While the Christmas/New Year period is traditionally a slow time of year for business, you still need to meet your expenses.

Ensure your bases are covered before you clock off for the year.

1. Plan ahead

Do a budget to figure out how much you are going to need to cover your overheads. This is especially important if it’s going to be several weeks before you start earning a crust again.

A cashflow forecast will help you identify any issues before they become problems.

2. Get your cashflow in order

• You can achieve this by:
  Prioritising jobs you can complete quickly so you can invoice clients straightaway.
• Incentivising early payment for completed work by offering a discount.
• Chasing outstanding invoices.
• Seeing if you can re-negotiate payment terms with suppliers.
• Reducing unnecessary spending.

3. Don’t forget taxes

IRD expects GST and provisional tax payments to be made on January 15. Interest of 8.22% and late payment penalties apply if you don’t.

Here’s a tip: If paying both is going to hurt the bank account, prioritise paying the GST. You can utilise the services of an IRD-approved tax pooling provider such as Tax Management NZ to pay the provisional tax later. They reduce IRD interest by up to 30% and eliminate late payment penalties.

As always, we’re happy to work with you so you have nothing to worry about while you enjoy your summer break.