Budget 2010

The news is out - changes are set to take place October 2010.  If you are a running a business with employees here are a couple of things you need to know.  Be sure to look at the implications for your particular situation on the IRD website

http://www.ird.govt.nz/news-updates/campaign-budget-2010.html?id=homepage

GST

When GST increases to 15% the old divide by 9 trick will no longer work.  It seems the new calculation will be multiply by 3 and then divide by 23.  I believe the IRD will do a transitional GST Return for companies whose reporting periods straddle the October 1st date.  If your financial year starts April and you file every two months your reporting period will not straddle the October start date.

Payroll

The tax rates are changing across the Board.  If you are using a computerised payroll package you should receive a notice or update from that software provider.  If not, be sure to redo your calculations for staff.  Remember the PAYE calculations are for the pay period ending date.  The last day for which work is paid, NOT the day you pay your wages.  When you file the IR 348 you do include deductions from gross earnings actually paid during the period covered by the schedule. I recommend the IRD PAYE calculator.

http://www.ird.govt.nz/calculators/tool-name/tools-p/calculator-paye.html?id=righttabs

SCAMs

I got a good one the other day!  Looked completely real and if I called the phone number or followed the link I could win 300,000 Euros!  This was one of the best ones I have ever seen.  BUT  - I went to my trusty SNOPES website and was quick to learn this was just another scam to steal my identity.  It cannot be stressed enough - do not give your info away without ensuring the request is bona fide and even then be quite careful.  Check out scams on http://www.snopes.com/fraud/fraud.asp

MYOB News

AccountRight Launch

MYOB has launched version 19 of all Accounting Products for small to medium size businesses.  If you were on Support or very recently purchased a MYOB product you should have received an upgrade in the mail.  Don't be shy - try it!  All the tasks you normally do are still done the same way.  There are some new tricks and shortcuts that make the AccountRight series easier to use and quicker to see what is going on with your business. 

The Business Insights Dashboard is a great tool using graphs to show you info about customers, suppliers, your income, bank accounts and more.  The Actions button is you shortcut path to move from Module to Module (Cards to Sales, for example), or to an "action" (Enter Sales, Spend Money, etc.).  If you have any questions or would like a quick tutorial, please just give me a call.

MYOB and the Budget

MYOB has been planning for the proposed budget changes and will try to make the transition as smooth as possible for their customers. 

GST and MYOB

For many of you to change to 15% will be a simple matter of going to the Lists menu, finding GST, clicking the white arrow and changing the rate.  MYOB is assuming the general layout of the return is not changing.  Some product versions may required an update or patch.  MYOB will be keeping you informed.  If you are unsure what you need to do please contact me.  I can help!

Payroll and GST

With the changes to the rates an upgrade will be released.  If you are on support it will come automatically.  If not, you can purchase the upgrade which we hope will be a nominal amount of around $100.00.  PLEASE REMEMBER TO PURCHASE THRU ME TO GET YOUR 10% PREFERRED CUSTOMER DISCOUNT  :-)

You can purchase support, products, upgrades, additional company files, anything that MYOB sells I can offer you with that 10% discount so don't forget to call me first!

I will be keeping my MYOB clients informed of developments as they arise.

Where Did the Name Come From?

Adobe - This came from name of the river ADOBE Creek that ran behind the house of founder John Warnock.
Apple Computers - It was the favourite fruit of founder Steve Jobs.  He was 3 months late in filing a name for the business, and he threatened to call his company APPLE COMPUTERS if the other colleagues didn't suggest a better name by 5 o'clock.
Google - The name started as a joke boasting about the amount of information the search-engine would be able to search.  It was originally named "GOOGOL," a word for the number represented by 1 followed by 100 zeros.  After founders - Stanford graduate students Sergey Brin and Larry Page - presented their project to an angel investor, they received a cheque made out to "GOOGLE."
Hotmail - Founder Jack Smith got the idea of accessing e-mail via the web from a computer anywhere in the world.  When Sabeer Bhatia came up with the business plan for the mail service, he tried all kinds of names ending in "mail" and finally settled for Hotmail as it included the letters "html" - the programming language used to write web pages.  It was initially referred to as HoTMaiL with selective uppercasing.
Yahoo! - The word YAHOO was invented by Jonathan Swift and used in his book Gulliver's Travels.  It represents a person who is repulsive in appearance and action and is barely human.  Yahoo! founders Jerry Yang and David Filo selected the name because they considered themselves yahoos.
(courtesy http://www.flatrock.org.nz/topics/info_and_tech/computer_1950.htm )