Sidekick

The OCR has moved. Here’s what it could mean for your business.
Yesterday the Reserve Bank increased the Official Cash Rate (OCR) from 2.5% to 2.75%.

Richard has broken down what that could mean for your business in this reel.

The bigger question for business owners is what you do with the change.

You can’t control the OCR, but you can control how prepared your business is for changes in the cost of capital.

That means understanding your profitability, cashflow, debt and what different interest rate scenarios could mean for your bottom line.

It’s also a good excuse to celebrate 8 years of Richard at Sidekick today. Richard, spent years in banking prior to joining the Sidekick family, and is one of the resident banking specialists in our group who we can call on when we need advice.

If you’re keen to look at an interest rate strategy for your business, get in touch. We’d love to help.

What happens to your business if you die without a will?

Without a valid will, you don’t get to decide what happens to the assets you’ve spent years building. The law does that for you.

It can mean frozen accounts, cashflow pressure, uncertainty over who can make decisions and, in some cases, it can get messy and expensive.

September is Wills Month, so it’s a good prompt to get your affairs in order.

Two things we recommend this month:
1. Loop in your Sidekick advisor and your lawyer to talk about how your will, business structure and future plans work together.
2. Think about the legacy you want to leave. If supporting your local community matters to you, look into your local community foundation and how you can make a difference beyond your lifetime.

You’ve worked hard to build it. Make sure you have a plan for what happens next.

Thanks to Richard Spackman from Aoraki Foundation for the quick chat in Timaru this morning.

Cashflow is like toilet paper. It’s only a problem when it runs out.
Sounds crazy, but it’s the true.

When the money’s coming in and everything’s getting paid, cashflow isn’t something most business owners think about….Until you run out of accessible funds.

Good cashflow management is about seeing the squeeze coming before you’re too deep to make a move.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
• Do you know what your cash position looks like over the next 30, 60 or 90 days?
• Are customers paying on time?
• Do you have enough buffer for the unexpected?

Don’t wait until you get the to last few sheets to find out.

If you don’t have a cash management strategy in place, talk to us. We can help you build a plan and get ahead of it.

A big thanks to Alison from our Selwyn office for this analogy.

The latest Xero insights show sales are up with agriculture leading the way at 16.3% growth.

Industry growth is great, but it doesn’t necessarily mean more profit in your pocket or more cash in the bank.

The real question is ‘how is YOUR business doing?’

We asked our team what they’re seeing in the numbers and what business owners should be thinking about as they grow.

Growth needs a plan. And that plan starts with knowing your numbers.

Want to get a better handle on where your business is heading? Send us a message and let’s talk.

View the full Xero Small Business Insights 👇
https://www.xero.com/nz/resources/small-business-insights/latest-new-zealand/

Culture isn’t a vibe. It’s an investment.
And when you get it right, the return shows up in places you might not expect.

• Better people want to join you.
• Good people want to stay.
• Teams have more energy, more ideas and more ownership.
• And ultimately, that creates a better business.

At Sidekick, our culture is intentional. It’s built around finding SWANS values: Smart, Work hard, Ambitious and Nice.

Our values aren’t just words we put on a wall either. They shape who we hire, how we work together, how we support our people and the group of firms we’re building.

And we reckon that matters just as much as the numbers.

We shared our story in the NZ Herald earlier this year. Have a read and see what happens when people and performance are treated as part of the same strategy.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sponsored-stories/accountants-youd-want-to-spend-time-with/NB6KWMN2ENGRJCFWTNSBPK563A/

And if you’re a firm owner or accountant thinking, “That sounds like the kind of firm I want to be part of”, we’d love to talk.

Provisional tax due on the 28th? Don't assume you only have one option.

The first provisional tax payment (P1) is due this month for businesses with a March balance date.

If cashflow’s feeling a bit tight, it's worth knowing there are other ways to manage your tax obligations.

Tax pooling can give you more flexibility by allowing you to:

• Spread your payments or pay more during your stronger cashflow months.
• Avoid Inland Revenue's late payment penalties (where eligible).
• Access interest rates that are typically lower than IRD's.

The earlier you have the conversation with us, the more options you'll have.

If you're unsure how you're going to fund your provisional tax, or you'd like to understand whether tax pooling is right for your business, talk to your Sidekick advisor today.

Sidekick group work with TMNZ and Tax Traders as our tax pooling intermediaries and can help you put a plan in place so there are no surprises.

Watch our full Tax Pooling conversation with TMNZ here https://youtu.be/_nkKYKnZr-U