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Setting the right growth goals for your business

If you’re going to grow your company in the right way, pinning down your goals and having a clear vision for the business from the outset is vital.You may want to increase profits and create an income that supports your lifestyle, or you are looking to increase market share and aim for hypergrowth. You may even be aiming to increase the overall value of the company to get the best return when exiting the business.So, how do you define the goal that’s right for you?Driving your performance ov...

6 ways to measure the health of your business

When you’re running a business, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day activity and lose sight of the big picture. Taking stock of the health of your business is important. Knowing where you’re allows for more effective planning, early warning about any issues, and the chance to better chart a course for success. There are some quick ratios that will help you in order to gauge the health of your business. We can help you to assess your business health and show you how to calculate th...

Xero Payday Filing - April 2019

From 1st April 2019 employers must send employee and contractor payment information to Inland Revenue each pay day instead of each month. One of the reasons for this change is to supply Inland Revenue with more accurate and up to date information about employees and their pays, in a more timely manner. Using payroll software will also simplify the process of filing for employers. Payday reports will be filed by Xero as soon as a pay run is posted each pay period. There will be no need to fi...

Invoices - What should you include?

When you’re running a small business or working for yourself as a freelancer or contractor, getting paid will generally rely on sending an invoice. And because getting paid, and on time, is essential to staying afloat, it’s important to make sure that you’ve got all the important info included.If a customer asks you for a tax invoice, provide one within 28 days. Your invoice needs to contain the following:The words ‘tax invoice’, ideally as a heading.Your business or trading name.The r...

B2B tips for working with big companies

Landing a large client is an exciting milestone but servicing them can be demanding. If you’re more used to working with smaller clients how do you make the transition to servicing larger ones?Don’t over-promise - Many small businesses are tempted to go beyond their core competencies to win a big contract. Avoid that if you can. Focus on delivering only the things you do really well.Be prepared to adopt their systems - You’ll probably need to change the way you work to fit with y...

The Five A’s of Change - a conscience process to achieve continuous improvement

Whether it’s a new focus, a new venture or a new year… consciously recognising the process required to change can vastly improve your outcome. The Five A's of Change breaks it down simply: 1. Awareness: First we must be aware of what needs to change. Perhaps we want to work smarter, not harder, so we can have more family time and better financial returns. 2. Acceptance: We have to accept that in order to work smarter we will need to do things differently. There is no magic bul...

Five accounting tips to give you more time to focus on creativity

While few people love the accounting aspects of their business, my creative clients dislike it more than most. That’s why I’d like to recommend a few ideas to keep your clients and suppliers happy while streamlining processes for yourself.Create realistic estimates. This will help you keep clients happy and expectations in check. Have a look at past projects, add up the costs, and compare to current requirements to get an accurate picture of how much to charge.Simplify time recording.&n...

Setting up the right legal and financial foundations

You've got the idea and the business plan ready to roll. But what are the main legal and financial areas you need in place to keep your new business compliant? Whether it's registering as a limited company, or setting up an accounting system that meets the latest digital requirements, it’s important to get the basics right. How to tick the right compliance boxes As a director, it’s your job to make sure your new business meets its regulatory requirements and stays compliant with the latest b...

Get paid online, straight into Xero, and improve your cash flow

The easier you make it for customers to pay you, the faster you'll receive payment – that’s good news for both your cashflow position and your aged debt levels!There’s a wide range of online payment services that link directly with your Xero system – making it quick and simple for customers to settle their bills. And many of these payment methods can be linked straight into Xero to automatically update and reconcile your accounts.A more connected kind of paymentWith Xero at the heart of ...

Remote work is on the rise - given it much thought?

Remote working has become more and more common as developments in technology have allowed us to communicate and collaborate no matter where we are. In fact, most of us are already logging on from home or holiday already. In May 2018, Swiss serviced office provider IWG released a study that found that 70% of professionals work remotely at least once a week.Sometimes called ‘telecommuting’, remote work is on the rise, and it’s challenging traditional ideas about where and when work should ta...

What to look for in a small business mentor

Whether you’re starting your first small business or you’re a serial entrepreneur, you’ll probably do better with a mentor. Not because they have all the right answers, far from it. The best mentors make a ton of mistakes – which is why they’re so valuable.Mentors are really good failures. ‘Failing fast’ is a popular notion in business. If you’re going to make a mistake – and everyone does – you might as well get it over with quickly. Learn the lessons and move on. But thereâ...

Working for yourself? Have you got your Super sorted?

When you’re employed, your employer makes compulsory contributions to your superannuation. When you work for yourself as a sole trader, or you’re in a partnership, making super payments isn’t mandatory. But, it’s still an important thing to consider.Retirement savings contributions are there to set you up in retirement. Generally, investing money into super will give you better investment returns than just putting it into a bank account. Plus, because the money is effectively locked away...

Keeping yourself, your business and your customers safe online

Access to the internet is now second nature for those of us working online every day. It has fast become a business imperative to connect to customers, transact business and network across geographies and industries. Likewise, a concern for individuals and companies operating online is keeping sensitive data and information secure from cyber-criminals and hackers. Supporting customers with security The day to day impact of cyber-crime has become a fact of life and a permanent reality for busines...

Why use Xero? The benefits of cloud accounting

Xero offers your business a simple, yet powerful, way to manage all your finances in the cloud. With Xero as your core finance system, you get real control over every element of running your business, from basic bookkeeping right through to efficient online invoicing, live bank feeds and detailed financial reporting. And that’s not all...  A beautiful business platform Xero is also a fully functioning business platform, with an open architecture that lets you plug in online payment s...

Is AIM right for your business?

The Accounting Income Method (AIM) is a new way of working out your provisional tax. It means that you’ll only pay provisional tax when your business makes a profit. AIM was introduced in early 2018, with the goal of making it easier for taxpayers to budget for their payments. Opting to use AIM may help your business to avoid cash flow issues. Plus, should your business make a loss, you won’t have to wait until the end of the year to get your refund. To use AIM your business needs to have an...

Modernise your accounting from Excel

If you’re using Excel for accounting, I’d like to share how accounting software makes things much easier. Excel is great for some tasks, but as you start to grow, it’s unlikely your spreadsheets will grow with you. And research by the University of Hawaii has found that 88 percent of spreadsheets contain errors – so there’s good reason to look at finding a better way. Here are just a few reasons why I recommend accounting software: Your company’s data is kept in one central place tha...

Want to take a holiday from your business?

Whether you’re heading into a holiday period, or just planning to take a break (and congratulations, because a healthy business means work-life balance), it’s important to keep your cashflow under control. This means pre-planning and being proactive. When you’re not in the office, there are still overheads and salaries that need to be sorted. If taking time off means that less cash will be coming in, it’s essential to plan for this period to make sure that these costs can be comfortably ...

Donations to charitable organisations

Donating to charity not only supports the vital work of an organisation or group, but it can have positive side-effects when it comes to claiming tax deductions. To be eligible for a tax credit, you need to make sure that your contributions meet certain conditions, and that you’re making a legitimate claim.In general, when a charity is an approved donee organisation or registered as a ‘deductible gift recipient’ (DGR), and you donate over a certain amount, you can claim a tax deduction. Yo...

2018 Law changes summary

2018 has been the year of law reforms.  There have been so many changes and reforms it's been a challenge too keep up. And with many more changes still to roll out in April 2019, it's so important for bookkeepers, accountants, business owners, employers, landlords and individuals to make sure they are informed. Business.govt.nz have released a handy law changes round up for all law reforms in 2018. From payday filing to the paid parental leave extension, here’s a summary of what’s new a...

Christmas break

Merry Christmas!  We wish you are very merry Christmas and well deserved end of year break spent with friends and family, from the team at My Two Cents. Thank you all for your continued support and choosing to work with us. We look forward to being your trusted advisors and partnering wiith you in the year ahead. Our office will be closed from 24th  December 2018. But we are back on deck on 7th  January 2019. Happy Holidays...

New Xero navigation

New Xero navigation helps you find your way around fasterYou may have noticed a few changes to the navigation in Xero. Launched on 27 November 2018, these changes bring a more logical framework to the menus and are more in line with the way businesses use Xero. One of the most obvious updates is the split between business tools and accounting tools. The accounting tools include financial reports and compliance functions that are more commonly used by accountants and bookkeepers. The bu...

Get paid online, straight into Xero

The easier you make it for customers to pay you, the faster you'll receive payment – that’s good news for both your cashflow position and your aged debt levels!There’s a wide range of online payment services that link directly with your Xero system – making it quick and simple for customers to settle their bills. And many of these payment methods can be linked straight into Xero to automatically update and reconcile your accounts.A more connected kind of paymentWith Xero at the heart of ...