Business Accounting

Affordable small business

accounting plans.

We keep your tax & business accounting on track

At SBA we keep things simple; we use Xero to get your data each month (monthly plan only). We will keep in touch all year, review your performance and advise you what tax you need to pay and when, so there are no surprises at tax time. We will also send you helpful up-to-date financial information and have a range of tax administration and business advisory services available, so you can make informed business decisions when you need.

We have over 80 branches nationwide so get in touch with your local SBA Branch today and choose the accounting service that’s right for your business.

Monthly
Business Accounting

Our most popular service to keep your business on track all year and ensure financials are accurate and compliant for the IRD. Best for businesses who are GST registered and earn over $60,000 a year.

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Annual
Business Accounting

Our annual business accounting service is helpful for businesses who are not GST registered and earn under $60,000 a year.

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Additional Services

SBA also offers a great range of additional services when you need them. We can help you with your monthly bookkeeping, accounts payable, payroll processing including PAYE & KiwiSaver and rural accounting.

We also offer business advisory services to help you grow including Cash Flow Forecasting, Budgeting and Tax Planning. Plus when required, SBA work with consultants PwC to provide you with added business advisory support.

FAQs

What accounting is needed for a small business?

Most small businesses need help with the preparation and filing of their GST (if your business is GST registered). You will also need an accountant to prepare and file with the IRD your end-of-year financials including your IR3 for sole traders and partnerships or an IR4 tax returns for companies. You will also need help with your monthly bookwork and reconciliation of data into software like Xero, which can take several hours per month if you try to do it yourself.

Small business owners also need help understanding their cash flow so they can grow, so good accounting advice is key. Regular reporting will help you make sound business decisions, including Profit and Loss statements, balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements. You may also need assistance with cash flow forecasting, budgeting, tax planning, and other business advisory services to help you keep your business on the right track. These services are all provided by your local SBA branch.

You didn’t get into business to become a bookkeeper or accountant. Small business accounting is best done by an accountant through trusted providers like SBA Small Business Accounting as we have the skills and the time to do the work and will leave you with time to work on growing your business.

Some business owners think it will save them money doing their accounting and bookwork themselves. This is almost always not the case. You need to take into account the costs of using accounting software which on average can range from $800 to $2000 + GST per year. However, you will still have the cost of needing an accountant to do your end-of-year tax returns, which on average will be around $1000+. Then there is the time involved. If you have to spend 2-4 hours each month doing your regular bookwork, including tracking expenses, bank reconciliation and working out your GST, that is time better spent on your business. You may even end up paying your tax money into a software providers bank account well before it is due.

It’s only accountants that get out of bed each day looking forward to doing accounting. If you do the book work and you get it wrong, it could be months or even a year before that mistake is picked up by the IRD. The IRD will charge penalties and interest on miscalculated or under reported tax and that can get very expensive very quickly.

Leave the accounting to the experts at SBA and put your time to better use growing your business.

It is definitely worth getting an accountant as most small business owners don’t have the time or skill to do their own accounting well. Accounting is more than just clever software, it is about using an expert who can help keep you compliant, provide advice and help you grow your business. 

Using an accountant is more time and cost effective than trying to do it yourself or using accounting software that simply automates some of the bookwork process, but can’t offer you the expertise and communication like a real accountant can. An accountant from SBA can keep you compliant and help you grow your business. SBA is very affordable from $150 + GST a month depending on the branch, region, and level of service required and if you are a sole trader, company or trust. You will need to talk to you local SBA branch for their local pricing. 

There are now several new accounting software providers that claim to be able to calculate and pay your tax for you. When looking at services like this you need to be aware of some of pitfalls of using them vs using an accountant.

To be able to calculate and pay your tax they need to have access to your bank account, so they set one up for you that they manage, and all your income goes into it.  They then take out the tax and their commission and pay the IRD then send you the difference which goes into your operating bank accountant which you manage.  Here are some of the issues:

  • The software provider and their team have access to your bank account and money. This is not advisable.
  • The software provider gets your income before you do.
  • They collect your tax months before it is needed by the IRD, putting pressure on your cashflow.
  • You still need to be the bookkeeper which takes hours a month of your time.
    • You will need to record all your expenses from your business operating bank account into the software.
    • You may have to upload all your receipts to it every month.
    • You may have to work out what you can claim and what you can’t.
  • If you forget to upload the expense information into the software, you cannot claim for it.
  • They can only calculate your tax correctly if they have the correct income and expenses and it could be months or even a year before that mistake is picked up by the IRD. The IRD will charge penalties and interest on miscalculated or under reported tax and that can get very expensive very quickly.

In a nutshell software that calculates and pays your tax does not offer the same level of expertise or advice as an experienced accountant. Often the help desk is operated by graduates or non-accountants only citing basic tax information from the IRD website.  They are not looking at your books and your tax position and the best strategy for your business.

When you use an actual accounting team like SBA, we do the accounting for you.  We get a bank statement feed directly into Xero and we don’t have access to your actual bank account.  We automate the process and do all the bank reconciliations and tax calculations for you. We make sure to claim everything you can and nothing that you can’t, then we simply tell you what tax to pay and when. You keep your money in your bank account until you need to pay the IRD, which will help your cash flow. We do the work, so you don’t have to.  Once we have set you up you don’t have to worry about your accounting as we do all the heavy lifting and let you know what we need and when.  Using an accountant will not only keep you compliant but will help your business to grow.

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