http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/ The latest Blog feeds from www.blackburnegroup.co.nz en-us Thu, 09 Apr 2026 05:15:45 +1200 Rocketspark http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/post/151905/why-cashflow-forecasting-is-essential/ Overall business confidence in New Zealand has shown some tentative signs of improvement in 2025. But the economic reality for many small businesses remains challenging. Managing your financial health with cashflow forecastingCoping with weakened sales revenue and rising costs is a recipe for cashflow issues. With less income flowing into the business and higher expenses flowing out, the likelihood is that many Kiwi small businesses are facing a potential cashflow crisis.The key to avoiding thes... Wed, 10 Sep 2025 13:45:01 +1200 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/#post151905 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/post/150370/6-powerful-reasons-to-watch-your-financial-reports/ Making time to look over your financial reports each month is an important task for any business owner. If you are not taking time to do this, either because you’re too busy, or perhaps you don’t really understand what you’re looking at and it doesn’t make sense to you, then here are 6 reasons we recommend you should start to.But before we get our 6 reasons, let’s talk very quickly about which reports to look at. At a bare minimum, and depending on the complexity of your business, you ... Wed, 13 Aug 2025 12:29:25 +1200 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/#post150370 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/post/149241/hows-your-work-life-balance/ It’s great to be the boss – you can work any hours you like, right?Unfortunately, for many business owners, that means long hours, plenty of stress, and very few breaks and holidays. Gallup reported that 39% of the owners they surveyed worked over 60 hours a week.Owners often report they are unhappy with their work life balance, and after the challenges of the recent years you might find yourself thinking hard about your priorities.Running a business and having a lifeCan you run your busines... Mon, 21 Jul 2025 12:55:18 +1200 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/#post149241 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/post/149240/changes-to-kiwisaver-how-to-get-your-business-ready/ Major changes to KiwiSaver were announced in Budget 2025.The Kiwisaver voluntary savings scheme is aimed at helping New Zealand workers save for retirement, or buy a first house. But with the rising cost of living, action was needed to make KiwiSaver fit for purpose and more fiscally sustainable as a savings scheme.How will these changes affect your employees and your small business? Let’s take a look at the details of these KiwiSaver changes.Changes affecting your employeesFirst off, let... Mon, 21 Jul 2025 12:37:04 +1200 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/#post149240 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/post/149233/making-your-business-work-for-you-passing-the-business-to-the-next-generation/ As the owner of the business, you’ve set your company up so it delivers on your own personal goals. But you also want the business to deliver for the people you hand the business on to – whether that’s your kids, your management team, or a brand-new buyer.Let’s take a look at how you pass the business on to the next generation, and the key steps to plan for, consider and get in place before you exit the company.Getting the business ready to hand overWhen you pass the business to your suc... Mon, 21 Jul 2025 11:33:20 +1200 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/#post149233 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/post/149228/investment-boost--how-to-maximise-the-benefits-of-this-new-scheme/ As part of May 2025 Budget, the Minister for Finance, Nicola Willis, introduced Investment Boost, a new way for Kiwi businesses to reduce the cost of investing in new assets and equipment.What does Investment Boost offer?Investment Boost is a new tax deduction that’s available to all Kiwi businesses, whatever the size of your business or your business type.From 22 May 2025, you can claim 20% of the cost of new assets as an expense, then claim depreciation as usual on the remaining 80%.What can... Mon, 21 Jul 2025 10:05:49 +1200 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/#post149228 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/post/134851/have-you-made-a-will-and-is-it-current/ Have you made a Will? Is it current? Every Kiwi should have a Will if they have more than $15,000 worth of assets. Have you an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) for your property? For your personal care and welfare? This enables a named person to look after your affairs if you can’t. Memorandum of Wishes (MOW) - this is essentially a private document that the settlor can advise trustees of their wishes for the trust fund following the settlors death. This is very separate to a pers... Thu, 19 Sep 2024 09:55:18 +1200 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/#post134851 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/post/128051/client-gift-expenses-and-their-tax-deductibility/ Questions around gifts often come up when you want to celebrate special milestones in your relationships with valued customers. Or at Christmas time when you are planning events, thinking about ways to say thanks and spread some festive cheer with clients.... Mon, 11 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/#post128051 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/post/128050/whats-the-difference-between-employees-and-contractors/ Does your business use both employees and contractors? It's important to distinguish between them as they are paid and taxed differently.... Tue, 26 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/#post128050 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/post/128044/nz-road-transport-price-hike/ Costs for NZ road transport businesses have risen almost four times higher than inflation in the last quarter, according to the latest Grant Thornton Cost Index.... Tue, 13 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.blackburnegroup.co.nz/blog/#post128044