FOOD FOR THOUGHT

New Zealand electrical switchboard manufacturer, Trical, recently merged its three separate businesses using the specialist guidance of Accountancy & Business Advisory Services firm Bellingham Wallace.

Your advisory board (or board of directors) should evolve with your business. As your business grows, it will require new perspectives and skill sets. Here are some tips for identifying who should be on your board throughout each phase of your business.

In 2015, the Tax Department introduced a ‘bright-line test’ for the sale of residential property. If you buy and sell a property within two years, this test is used to determine if you are required to pay tax on the profit. We explain how the bright-line test works and the responsibilities of residential property owners.

As the tax landscape continues to change with increased complexity of tax regulation both domestically and overseas, the management of tax is fast becoming a necessary part of today’s advisory board agendas. Graham Lawrence gives some important advice to business owners who want to get it right.

How do you go about deciding who should be on an advisory board for a SME business? This is something we frequently get asked, and it is a crucial element because if you get it wrong, then you won’t see the benefits that come from having a good governance framework in place.

For every business to grow, whether big or small, good governance is essential. There is no shortage to the benefits of what a governing board can bring to an organisation, but here are our top five.

For many businesses annual general meetings can be a wasted opportunity. We've been engaged to lead several AGMs and make them fit for purpose by reshaping a traditionally informative meeting into one that acknowledges the future direction of the organisation.

Advisory board or board of directors? Matt Bellingham successfully acts for both, but believes what business owners should really be asking is, “what distinguishes a high performing board from one that simply lacks impact?”

A tailored, low cost governance programme such as an advisory board may not solve the world’s problems, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction. Aaron Wallace offers some important good governance guidelines to business owners who want to get it right. 

New Zealand SMEs have often discounted corporate governance as expensive or complex without fully understanding the benefits this leadership discipline brings. But, as Aaron Wallace reports, good governance is now becoming a pillar of market-leading organisations.