Gunson McLean Ltd

Protect yourself from invoice fraud by using e-invoicing

Jun 20, 2024

Invoice scams are becoming increasingly more common (even in New Zealand), and are becoming so sophisticated they can be hard to spot, even for the most tech savvy among us. A common scam is to alter the bank account number on an invoice. An email with your invoice gets intercepted and the bank account details changed to that of the scammers. Your customer pays the invoice and thinks they’ve paid you, but instead it’s gone straight to the scammer, never to be seen again. Now you’re both out of pocket while the scammer scams the next unsuspecting person.


You can protect yourself from these types of scams by using e-invoicing. E-invoices replace emailed invoices by instead delivering an e-invoice directly into your customers accounting software, even if they’re using a different accounting system to you. By directly connecting suppliers with their clients, there’s no opportunity for scammers to intercept the invoices.


Government-backed e-invoicing framework

In 2019, the governments of New Zealand and Australia set up a framework for e-invoicing in both countries, designed to make it easier to trade across the Tasman. The system uses a New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) as a global ID for every business, and has been adopted by software providers including Xero. If your business uses a platform like Xero, you can e-invoice your customers, or receive e-invoices from suppliers, even if they don’t use the same platform.


Start sending and receiving e-invoices

You can set up e-invoicing in MYOB or we can help you set this up - just get in touch and we can help. It only takes a little bit of preparation to use e-invoicing, and once you have the hang of it, you’re protected from invoice fraud, and so are your customers! 

24 Oct, 2024
Running payroll can be tedious and is often a thankless task. So if you’re not already using Payroll software, now might be the time to start! Payroll software simplifies payroll to just a few clicks which saves you time, admin and hassle by calculating gross wages, deductions and entitlements for you. Benefits of payroll software Some of the benefits of using payroll software include: 1. Time tracking To accurately calculate wages, employers must be able to record the working hours and any overtime. Payroll software that allows you (or your employees) to record their working hours and overtime means that wage calculations will be accurate. 2. Calculates employee deductions Employers must process payroll deductions, including: KiwiSaver PAYE student loan repayments insurance premiums mandatory deductions, like child support payments. Payroll software can manage all these deductions and calculate the employees’ correct net or “take home” pay. 3. Complies with payroll regulations The IRD requires employers to keep payroll records for every employee and contractor. As an employer, you need to keep comprehensive records of wages, time worked, leave and other details. Payroll software generates and stores these records for you. 4. Provides employees with pay slips and keeps employee data secure. With payroll software you can send your employees their payslips and then also send this information onto the IRD at the same time you run your payroll. The best payroll management systems use state-of-the-art security to protect sensitive employee data. They can run updates for you, automate your account security and remediation activities, and inform you immediately about any suspicious or fraudulent activity they detect. 5. Provides anywhere access The best online payroll management systems provide 24/7 access so that you can manage payroll queries on the go. If you’re not already using a payroll system, it can be a bit of a daunting task to know which payroll software to use and what to look for. When you’re comparing payroll software systems, here are some additional things to consider: 1. Enables employee self-service Some cloud-based payroll systems come with an extra benefit: employee self-service. For instance, employees can submit their bank, tax and KiwiSaver fund details through a secure self-service portal. Employee self-service takes a heap of work off your shoulders and empowers employees to manage their details. 2. Integrates with your existing accounting software Look for payroll management software that can integrate with your existing accounting software as well as any other software you use such as onboarding, rostering, leave requests and time tracking, so you can operate more efficiently, reduce repetitive data entry and prevent errors. 3. Provides analytics and reporting Payroll software drives better decision-making with comprehensive analytics and accurate reporting that you can control and customise. You can access key information online, including leave, personal info, payslips and timesheets, whenever and wherever you want. If you need help deciding on the right payroll software for you, get in touch, we’re happy to help you find one that works for you.
21 Oct, 2024
The season of giving is nearly upon us. If you're thinking about giving a gift to your clients, here's a reminder of the tax rules when giving these gifts. When giving gifts to clients, remember that depending on the gift, some will be fully tax deductible while others will be only 50% deductible. The rule of thumb is that if they consist of food or drink, you can only claim 50% of the expense as a tax deduction. If you are giving out gift baskets or hampers and some of the contents are food or drink, but not all, the food or drink items are 50% deductible, but the other gift items are 100% deductible. When you come to claim the tax deduction, you will need to apportion the expense between the 100% deductible items and the 50% deductible items. And you will need to make a GST adjustment for expenses which are 50% deductible. Examples of gifts which are 50% deductible include: · Bottle of wine or six pack of beer · Meal voucher · Basket of gourmet food · Box of chocolates/biscuits · Christmas ham Examples of gifts which are 100% deductible include: · Calendars · Book or gift vouchers · Tickets to a rugby game (but not corporate box entertaining) · Movie tickets · Presents (but not food or drink) If you’re unsure whether a planned gift is 50% or 100% tax deductible, gives us a call and we can advise you.
13 Oct, 2024
On average, according to recent research by OnePoll, business owners needs an additional four hours in their working day to complete their admin. If your people are spending 20 hours per week wading through tedious and unproductive admin, that’s bad for the business and for your efficiency. Fortunately, technology and software automation can go a long way towards automating these low-level admin tasks. Better productivity through automation Automation is an important way to ease your business workload, with a host of different business apps and cloud solutions offering ways to automate your admin. With ‘smart business tools’ increasing in number and choice, software is utilising automation algorithms, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and cognitive solutions to help remove the mundane admin tasks from your workflows. Core processes that will benefit from automation include: 1. Automated bookkeeping Simply take a photo of your receipts, expenses and invoices and ‘optical character recognition’ (OCR) technology will digitise the output and pull it through to your accounts software. No data entry, no human error and no lost receipts! We can do the rest to ensure your records are accurate. 2. Automated credit control Cha sing up debts and late-paying customers takes time. Automated credit control apps track your debtor numbers and automatically sends out customised chaser emails as soon as an invoice is late. This reduces your credit control time, speeds up cash collection and cuts your aged debtor figure. 3. Automated payment collection The easier it is to pay you, the faster your customers will pay. Automated card payments and cloud-based Direct Debit solutions allow you to automatically take payment from a customer as soon as an invoice is due. Some solutions will even automate the invoice matching and bank reconciliation process. 4. Automated reporting and forecasting The better your reporting and business intelligence, the easier it is to make informed decisions about your company strategy. Accounting platforms and fintech tools now offer automatic, real-time reporting and forecasting, giving you access to the important numbers and metrics, fast. 5. Automated digital marketing Digital marketing is key to raising your brand’s profile. Marketing platforms offer important time-saving ways to create, schedule and post social media content, or email automations to send a pre-programmed cadence of emails to specific target audiences within your wider customer base. Talk to us about how you could use automation in your business If your admin is holding you back, come and talk to us about how automation can pick up some of the heavy lifting as well as giving you the metrics you need for decision making. We can review your business processes and identify the automation opportunities, helping you choose the best apps to drive your business efficiently.
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To discuss all your account matters please call us on 09 438 1001

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