Distilled Chartered Accountants

04/10/2026

Spring is well and truly here, I hope you are able to get out and enjoy the sun this school holidays.

01/10/2026

Most people decide to sell their business about three years too late.

Not because they left it too long to want out — but because the preparation that makes a business worth buying takes longer than anyone expects. Clean financials. Systems that don't live in the owner's head. A couple of years of numbers that tell a straight story.

You can't manufacture that in the three months before you list.

I've written something on this — what's actually involved in selling a business in New Zealand, and what to think about well before you're ready.

https://distilledca.co.nz/resources/preparing-your-business-for-sale

Most business owners decide to sell about six months before they want the money in the bank. That is usually the most expensive timing there is.

21/09/2026

GST returns and payment for the period ended 31 August are due Monday 28 September.

Two things that catch people out every single cycle:

Filing and paying are separate. Filing on time and paying late still attracts interest and late payment penalties. Do both.

If cashflow is tight, file anyway. An instalment arrangement organised with IRD before the due date is a completely different conversation to one organised after it. Don't go quiet — it's the single most expensive thing you can do.

Not sure where you stand? Ring me before Monday

17/09/2026

"I've been meaning to change accountants for two years."

I hear this constantly. And the thing holding people back is almost never loyalty. It's the assumption that moving will be a nightmare.

It isn't. Here's the entire process:

1. You tell me you'd like to move.
2. I write to your current accountant requesting your records. That's a standard professional courtesy letter — you don't have to have the awkward conversation.
3. They send through your prior year accounts, tax records and depreciation schedules.
4. We sit down, I get to know your business properly, and we agree what you're getting and what it costs before any work starts.

Your part in all of that is one email.

The tidiest time to move is just after your accounts have been finished, when nothing is mid-flight.

I've got capacity for a few more clients this year.

14/09/2026

I've done more kilometres in six months than I expected to.

Tauranga, the Mount, Papamoa, Te Puke, Rotorua. That's deliberate.

You learn things standing in someone's workshop that you'll never learn from a set of accounts. Which jobs are dragging. Which customer never pays on time. The piece of gear that's held together with hope and a hose clamp.

You can't see any of that on a screen.

So if we end up working together, expect me to turn up. And expect me to answer the phone.

Financial wisdom, distilled.

08/09/2026

You can't run a business from a spreadsheet. Some of the best advice I've given clients has come from standing in their workshop, watching the work happen, and asking questions I'd never have thought to ask from behind a desk.

So I get out and see people. It's not an extra — it's how I do the job properly.

Thanks for having me, team. 👊 Rutherford Signs

07/09/2026

Signwriting your Ute isn't just marketing.

There's a stubborn myth that a ute is automatically tax-free because it's a work vehicle. It isn't.

If a vehicle is available to an employee for private use, FBT generally applies — ute or not. There's a work-related vehicle exemption available, but every condition has to be met:

• The vehicle isn't principally designed to carry passengers
• It's permanently and prominently signwritten with your business branding
• You've told your staff in writing that private use isn't allowed, other than travel between home and work
• You actually check that the rule is being followed, and keep a record of doing so

Miss one and the exemption doesn't apply.

The rules also work quite differently depending on whether you're a sole trader, a partnership or a company — so the honest answer to "can I claim the ute?" is that it depends on your structure.

Worth a conversation before you buy, not after.

03/09/2026

"If I made $180,000 profit, where is it?"

Probably the question I'm asked most often.

Profit and your bank balance measure two completely different things, and the gap between them usually lives in four places:

Stock and work in progress — money's gone out, the job isn't invoiced yet.

Debtors — invoiced, not paid.

Asset purchases — the new ute doesn't hit your profit all at once, but it certainly left your bank account all at once.

Tax and loan principal — real cash out the door, not an expense.

Profit tells you whether the business model works. Cashflow tells you whether you can pay wages on Thursday. You need to watch both, and they'll rarely agree.

If your own accounts don't make sense to you, that isn't a you problem. Ask.

02/09/2026

Spring's here, so I had a look at what my bees are up to. Quietly stocking the hive, ready for the busy season — by Christmas it'll be full.

Worth doing the same with your bank account. Annual leave over the Christmas break has a habit of catching business owners out, especially when income slows at the same time. A bit set aside each month now makes December a lot less painful.

If you would like a beehive for your urban back yard, check out Seaside Bees

02/09/2026

Out of the office today 👋

One of my favourite parts of running Distilled is getting out and seeing clients in their own space. It's much easier to help someone with their numbers once you've seen the business they've built.

Today I called in on Hair and Wigs by Nickie in Gate Pa — and what she does deserves a lot more attention than it gets.
Nickie is not only an award-winning hairdresser. She's also registered with Health New Zealand, which means she can help clients access the government subsidy towards the cost of a wig if they're experiencing hair loss from alopecia, cancer treatment or other medical conditions.

And because of her hairdressing background, she doesn't just hand a wig over. She makes sure it fits properly, sits right and actually looks good. When someone is going through something that hard, that part matters enormously.