Operational Dossier

A logo is "War Paint." It creates a "Halo Effect" where customers attribute quality to your product based on your visual identity. Our Logo Design creates an immediate "Trust Heuristic."

Invisibility is a failure of preparation. Without technical intervention, new sites are invisible. Our SEO Audit identifies "technical debt" like crawl errors and mobile failures.

Leverage "Primacy" and "Recency." The Intro grabs the soul; the Outro provides the Call-to-Action. See Video Assets.

Posting without strategy is "noise." Our Social Media Audit enforces consistency to build Social Proof.

The Startup Consult is the "War Room." We use the Lean Startup Methodology to stop you from bleeding cash on bad ideas.

No. That is the "Ferrari Myth." For Stage 0 businesses, we deploy the "Toyota Corolla"—a 5-Page Google Site. It is reliable, secure, and requires zero maintenance.

The Full Launch Package ($360.97) eliminates analysis paralysis. It bundles the four non-negotiable pillars: Logo, Strategy, Website, and Stripe Integration.

As detailed in Digital Hostage, you must own the "Trinity": Registrar, Host, and CMS access. Never let a vendor register your domain in their name.

Use "Cognitive Reframing." Like the Ohakune businesses during the highway closure, view disruption as a captive audience opportunity. Scan the environment for the "Desert Road" opportunity.

No. Read The Seminar Trap. Gurus use "Anchoring" to make $20k look cheap. Invest in execution, not secrets.

Assess your "Personal Fit." Passion without a plan is a "Comfortable Coffin." Conduct initial screening on legality and market need.

Yes. It is a "War Map." It must include Situation Analysis, Objectives, and crucial 13-week rolling cash flow forecasts.

Mix Qualitative (Focus Groups, Ethnographic) to find the "why," and Quantitative (Surveys, Test Marketing) to find the "how many."

Stats NZ (Infoshare), Industry Associations, and Xero Guides. Simple "Coffee & Conversation" is often the most effective low-cost tool.

The process is entirely online via the Companies Office.

Google Sites is a "Black Box." You are a tenant. You cannot access server-side files.

We use "Client-Side Injection" of Schema code to help Google understand your content despite platform rigidity.

No. The industry is self-regulated. Always check if a franchisor is a member of FANZ. If not, your risk profile increases significantly.

Layers of Loyalty, Strategic Leadership, Money Metrics (Perception, Comprehension, Projection), and Method Management.

As a sole trader, you and your business are the identical legal entity, meaning you have unlimited personal liability for any business debts and claims.

A limited company is a separate legal entity completely distinct from its shareholders, which generally protects your personal assets from commercial debts.

A sole trader pays tax on profits at individual marginal rates, while a company pays a flat corporate tax rate of 28%.

An LTC is legally a standard limited company that offers limited liability protection for your personal assets.

However, for tax purposes, Inland Revenue "looks through" the company. Profits and losses flow directly to the owners, who pay tax at their own personal marginal tax rates instead of the corporate rate.

In a general partnership, partners face unlimited personal liability for the business's debts.

Partners are bound by "Joint and Several Liability," meaning a creditor can legally pursue any single partner for the entire amount of a partnership debt, regardless of their share in the business.

A sole trader is an individual who manages, controls, and owns their business outright.

They have exclusive entitlement to all profits but absorb absolute, unlimited personal responsibility for all business debts and liabilities. The individual and the business are legally indistinguishable.

Yes, there is no legal requirement for a sole trader to formally register a trading name.

However, you should use the ONECheck tool to verify the name doesn't infringe on existing trademarks, which could trigger immediate legal action.

While optional for sole traders, getting a New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) is highly recommended.

It is a free, globally recognized identifier that enhances credibility and speeds up onboarding with suppliers and government agencies.

Yes, a sole trader is legally classified as a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

You must ensure the health and safety of yourself, workers, subcontractors, and the public affected by your work.

Yes, this is a standard trajectory.

Many start as sole traders to minimize setup costs and validate their market, then incorporate into a Limited Liability Company when revenue scales, risk increases, or they require external capital investment.

No, a general partnership requires no formal government registration to exist. However, the partnership must apply for its own dedicated IRD number for tax purposes.

A Limited Partnership is a separate legal entity that must be formally registered with the Companies Office.

It has general partners who manage operations and retain unlimited liability, and limited partners who act as silent investors whose liability is restricted to their invested capital.

No, a partnership does not pay income tax in its own right. It uses a flow-through tax treatment where net profit or loss is allocated to each partner.

At the end of the tax year, the partnership must file a Partnership Income Tax Return (IR7). This return declares the total gross income, deducts expenses, and shows how the profit or loss is allocated to each partner.

Once the profit is allocated, each partner must file an Individual Income Tax Return (IR3) using their personal IRD number. They pay income tax on their specific share at their personal progressive marginal tax rate.

No, drawings are not a deductible business expense. Partners pay tax on their allocated profit share, regardless of how much cash they took out in drawings.

In a partnership, ACC levies are calculated and invoiced to each partner individually, not to the partnership as a whole.

Yes, partners in the same firm can have different Business Industry Classification (BIC) codes if their roles differ drastically, such as one doing physical farm work and another doing office admin.

Relying on a verbal or handshake agreement often leads to catastrophic legal disputes over profit sharing or exit terms. You should always draft a formal Partnership Agreement.

A limited company is a completely separate legal entity from its owners and managers.

It offers limited liability, meaning shareholders' personal risk is generally limited to the value of their shares, whereas a sole trader has unlimited personal liability.

All companies incorporated in New Zealand must possess a registered company name ending in "Limited" or "Tapui Limited", at least one share, at least one shareholder, at least one director, and registered physical contact addresses.

You must use your RealMe login to reserve a company name via the Companies Office online services. The reservation costs $10 plus GST.

The formal application to incorporate costs $118.74 plus GST.

Companies pay income tax on their net profits at a flat corporate rate of 28%.

A shareholder salary is a lump-sum allocation of the company's profit made to the shareholder-employee at the end of the financial year. No PAYE is deducted; instead, the individual shareholder pays personal provisional and terminal tax on this amount.

If you take out more in drawings than your allocated shareholder salary, your account becomes overdrawn. If the company does not charge you market interest on this amount, it can trigger Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) or be treated as a taxable dividend by IRD.

Before declaring a dividend, directors must legally sign a certificate confirming the company passes the Solvency Test. This test requires that after the dividend is paid, the company can still pay its debts and its assets remain greater than its liabilities.

An Annual Return is a legal check-in filed every year with the Companies Office to confirm that your directors, addresses, and shareholdings are up to date. It is not a tax return.

Yes, the Companies Act 1993 requires companies to maintain minutes of all board meetings and shareholder resolutions for at least 7 years.

While an LTC offers limited liability like a standard company, for tax purposes Inland Revenue "looks through" the company. The LTC itself does not pay corporate tax; instead, profits and losses flow directly to the owners who pay tax at their personal marginal rates.

Only natural persons (individuals) or trustees can be owners of an LTC. An ordinary limited company cannot hold shares in an LTC.

An LTC must have 5 or fewer "look-through counted owners". Relatives connected by blood or marriage can be grouped together and counted as a single owner for this test.

No, none of the owners can be tax charities or Māori authorities unless they are grandparented.

You register a normal limited company first via the Companies Office, then submit an LTC election form directly to IRD.

At the end of the financial year, the LTC must file a Partnership and Look-Through Company Return (IR7).

No, LTC owners cannot allocate non-PAYE shareholder salaries to working owners. If an active owner wants a formal deductible salary, it must be processed as a standard PAYE wage.

No, if you are a silent investor and do not play an active part in the business, your income is considered passive and you do not pay ACC levies on it.

If you are a sole trader, you use your personal IRD number for all commercial tax obligations.

If you operate as a Partnership, Limited Company, or Trust, the business is a distinct entity and must apply for its own dedicated IRD number.

No, the first year is not tax-free.

While you may not be required to pay tax installments during the first year, the profit you generate is fully taxable, and the accumulated liability usually hits as a massive lump sum the following year.

If your residual income tax (your final tax bill after accounting for PAYE or other credits) exceeds $5,000 for the year, you trigger provisional tax for the following year.

This requires you to pay your estimated income tax in advance installments, usually three times a year, to prevent a large lump-sum bill.

RIT is the amount of tax to pay on your taxable income, less any PAYE deducted and any other tax credits you may be entitled to.

• Standard Option: Calculated from either your last year's residual income tax plus 5%, or residual income tax from two years ago plus 10%.
• Estimation Option: You estimate your provisional tax. (Risk: If the amount you estimate is less than your actual RIT, you may be charged interest).
• Ratio Option: You can only use this option if you are GST-registered and file either monthly or two-monthly GST returns.
• AIM Option: The Accounting Income Method (AIM) bases your provisional tax instalments on your cash flows during the year using AIM-capable accounting software.

If you are not registered for GST, you will need to make three provisional tax payments.

New businesses do not pay provisional tax in their first year of operation because there is no RIT from the previous year to base the calculation on, but they may be charged interest at year-end.

Tax pooling allows taxpayers to pool provisional tax payments, offsetting underpayments by overpayments within the same pool to reduce exposure to late payment penalties and interest.

These companies may be excused from completing tax returns if they complete a Non-active company declaration (IR433) form.

A non-active company is one that has not received any gross income, has no deductions, has not disposed of any assets, and has not been party to any transactions giving rise to income or fringe benefits.

If the company has a 31 March balance date, you have until 7 July to complete the return, unless you have been granted an extension of time.

The penalty depends on net income: below $100,000 is $50, between $100,000 and $1 million is $250, and above $1 million is $500.

You can attach either a fully completed Financial statements summary (IR10) form or the company's financial accounts.

Inland Revenue will give an early payment discount to qualifying individual taxpayers who make voluntary payments of income tax in their first year of business.

You qualify if you are self-employed, a partner in a partnership, or an owner of a look-through company, and derive gross income predominantly from a business.

The discount is calculated by applying the discount rate to the lesser of the amount of any voluntary income tax payments made or 105% of the residual income tax for the income year.

If you want a balance date other than 31 March, you must apply to Inland Revenue in writing, giving sound business reasons for the change.

A trust files an IR6 return.

A not-for-profit organisation files an IR9 return.

Income tax exemptions are not automatic; you will need to apply to Inland Revenue in writing.

Unincorporated organisations not entitled to an exemption are taxed at the same rate as individuals.

The company attaches imputation credits to a dividend, representing the 28% tax it has already paid, to prevent the profit from being taxed twice.

To offset net losses there must be a common shareholding of at least 66%, and 49% continuity of minimum voting interest must be maintained.

GST registration becomes mandatory if your gross turnover (total sales revenue before expenses) exceeds $60,000 within any rolling 12-month period, or if you expect it to do so in the next 12 months.

Yes, you can register voluntarily.

This allows you to claim back the 15% GST paid on your business expenses and startup hardware, though it adds the administrative burden of filing periodic returns.

A taxable activity is an activity that is carried on continuously or regularly, and involves or is intended to involve the supply of goods or services to another person for consideration.

The Payments Basis means you account for GST at the end of the taxable period when you make or receive the payment, which helps manage cash flow.

It is available for businesses with turnover under $2 million and heavily protects cash flow.

Under the hybrid basis you account for GST on sales using the invoice basis, and account for GST on expenses when you actually make payment.

As of April 2023, rigid "tax invoices" were replaced by "taxable supply information" requirements.

• Under $200: You must provide the seller's name or trade name, date of supply, description of goods or services, and the total payment amount.
• $200 to $1,000: Must include GST number and an explicit indication of the GST amount.
• Over $1,000: In addition to standard details, you must also capture the buyer's name and contact information, such as their address, phone, email, or NZBN.

Taxable supply information must be provided to GST registered buyers within 28 days of a request.

When you buy supplies for $200 or less, you must keep your own records of the transaction for GST record keeping requirements, such as a receipt.

Some goods and services are not exempt supplies, but GST is charged at 0%, such as exported goods or sales of going concerns.

GST is not charged on exempt supplies, which include financial services such as interest payments on loans or bank fees.

If the purchaser is GST-registered and buying the goods to use in their taxable activity, they can make a secondhand goods GST claim after payment has been made.

From 1 April 2023, debit and credit note requirements to correct previously issued tax invoices have been replaced with requirements to provide and keep supply correction information.

If you are registered for GST and you receive a grant or subsidy, you will usually need to pay the GST to Inland Revenue.

You must file monthly returns if your sales are over $24 million in any 12-month period.

The penalty is $50 for each return filed on the payments basis, and $250 for each return filed on the invoice or hybrid basis.

Sole traders and general partners do not receive a standard PAYE salary.

Instead, you utilize "drawings," which are cash withdrawals taken from the business account to cover personal living expenses.

Drawings are not deductible business expenses, and you are taxed on your overall share of the business profit, regardless of how much you withdrew in drawings.

Revenue expenses are day-to-day operational costs (like rent, marketing, and accounting fees) and are fully deductible immediately.

Capital expenses are high-value assets with a useful lifespan exceeding 12 months (like computers or vehicles). The full cost cannot be deducted immediately; it must be capitalized and depreciated over its useful life.

Low-value assets costing $2,000 or less can be pooled and depreciated collectively.

This streamlines the accounting process and accelerates the realization of tax benefits.

If you use your personal vehicle strictly for business, you can claim the full running costs.

If you use it for both private and business travel, you must keep a logbook for at least 3 months every 3 years to calculate the business share of running costs. (You need to record the distance, date, and reason for the trip in the logbook).

Alternatively, without a logbook, you may claim up to 25% of the vehicle running costs as a business expense, though you may be asked to verify this.

You can deduct a proportion of domestic expenses like rent, mortgage interest, rates, and power based on the exact percentage of floor area used exclusively for business.

Alternatively, you can use the IRD's simplified annual square metre rate option. This option uses a rate set each year based on the average cost of utilities per square metre of housing for the average New Zealand household.

No, private expenses are strictly non-deductible. If an expense has both private and business utility, the cost must be strictly apportioned.

For the 2010 income year and beyond, legal expenses incurred when buying capital assets are deductible provided your total legal expenses for an income year are equal to or less than $10,000.

Some entertainment expenses are only 50% deductible if they are not completely business related and have a significant private element.

Examples include meals an employee buys while travelling on business, or light meals provided in a dining room for senior managers consumed as part of their duties.

The portion of the expenditure relating to business usage may be claimable as a business expense.

If your home is the centre of operations or management for the business, you may claim a deduction of 50% of the telephone rental.

The cost of travelling from home to work is not a tax-deductible expense.

A company can claim a deduction for donations it makes to any society, institution, association, organisation, trust, or fund that has donee organisation status.

Loan principal repayments cannot be claimed as an income tax deduction. (Interest payments generally can be).

Late payment penalties are not deductible when you work out your profit for income tax.

In general, a website is a capital asset and the costs must be capitalised and depreciated.

Depreciation allows for the wear and tear on a fixed asset and must be deducted from your income.

You cannot claim the full cost of capital items in the year they were purchased; their cost must be written off over a number of years.

In most circumstances you can choose between the diminishing value and straight-line methods of calculating depreciation.

The amount of depreciation is worked out on the adjusted tax value of the asset, which is the original cost less any depreciation already claimed.

Depreciation is calculated on the original cost price of the asset, and the same amount is claimed each year.

You may use a pool system to depreciate low-value assets collectively if they individually cost $2,000 or less.

From 1 April 2011 you are no longer able to claim depreciation on the house itself.

If you do not want to claim depreciation on an asset, you should elect not to treat the asset as depreciable.

When a building or asset is sold for more than its adjusted tax value, the depreciation recovered is taxable income.

Your ACC levies are deductible for income tax purposes, meaning you can claim them as a deduction from your business profits.

The annual ACC invoice comprises the Earners' Levy, the Working Safer Levy, and the variable Work Levy.

The Earners' Levy funds coverage for non-work-related injuries, like accidents at home or weekend sports injuries.

It is a flat rate applied to all earners, set at 1.67% up to a statutory cap of $152,790 for the 2025/2026 year.

The Work Levy funds coverage for injuries sustained directly within the workplace or during business operations.

The rate is variable and heavily dependent on the specific business's risk profile.

The BIC code directly determines your Classification Unit (CU), which is used to calculate your variable ACC Work Levy.

Selecting an inaccurate or excessively broad code can result in you paying disproportionately high levies.

By default, self-employed individuals are placed on ACC CoverPlus, which pays up to 80% of your taxable income based on your most recently filed tax return.

CoverPlus Extra (CPX) is an alternative agreed-value policy where you negotiate a guaranteed level of lost earnings cover in advance.

CPX provides a guaranteed 100% payout of your pre-agreed weekly amount without requiring proof of financial loss at claim time.

Additionally, there are no clawbacks if the business continues to generate passive revenue while you are incapacitated.

No. If you are merely a silent investor and do not play an active role in generating the business's income, your income is considered passive, and you do not pay ACC levies on it.

If you reside overseas but continue to declare self-employed income to Inland Revenue, ACC will assess this as leviable income and issue standard levy invoices.

ACC does not function as international travel or medical insurance and absolutely does not cover foreign hospital bills or emergency repatriation flights if you are injured overseas.

The four main groups are motor vehicles, free or discounted goods and services, low-interest loans, and employer contributions to certain superannuation schemes.

Yes, if a sole trader hires staff on employment agreements, they must formally register as an employer with Inland Revenue prior to the first payday.

Get new employees to fill in a Tax code declaration (IR330) which tells you the tax code to use.

If any employees do not give you a completed IR330, you must deduct tax from their wages at a higher rate known as the non-notified rate.

Get new contractors who receive schedular payments to fill in a Tax rate notification for contractors (IR330C).

You must complete your employment information electronically within two working days of the payday.

If your gross annual PAYE and ESCT is less than $500,000 in the previous year, PAYE is due on the 20th of the month following the month of deduction.

If you treat a true employee as self-employed to avoid deducting tax, you could be prosecuted, fined, and still have to pay the PAYE you should have deducted.

A partner who works for the partnership can be paid a salary with PAYE deducted if there is a written contract of service agreed to by all partners.

If an employee suffers a non-work-related injury, the employer is legally responsible for paying the employee's first week of wages before ACC takes over.

You must make deductions from your employee's gross pay at the default rate of 3% if they do not choose a rate.

You must make compulsory employer contributions to all employees enrolled in KiwiSaver at the rate of 3%.

ESCT is calculated at a rate based on the employee's total annual salary or wages, plus gross employer contributions for the previous tax year.

Interim payments are generally due in three instalments: 28 August, 15 January, and 7 May.

You pay 12 cents for every dollar of your income over the repayment threshold.

You must show voluntary extra deductions requested by the employee separately on your employment information return as SLBOR.

If an employee pays their child support through employer deductions, 60% of their wage is protected.

Your employees' child support information and commitments are confidential and should not be disclosed to anyone except child support staff and the employee.

Under the Tax Administration Act, you must retain all business records, including invoices, receipts, and bank statements, for a minimum of seven years from the end of the tax year or the taxable period they relate to.

You may apply to Inland Revenue to destroy certain business records four years after the return period they relate to.

Yes, if you keep your records on a computer, you still need to keep invoices, taxable supply information, and bank statements to prove your income and expenses.

All records must be in English or Māori unless you have written approval from Inland Revenue to use another language.

A cashbook is a record of all payments that shows different types of sales, income, purchases, and expenses under appropriate headings.

It is good business practice to reconcile your bank statement and your cashbook on a regular basis, at least monthly.

The first petty cash withdrawal cannot be claimed for income tax and GST because it just opens the petty cash book.

You must complete details including total gross earnings, PAYE deducted, child support, student loan deductions, KiwiSaver deductions, ESCT, and the net wage.

If you register for GST, Hnry automatically calculates the 15% GST on outgoing invoices, deducts it from incoming payments, tracks input tax credits from uploaded receipts, and compiles and files periodic GST returns with Inland Revenue on your behalf.

The IR10 form collects information for statistical purposes to evaluate tax compliance risk, form policy, and for strategic research.

The IR10 is a summary of the financial statements of a business and does not replace them.

Enter the total amount of purchases and other direct costs as shown in the profit and loss statement.

The gross profit figure is determined by taking sales and/or services and then deducting the cost of goods sold.

The IR10 should record GST-exclusive figures, unless the financial statements are prepared on a GST-inclusive basis.

These are large income and/or expense items that do not arise as a result of normal business operations and are not expected to recur.

Do not include ACC levies in the insurance box; they should be included in salaries and wages paid to employees.

For a company, owners' equity will be the sum of paid-up capital, reserves, and retained profits or accumulated losses.

Common examples include goodwill paid when a business is purchased, computer software, patents, trademarks, and Resource Management Act consents.

You tick "Yes" only if the business owner has more than one line of business, not just several different divisions of the same business.