Calc

15/09/2026

Midweek myth.

"We made a loss, so IRD owes us money."

It is a credit for later, not a cheque.

Losses do not come back as cash. They carry forward and reduce tax on future profits. A $40,000 company loss is worth roughly $11,200 at the 28% rate, but only in the year you are profitable enough to use it.

The exception is tax you have already paid. If provisional tax went out during the year and the result is a loss, that is refundable, because it is your money coming home.

Two things that catch people out. A loss carried forward can be lost entirely if the shareholding changes too much, so talk to us before you sell or bring someone in. And a loss on paper is not the same as a loss in the bank. Depreciation can put a business into a tax loss while the account is doing fine, and the reverse happens too.

If this year is heading for a loss, the useful question is not what IRD will send you. It is whether the provisional tax you are still scheduled to pay should be adjusted now.

Numbers are an example only. Rates and entitlements differ.

15/09/2026

15/09/2026

Tickets are on Eventbrite. Search "Tojo's Combined Fight Department Fight Night" or head straight to the event page. General admission is $60, under 12s are $30, under 5s get in free, and tables of 10 are $1,000 if you want to bring the crew. Saturday 26 September at Racecourse Park, 41 Hogbin Road, Te Teko. Gates open at 2pm, first fight at 3pm.

Link: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/tojos-combined-fight-department-fight-night-tickets-1999150758735

13/09/2026

Meet the team. One of us a week, every Monday. This week it is Lily.

Lily is one of our senior accountants, and her own description of the job is that she makes sure you aren’t paying too much tax.

Coming up seven years with us. What she enjoys most is helping people get their head around how the software and systems work, and clients thank her for two things above all. Fast replies, and putting the accounting into normal people language.

Whakatane born and here for good. The town, the fisheries and the sunshine.

Off the clock she is fishing, cooking, or online. She is also hard to beat at Call of Duty.

Her best money advice: you have got to spend money to make money.

10/09/2026

Midweek myth.

"The GST in my account is my money."

About 13% of it never was.

When you add 15% GST to an invoice, that 15% is not revenue. It is collected on IRD's behalf and it goes back out again at the end of the period. Look at a GST inclusive bank balance and roughly 13% of it, 3/23, is already spoken for.

On $50,000 in the account, call it $6,500 that was never yours, less whatever you are claiming back on purchases.

If GST payments always feel like an ambush, the fix is almost never a bigger overdraft. It is a second account and a transfer every time money comes in.

If you are on a two monthly cycle ending 31 August, that return is due 28 September. Worth a look at the balance now rather than on the 27th.

Numbers are an example only. Rates and entitlements differ.

10/09/2026

05/09/2026

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads, granddads, and father figures in our community. Whether you’re running a business, raising a family, or juggling both, today’s a good day to pause and be thanked for it. Enjoy the day.

05/09/2026

Meet the team. One of us a week, every Monday. This week it is Laura.

Laura keeps the engine room running. She looks after her own client base, reviews the accounts and GST work that goes out the door, runs workflow and billing, and is the person the team goes to when a job gets complicated. Draft meetings, tax work, IRD debt applications, she handles the lot.

Three years with us. Whakatane born and here for family and her girls.

Off the clock she is hanging with her kids, hunting or fishing. She has also won the Opotiki Big 3, which none of us are allowed to forget.

Her best money advice: it is easier to spend than to make.

01/09/2026

Midweek myth.

"Buying a ute in March saves me tax."

It does save you tax. Just not the amount most people have in their head.

A $60,000 ute bought in March means you owned it for one month of the tax year, so you claim one month of depreciation. About $1,500 of claim, which is about $420 of actual tax at the company rate.

So you have spent $60,000 to save $420 this year. The rest of the deduction comes back to you over the following years, slowly.

If the business needs the ute, buy the ute. Just buy it because it earns you money, not because it is March.

Not sure whether yours is a want or a write off? Send us the tricky question. We like those.

Numbers are an example only. Rates and entitlements differ.