Having started offering payroll only services in the last 12 months we have significantly increased our knowledge in this area. This increase in payroll knowledge actually started over two years ago when Covid hit and that’s the reason we decided to offer this service. We THINK payroll, we don’t just process it and that is because there are so many different scenarios that pop up that need a human touch that software alone cannot rectify.
My grandmother grew up in Bombay, South Auckland and back then it used to take them half a day to get into the city (circa 1920’s), I now make that trip in 45-60mins even at peak times. My point is that as the world develops so too does our efficiency in doing things and that couldn’t be more true in bookkeeping, particularly over the last 5-10 years…
Mistaking a bookkeeper for an accountant can lead to poor advice, which can be very detrimental to your tax position. We’ve seen cases where the wrong advice resulted in taxpayers paying significantly more tax than they needed to. Even worse, we’ve had new clients come to us who were in strife with the IRD because they had paid too little tax, on the advice of a bookkeeper. On the other hand, using a qualified chartered accountant for bookkeeping work would be unnecessarily expensive.
When I look at the SME market, I am more convinced than ever that we should really stick to our main focus which is being the best bookkeepers in the NZ market. We are not tax experts and we are not add-on software implementors (other than Xero/MYOB and some generic apps that we use a lot) and we are not consultants who provide business advice, we’re BOOKKEEPERS and we are striving to be the best we can.
Having recently returned from Xerocon in Brisbane it made me realise that the more technology we have the more we need good people to be able to use it effectively. There are so many different applications available it can be very daunting for a business owner to know the best one to go for, and consequently, some do nothing! This is where a good bookkeeper can really help as we are often familiar with a larger scope of these apps.
With our business now over two years old we have started to gain a good reputation in the market for doing a quality job. Most of our clients are referred to us so it is vital to our ongoing success that we maintain these high-quality standards. Of course, this all comes down to the fact that we have great staff who know their stuff and take pride in doing a good job. So, how do we attract the best staff and why do they like working with us?
I’m sure by now you’ve heard of the ‘gig economy’, an economy that relies heavily on independent contractors or freelance workers. There’s a growing trend in the marketplace for this type of work in western economies especially. It is estimated by some commentators that this type of work already makes up about 25% of the workforce, and is growing.