Every employer has to process payroll for their employees. A reliable and effective payroll system becomes critical as the company grows. For a small-medium business, you have probably tried processing payroll manually, but payroll software can simplify and streamline your in-house payroll process. The most common payroll software for small businesses are Xero Payroll, Smart […]

The feminist movement, the female era, gender diversity, gender pay equity, quotas for females on boards, women in business support groups – are all words, phrases, organisations we hear of almost daily; in the news, in articles, on social media, at our workplaces. I have been trying to formulate my thoughts on all of this […]

When you visit a place like Washington DC, where the most powerful country was birthed and read the words inscribed in the Jefferson Monument: [box] “We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. Among these are life, liberty and […]

How did I come to be on an island, walking through the bush with two Aussie blokes at 5.30am? For the past few years I have been a member of an informal Trans-Tasman Best Practice Group. The formation of the group came from a shared membership of what was then Polaris – an international accounting […]

We all have different personalities. Gilligan Sheppard have recently run a Belbin Team Role survey with our leadership team. My results indicated that I can be caring, territorial, helpful, encouraging of others, outgoing, enterprising, over-sensitive, and the list goes on. Others in our team have a different makeup of words. These individual traits are what […]

[box] “There’s always someone who knows something.” ― Stephen King   “Even though there are no ways of knowing for sure, there are ways of knowing for pretty sure.” ― Lemony Snicket   “There’s more to getting to where you’re going than just knowing there’s a road.” ― Joan Lowery Nixon [/box]   How many […]

Recently Debra and I made a trip to Clark, Philippines to spend some time with our team there – Grace and Arlyn. My time over there led me to reflect on my experience with outsourcing to the Philippines, the changes that this way of working has brought about and the differences with our two outsource […]

Recently, I wrote about the challenges of the public works act engagements we are undertaking (click here to read). Since then, a number of people asked why were we still doing what appears to be soul destroying work? I have struggled with answers as to the why, especially after we have made such a big […]

So you’re an entrepreneur. Maybe you decided to change the world. Wanted to put your dent on the universe. Revolutionise something. Maybe you just wanted to stick it to the man, man. But then you discovered something you weren’t expecting. This is hard. You know it’s hard when you find yourself working late and missing […]

One of the most painful situations businesses encounter is getting back their tax return with a big profit, accompanying tax bill, and no cash to pay the IRD. In fact, they haven’t seen any cash benefit of the profit throughout the year. There are a number events that can conspire to create the aforementioned unfortunate […]