Pro Experts

It’s Planning Time

What would happen to your business if you lost a server, had a hard drive failure or lost/broke a laptop, tablet or mobile phone? Would your business be able to pick things up and continue to operate the business? For those with a Disaster Recovery Plan, probably yes, and for those without one, possibly but with more difficulty than those...

Statutory acknowledgements & RMA

A number of different co- management initiatives have been established in recent times, however in the world of resource management it’s the Statutory Acknowledgements framework that is likely to be encountered on an everyday basis. Statutory Acknowledgements have arisen from a number of Treaty of Waitangi settlements around the country as part of cultural redress for Maori. They relate to...

When keeping calm and carrying on paid off

Recently I had the pleasure of traveling around New Zealand with economic commentator and journalist Bernard Hickey’ where we have been presenting to AdviceFirst clients and local professionals about themes important to today. We have also been joined by fund managers Fergus MacDonald of Nikko Asset Management and Craig Stent of Harbour Asset Management. Our event series included a Hawke's...

Show Me The Money

After a long period of low inflation and low wage and salary rises pressure is building in the remuneration market. There are a number of factors having an impact, most of which have featured prominently in the media. The new Government’s pledge to increase the minimum wage will be good news for those on low wages and will undoubtedly also...

Expect the best, plan for the worst and prepare to be surprised

It is important for every business to have formal Terms of Trade. When comparing large businesses to small, it’s fair to say the larger the business the more likely it will have written Terms of Trade. While there may be some who have operated for a substantial amount of time without written Terms of Trade and have never had cause...

Pro Business advice

Stick to what you know

The topic of how difficult it is to find a tradie with capacity is a popular one at the moment, which leads me to believe that accounting, paperwork and tax will not be top priority for those in the industry. Now is a great time to look forward and decide what direction you want your business to go in 2018....

The value of a registered valuer

Late last year Napier City Council updated the Rating Valuations (RV) for properties within its Territorial Authority (TA). Also known as Government Valuations (GVs) these property valuations are undertaken every three years and are based on mass appraisal techniques. The values are used primarily for assessing local authority rates and in many cases the subject property has not been inspected....

Lightbulb Moment – An alternative to Wifi, that’s worth considering?

The summer holiday season is here! It’s been good to have a few days off over Christmas and enjoy this little piece of paradise with friends and family. It’s been great to keep in touch and there haven’t been many places I haven’t been able to get access to Wifi to check emails and generally carry on with business. Wifi...

Do you want tulips with your bitcoin?

The cryptocurrency bitcoin continues to make the news. What many New Zealanders don't realise is that if they hold loyalty cards like Fly Buys or an air points card, they already own digital currencies. However, when we read in December of a Wellington waterfront property for sale in bitcoin, and that bitcoin futures recently debuted on Wall Street, the subject...

Pro RMA

New national standards for Forestry sector

National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry (NES-PF) will come into effect on 1 May 2018 in an attempt to get greater consistency across the country Plantation forestry is New Zealand’s third largest primary sector. According to the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry for Primary Industries, it employs over 26,000 people and generates around $5 billion in export earnings...