Lowthers Chartered Accounting: Services

Core Services

What makes up our core service offerings can be found offered by any respected accountant. What makes us different is our breadth of knowledge and our personalised approach to each of our clients. Read more on how we are different from other accountants.

These are activities that businesses are required to undertake as part of their legal obligations:

Financial reports
Taxation returns
Business set up

Financial reports

It is a legal requirement by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) for you to maintain annual sets of financial reports if you are operating a business in New Zealand. Now, many people think they can create their own financial reports because they know a bit about accounting. Why let us do your reports?

Well, first of all, IRD are not the only people that might be seeing the reports. Banks, financial institutions, investors and potential buyers will all be interested at one point or another. Most importantly, you should be the primary user of the reports.

We can explain in non-accounting terms what each section of a financial report means to you and your business so that you can make the right decisions based on facts and good information. Our reports have made the difference in securing lending for additional funds due to their professional design and validity. The construct of our reports even prevented the occasional audit.

Income statements (also known as statement of financial performance) and balance sheets (statement of financial position) are just some of the financial reports that act like a report card for you and your business performance. Therefore it is important that you can read and understand them. Most importantly, they must be fit for the purpose they were created for. Let us show you the difference.

Taxation returns

"Today, it takes more brains and effort to make out the income-tax form than it does to make the income." ~Alfred E. Neuman

It is funny how new tax law affects just enough voters to win the next election. However, all this means is a more complicated tax system over time. It is a statutory requirement to pay our taxes however there is no law to say you have to leave a tip. Sleep easier when you let us handle the tax matters for you.

Our accountants keep on top of taxation changes so that benefits are passed to you immediately and we can show you ways so you don't pay more tax than you really have to. This is only possible by the depth of knowledge and the experience carried by our qualified accountants. This will in turn reduce your audit risk, leave you with more money and let you focus on what is important.

Business set up

There are many decisions to be made when starting out, such as: formulating a business plan, business structure, financing, tax implications and liability protection. A business can be the most profitable financial vehicle you own and you don't have to start from scratch, you can buy an exiting business, buy a franchise and multi level marketing.

Good decisions need good information and this is where experienced Chartered Accountants can help you, along with your lawyer and banker. Be sure to visit us first as we have your financial interests at heart.

Value Services

We offer services beyond our core offerings

Management reports
Business structuring
Taxation minimisation
Business advice
Business plans
Cashflow forecast

Management reports

An important characteristic of good information is that it must be timely. In order to improve your business, you need current information and not just last year's financial reports so that the right decisions can be made.

Over the years our successful clients based their business decisions on our monthly management reports and have recommended valuable improvements. Today, our monthly reports reflect this evolution of development so that you benefit from the advice of where successful businesses have gone before.

Our specially designed management reports will give you monthly Income Statements, Balance Sheet and Cashflow Statements. Most importantly, the reports come with a key indicator analysis that shows the monthly performance at a glance and is presented visually in a manner that does not require accounting knowledge to understand.

The monthly financial reports allow you to identify key performance indicators in your business, through which you will see the positive changes occurring with the help of our professional consultants.

Let us show you today how well you really are doing right now and what can be done to make it better.

Business structuring

Quite often we see businesses in poor business structures and this could mean that they pay expensive legal fees, have unnecessary paperwork or run the risk of easily losing the whole business over something small.

It is important to get your business structure right so you can focus on other important matters. We assess your business work and help you decide on the most suitable structure: sole trader, partnership, limited company or a trust. If you would like more money, protection or anonymity, let us know and we will set you right. There is no one right structure for everyone but there is the one most suitable design for you based on your situation.

Taxation minimisation

There is a fine line between tax avoidance and legitimate tax minimisation. We would like to help people minimise their tax bill without being challenged for a tax avoidance scheme. The IRD pays close attention to schemes to ensure they are appropriate. In the Inland Revenue’s Compliance Focus 2009-10 documents, the IRD has indicated that some of the areas the IRD closely monitors involve:

Intangible property
Loss companies charging an inflated management fee to the profit company but not physically providing a service or having a basis for charging the fee.
Structuring income to maximise eligibility for working for families tax credits or decreasing obligations for student loans or child support.
Diverting income from personal or professional services.
Structuring to avoid associated persons rules.

Please come to see us if you would like to set up a right structure for your new adventure or you would like to review your current situation.

Business advise

We have seen many businesses operating in different industries. Coupled with industry statistics, this allows us to advise you on how your business is performing relative to the industry and what can be done to improve it. We often do this without prompting if we see something grossly out of place however we also offer this a value added service to complement our core accounting services.

Business plan

Business plans give owners purpose and direction. It is also used for:

Financing i.e. loans, mortgages
Immigration
Strategic guidance

The pressures of daily business can often mean that strategic planning takes a back seat - but to have a successful business you must plan ahead.

Lowthers can help you establish a comprehensive strategic plan that looks at where you want your business to be in the next 3 years and exactly how you and your team can achieve these aims and objectives.

Your strategic plan will:

Define the characteristics of your company in two to three years
Identify your competitors
Define your objectives and financial goals
Put in place an effective implementation plan to achieve your goals
Define a marketing plan based on market analysis
Include a financial forecast

Other services

We also provide the following business advice/services:

Company Secretary
Estate Planning
Information Technology
Insolvency
Rental Property
Selling a Business
Succession Planning
Valuations