It's tempting to put off replacing your work vehicle but there comes a point when reliability and maintenance become a nuisance and expensive which means the depreciation suffered on a newer model look more palatable.

I don't know about you but I think depreciation is downright nasty and more often than not, the most overlooked motoring cost. I recently met a Holden V8 owner who had paid $65K not quite 4 years ago who was complaining that his car was now worth under $20K – the deprecation had cost him 60c per km!

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I had a question from a client a week or so back who mentioned that a friend of his had been told by his accountant that he could claim all his holidays against tax and asked me if it was true. As usual where tax is involved, it is not straightforward, but yes it is possible to offset the cost of a holiday against your tax in the right circumstances. Read more…

Recently a client contacted me and said he had received a chaser letter from ACC asking for a large amount of ACC Levy and asked whether he should pay it. Not having automatic access to his ACC account (unlike the IRD) naturally I asked to see the bill. Read more…

Anyone who has been involved with Child Support administered by the Inland Revenue will know that it's complex and fraught with difficulties. It is also unfair for many parents, both payers and recipients and the problem is unless you're either a payer or a recipient you just don't know all the anomalies that occur with the Child Support scheme and nor will you care which is very unfortunate for those who suffer under the scheme. It can also cause poverty for many. Read more…

I think I must be getting old because several of my friends have been talking about the hassle they've had in claiming NZ Super. Mind you, perhaps they only had hassle because of their personal circumstances, but certainly they didn't seem to enjoy the process of meeting WINZ to initiate the commencement of their NZ super payments. Read more…

Do you wonder sometimes why your Council rates are so high and what they do with all the money? Especially when you see Council workers (as hard working and motivated as I'm sure they are) using leaf blowers on the Havelock North to Hastings cycle path. Read more…

For families with children, paying all the bills can be tough so it's important to make sure that your Working for Families Tax Credits are maximised. Here are a few tips so you don't lose out. Read more…

In the world of large-scale capitalism, corporate accountants shoulder huge responsibilities: They must monitor, analyse, and report the financial health of their organisations to both owners and stakeholders alike. Read more…

I have made a career out of helping accountants run better businesses themselves and then helping their clients run better businesses.

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Trying to reduce your outgoings can be a daunting prospect when you're stressed by falling turnover and running out of cash. Hindsight being such a wonderful thing, you probably realise by now that you should have put the equivalent of three months overheads aside for that rainy day, arranged for the preparation of monthly financials and prepared a budget and cash flow forecast to predict your current predicament but what can you do now to alleviate the pressure? Read more…