Our seminar series for 2011 kicked off in February with fantastic feedback on our eye-catching bus advertisement that was supported by xero. 

The bus advert was followed by our Accounting in the Clouds information evening, hosted by Prue and presented by Daren Riley from xero.Daren  talked about xero's accounting package options and demonstrated its easy-to-use features.

It was great to have time to share information over drinks and nibbles after the presentation.
We look forward to seeing Daren in Whanganui again.                             

Coming Up

Women's Wealth
at the Sarjeant Gallery
 Wednesday 13 April
Investing and financial information to assist women to back winners, presented by Gretchen Williamson of Craigs Investment partners.

Trusts
Date to be advised
Is a trust right for me? This will be a repeat of the successful session run last October with a particular focus on medical and other professionals.

There is no charge for the seminars, which will run from 5.30pm until 7pm. Seating is limited so please register your interest now: Book on-line or phone Astria on 06 345 8179.

Hayden is a qualified Chartered Accountant and rugby enthusiast. He has spent his time with us working on client accounts, updating his knowledge of NZ tax legislation, and is our expert on accounting packages, including MYOB and xero.

Hayden has an interest in farming and helping businesses and is the proud new dad to George born this week.   

Personal banking to your business account
When you are preparing your financial records please clearly mark, highlight or keep a record of bankings to your business account that are personal funds rather than sales.We don't want you to end up paying tax on these funds.

Capital expenditure
We need to know about capital expenditure, such as the purchase of a new asset, repayment of a loan or plant, equipment and tools purchased where they cost $500 or more.

Charitable donations
Remember that donations over $5 to registered charities can result in a rebate claim of 33.33%. If you make donations of $3,000 you are entitled to a rebate of $1000. You need to keep all charitable donation receipts and send them in with your information.

Gift Duty
Gift Duty is to be abolished from 1st October 2011 due to the high compliance costs ($70 million a year), compared to the level of revenue produced ($1.6 millon a year). Currently the gift duty exemption level is $27,000 in any 12 month period.

The proposed change in legislation will make gifting to Family Trusts a lot simpler and will allow more opportunities for estate planning. Once legislation is finalised we will be able to plan how to best utilise the options available.

News Desk

1. If you are part-time self employed (i.e. less than 30 hours per week) and have made a net profit of  less than $1,000 or a loss you should not have any ACC levies to pay. ACC are incorrectly invoicing so if you are in that category and you get an invoice please contact ACC  to get them to correct your invoice. Let us know if you need our help. 
2. Remember to check the classification description on your ACC invoice.You can ring us to confirm the figures or drop the ACC invoice in for us to check.
3. A self employed person can be charged ACC on their income earned each year or choose Cover Plus Extra - which means you can pay and receive ACC based on a set level of income. This has big advantages if you have fluctuating income, as if you are not on cover plus xtra and you have a claim after a low income year your ACC payout will be low too. Talk to us if you want to discuss the right cover for your situation.

LAQC Companies

Loss Attributing Qualifying Companies (LAQC) have been abolished from 1st April 2011. Those clients that have a company with LAQC status will no longer be able to transfer company losses to shareholders. There are various options available, including - remaining as an Ordinary Company, transferring to a Sole Trader Partnership or a new Look Through Company (LTC). The LTC is essentially a partnership with Company Limited Liability status.

We are in the process of reviewing all our clients' LAQC Companies and we will be in touch to discuss your options if this applies to you.