03 Apr Growth, Scams and Administration
Happy new financial year! Can you believe that ¼ of the year has gone by? If you haven’t done so already, now is a great time to sit down and check on your progress for the year. Are things going to plan? (Is there even a plan to begin with?) Are you on track with whatever it is you want to achieve this year? If you want to talk through your progress, contact us.
Where will your growth come from?
Ever purchased something online? What about selling your products or services online?
A recent finding from a survey of small to mid-sized businesses across New Zealand, Australia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam found that New Zealand rated 7th out of 8 for e-commerce. The survey found that only 38% of small businesses in New Zealand earn money from online sales, while the average was 69% in the other countries. It would appear that we are lagging.
If your business isn’t selling online, how much might you be missing out? According to the BNZ Online Retail Sales Report for February 2017, the online annual spend on retail categories that BNZ measure (which isn’t all categories) is estimated to be $3.8 billion.
It’s a scam!
One of the downsides of living in a ‘highly connected’ world is just how quick and easy it is to get scammed. A quick flick through the Department of Internal Affairs website lists out a few of the current popular scams that are being run. Here is a couple of scams they advise to watch out for:
Inland Revenue Scam
Scammers, claiming to be from Inland Revenue, are cold calling people to say they are being investigated for tax fraud. The scammer requests personal information including the person’s Inland Revenue number, before threatening them with legal action. In some cases, people are told they must pay a debt urgently or face jail.
Charity scam
If you get a call from a telemarketer asking for donations to support a charity it may be a scam. If you give them money, there is a very good chance that most of the money will be kept by the telemarketers. Check to see if they are registered at Charities Services.
Social media scam
Sarah just received an urgent request from one of her close friends who ‘lost his wallet on vacation and needs some cash to get home’. She sends some money right away, following his instructions. But there’s a problem: Your friend never sent this request. In fact, he isn’t even aware of it. His computer had a virus which grabbed all of his contacts and forwarded the fake email to his contacts. Sarah will need to get her computer checked to see if it is infected too.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true OR you are being put under undue pressure to do something/transfer money, it could be a scam.
Administration
Do you have a company, trust or partnership? When did you last hold an annual meeting? Pass a resolution? Review the partnership agreement? Are your entities properly administered? There is an ever-increasing amount of legislation requiring you to properly administer your entities; each year we see instances where poor or incomplete administration causes headaches, and sometimes, costs money. We want to make sure that you don’t get stung.
If you’re not sure if the administration of your entities is up to scratch, contact us for a review
