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The Budget is an exercise in resource allocation – trying to divvy out a limited pool of money across an almost endless list of New Zealand’s needs and wants. Nearly infinite demand but restricted resources: it’s the underlying challenge for all economics. But with some creative thinking and ideas, Budget 2023 can deliver meaningful outcomes for people and the planet.

In the lead up to last year’s Budget, we wrote about a build-to-rent asset class to incentivise the construction of long-term rentals – and it actually happened. So while we’re on a roll, for Budget 2023 we’re going to be even more ambitious.

With enormous and inexorable spending commitments barrelling toward us, collecting revenue to cover those costs is a priority for the 2023 Budget. But with an election impending, it needs to keep voters sweet, giving them a sugar hit of positive spending, without any unwelcome tax changes.

Unfortunately, New Zealand’s productivity has been lacklustre since the turn of the millennium. We work longer hours, but achieve less output when compared to the OECD average.

NZ IFRS 16 is applicable to all large-for profit entities and aims to improve transparency and comparability in financial reporting by requiring these entities to recognise the full extent of their lease obligations on their balance sheets.

As the likelihood of a recession looms, businesses need to avoid self-fulfilling prophecies about hard economic times to come. Instead, now is the time to make sound decisions about future proofing their operations. Think proactivity, not reactivity; opportunities not crises.

Fantastic news on the horizon for Kiwi exporters, as the UK/NZ Free Trade Agreement will likely be ratified later this year, removing tariffs from 99.5% of our current trade into the UK.

Changes are coming to the way retention money is held in the form of The Construction Contracts (Retention Money) Amendment Bill (the Bill).

Naturally, the construction sector is hyper-aware of health and safety – they pride themselves on it. But now is the time the sector must start focussing on mental health. There’s increasing evidence of the mental health challenges being faced by construction workers; the statistics are alarming from a human wellbeing point of view, and lives are being put at risk.

Today, cybersecurity has become a top concern for public sector leaders, as the number and sophistication of breaches continues to increase. If you want to strengthen your agency’s IT defences and understand your current state of cyber-preparedness, we recommend the following steps as part of a wider cyber security maturity assessment.

A Grant Thornton survey of nearly 300 business owners and leaders across New Zealand has revealed many are anticipating a tough year ahead despite a majority experiencing success in the last twelve months.

With interest rates on the rise there are more considerations than ever when it comes to preparing your New Zealand International Financial Reporting Standards (NZ IFRS) financial statements. Here’s four key areas CFOs and Directors need to be aware of when preparing their statements this year.

Amid the excitement of securing a deal, significant unforeseen risks can catch you off guard, become extremely expensive to mitigate and can easily derail your post-acquisition strategy. Due diligence can help you strike the right balance between risk and reward.

Increasing insurance premiums should prompt all business owners to review the level and extent of insurance cover for their organisations. But the question is – where do you start? Are you aware of all of your business risks? Is insurance the best way to mitigate all risks? Which risks does insurance cover? Should you self-insure? Greg Thompson answers these questions and provides some insights into how you can take a risk-based, structured approach to protecting your business.

From asset impairment and future operating losses to insurance recoveries and everything in between, a host of additional financial reporting challenges now faces many businesses after NZ’s recent natural disasters. David Pacey takes you through many of the issues you need to take into consideration and how to ease any year-end accounting headaches early.

What is best practice if you’re seeking growth opportunities in New Zealand’s cooling market? Here’s eight key factors to bear in mind if you're considering M&A.