Recent News Articles

From April 2011 several important changes will come into effect for both the Holidays Act and the Employment Relations Act.

All employers need to be aware of these changes to ensure their continued compliance with employment regulations in NZ.

The main changes to the Acts are as follows:

Holidays Act

• Employees can cash in annual holidays (maximum of 1 week)
• Public holidays can be transferred to another working day
• Employers can request proof of sickness within first 3 consecutive days of the sick leave

Employment Relations Act

• 90 day trial period for new employees available to all employers
• Requiring consent to be given before unions can access workplaces
• Employers required to retain employment agreements (effective from 1st July 2011)
• Changes to the personal grievance provisions
• Labour inspectors power and role extended

To learn about these changes in more detail or to find out more information visit the Department of Labour website: www.dol.govt.nz

There are many small details you may need to manage however there are some key things you must do.

If you are registered for GST on the Payments basis you must value your debtors and creditors as at 30th September 2010. IRD have issued a GST Return form that you will need to use for the end of September GST Return to be filed by the 28th October that includes an adjustment for debtors and creditors. If you file your returns two or six monthly and the return covers two GST rates (ie one month at 12.5% and one at 15%) there is also a clearly defined process to follow along with a one-off form to file for the transition.

Some things to look out for:

• If you have automatic payments (A/P) set up and the amount changes because of the GST increase you will need to arrange to change the amount of the A/P. The bank will not do it automatically.
• You will need to make sure people who pay you regular amounts change their A/P's as well or you could be spending a lot of time managing small amounts of under-payment
• If you use MYOB or Quickbooks we highly recommend you upgrade your version of the software to the current release as these have been designed to help you manage the transition without too much fuss.

If you have any queries please contact us early rather than at the last minute. Our expected workload means that if you leave it too late we may struggle to help you before the 28th October.

If you were unable to attend one of our seminars and would like the notes please call Shelley and she will send you a copy.

It may have happened in Christchurch this time but it is likely to affect you in one way or another. It may be as minor as the supermarket running out of your favorite chocolate biscuits (for some that may be major!) or you may buy product from a supplier in the Canterbury region who is unable to supply for some time. Maybe you supply businesses in Christchurch and surrounding areas that can no longer operate their business and therefore may not be able to pay you.

Obviously it is very sad time for many people in Canterbury but if you do business with anyone in the region you need to know how it may affect you so you can factor potential supply and payment issues into your business operations and cash flow.

How would your business survive an event like this? Have you got enough of the right type of insurance? Now is a great time to talk to your insurance company or broker about an insurance health check.

The annual Nelson Arts Festival seems to get better and better each year and we are pleased to announce Savage & Savage Chartered Accountants has recommitted to supporting this fantastic event once again.

Sari and Neil have always preferred to buy works of art from local artists and you will have noticed many of these in our offices. They have also had a long association with The Suter Art Gallery.

While Savage & Savage have also supported the business community by sponsoring various sections of the Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce for many years and recently swapping this support to the Top Shop Awards currently running in the region - don't forget to vote for your Top Shop - Sari and Neil support the arts in the region because the arts feed the soul of a community. They make a community a great place to live and help give a sense of ownership in a community.

Our long association with the arts in the region continues with our support for this festival of outstanding events.

Savage & Savage bring you two performances by The Baker Suite this year. The first is at 8.30pm The Granary Festival cafe at Founders Park on the Saturday 16th October and the second is at 2pm at Neudorf Vineyards on Sunday 17th.

We have festival programmes at the office so pick up your copy, book some tickets and we will see you there.