Dear Valued Clients and Friends,
Wow 2026 is scooting along at great pace! We hope that your 2026 has started off well has we end quarter one. Happy new financial year for some of you with a 31 March balance date.
There is a lot going on out in the business world and the crisis in the Middle East is causing havoc with our fuel prices.
There are lots of changes have come into effect on the 1st of April in the Human Resources space:
- 3.5% for both employer and employee contributions. Some platforms will alter automatically, and some will need to be a manual update.
- Employees may remain at 3% by applying to opt out through MyIR. As an employer you can reduce this matched rate. If they increase at a later date, then the employer must match
- Increase in the Minimum Wage to $23.95/hour
- Increase in the Training & Starting out wage to $19.16/hour
- Increase in the Living Wage increases to $29.90/hour
Summit Outsourcing has also become a Partner of Trove, a debt collection provider and an early adopter & partner of accounting software platform COUNT. You can find more information below.
A new financial brings a second time to review your business goals for the next 12 months, make sure you have a budget to report against and review your subscriptions (they seem to be sneakily increasing in price!). Take some time to check online portals for platforms like My ACC for business.
As always, we are here for you in good times and tough times, feel free to pick up the phone and chat.
Trove is making life easier for accounting and bookkeeping firms this year. It connects directly with Xero to help you manage client invoices, send automated reminders, and keep track of overdue payments, all while saving time and improving cash flow. If you want to streamline your credit control processes and reduce the stress of chasing payments for your client. To learn more about Trove, click here.
COUNT is an accounting and practice management platform that’s now active in New Zealand. This year, they’ve focused on helping accounting and bookkeeping teams streamline workflows, automate reconciliations, and simplify compliance. For firms and businesses, this means less time on manual data entry and more focus on advisory work and supporting your clients. If you would like to learn more about Count, click here.
Xero is undertaking moving to e-invoicing and business’s need to opt out by the 9th of April otherwise you are automatically moving to e-invoicing.
Xero’s e‑Invoicing lets you send and receive invoices directly between accounting systems, cutting out manual data entry and speeding up payments. It’s a secure, reliable way to manage invoices and improve cash flow for your business. For more information to see how it could work for you, check out Xero’s guide here.
If you would like to opt out, after reading the information provided, please click the link here to complete the form.
Inland Revenue does not often issue Revenue Alerts about payroll. They just did. RA 26/01, issued this week, is a direct warning to employers: if you are deducting PAYE from your team’s wages and not paying it through to Inland Revenue, you are committing a criminal offence. The penalties are not small. Up to five years in prison. Up to $50,000 in fines. And if you are a director, you can be personally prosecuted for the company’s failure. This is not new legislation. These penalties have always existed. What is new is Inland Revenue making it very clear they intend to enforce them. If payroll in your business is run by someone who "just handles it" without documented processes, proper oversight, or compliance checks, this should be a priority conversation, we can help!
The first step is a payroll platform that takes the deductions at the time of the pay run. There are lots of options available that we can help you choose from, please get in touch.
Payroll is not admin. It is one of the highest-risk compliance obligations a business carries. Treat it that way. View full Revenue Alert here.
The Employment Leave Bill (No. 259, 2026) is a proposed change to New Zealand’s leave laws. It looks to make employee leave entitlements, including annual, sick, bereavement, and public holidays, simpler and easier to understand.
The Bill also clarifies how leave is calculated for different types of work, such as part-time, casual, or shift roles. While it’s not law yet, it’s important for employers and employees to be aware of the potential changes.
For more details and what this could mean for your team, you can read the full Bill here.
Have a safe happy Easter break.
Take Care
