Attacking Tax and Accounts
Focus on the realities of operating as a small business is the aim of a series of three workshops.** Carolyn Brooke** provides a summary of how the first one went down.
Bookkeeper and production accountant Leeyan Stephens ran a Tax Attack workshop for members in November. Invoicing, GST and income tax were certainly discussed but it wasn’t entirely about the numbers. Ensuring you are insured correctly and having the right Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) cover is also important.
Keeping accounts comes part and parcel with working in the film and television industry. “Our industry is pretty unique in some respects,” Stephens says. “You become forced into self-employment simply because you are doing what you want to do.” She says those in business need to decide how much of their paperwork they want to do themselves and should enlist a bookkeeper or accountant if need be. Stephens recommends talking to others in the industry about how they do it, making a monthly checklist and setting aside some time each week for book work.
Advisor Steve Sachs, who is also a former producer, of Canopy Group spoke about insurance and ACC levies. Sachs says most in the industry are either under-insured or not insured properly. “It’s about having a sense of control over what will happen when something goes wrong.” He suggests looking into ACC’s Cover Plus Extra as it pays out at 100% of a negotiated rate. Standard ACC cover pays out at 80% of declared income, which can be a problem if you’ve had a bad year or large expenses. “You establish your level of income.”
Advisor Alastair Gaudin, also of Canopy, says it’s important to check you are under the right business classification with ACC. “There can be savings straight away,” Gaudin says. “[People] usually receive an invoice from the ACC and just politely pay it – you should actually phone the ACC and make sure your classification is correct.” He also recommends checking with your bank to see if any cover like mortgage protection insurance is already in place.
