Related reading: Should you AirBnB your holiday home? If you’re thinking of AirBnBin...

Maximising Tax Deductions - The FBT De Minimis Exemption for Employees

We’re often asked how employers can reward their team without incurring extra tax. One useful but often overlooked rule is the FBT de minimis exemption. This exemption allows employers to provide small, irregular benefits to staff without triggering fringe benefit tax (FBT). In this article, we’ll explain how the exemption works, what qualifies, and when you need to be careful....

Back to Back Loans Made Simple: What Every Business Owner Should Know

Let’s say your parents want to help you get ahead in life. They’ve lent you a big chunk of money — say, nearly a million dollars — to use in your business. There’s no formal loan agreement. No interest is being charged. It’s all been done on trust.So far, so good... but here’s the catch.You’ve taken that money and lent it to your own company. Maybe to buy some property, invest in equipment, or simply give the business some breathing room.And now the IRD might start asking questio...

Should You AirBnB Your Holiday Home

A Financial and Lifestyle Perspective for Property Owners...