July Newsletter
Even on the global stage, the FIFA Women’s World Cup is a huge event with a predicted TV audience of over two billion viewers, so having Dunedin hosting six games was a fantastic achievement. Events like this and the Bledisloe Cup this weekend are great for local businesses.
Looking past the economic benefit, it is hard to deny the excitement (especially when you have the favourite USA in the office sweep) and passion that these events bring to the city. They provide something of a counterweight to the news that we are “technically” in a recession and inflation is at 6%.
In this newsletter we are going to cover why 6% inflation is good news and Profit Improvement Plans, as well as some of the comings and goings at Polson Higgs over the last few weeks.
Michael Turner
In this newsletter we are going to cover:
6% inflation is good news
Profit Improvement Plans
The Young Enterprise Scheme (YES)
South Island Dairy Event (SIDE)
Supporting Charity Initiative
NPS Survey
Experience makes the difference
Say Hello to New Xero Reports
We have Client Parking
6% inflation is good news!
It seems somewhat surreal that 6% inflation could be considered good news by anyone. But it is.
It is good news, because at only 6% it means that inflation is beginning to fall. Consumers have reached the point where they have started to say no, rather than just pay a higher price. It is that change in consumer behaviour which is the key to moderating inflation. More importantly it is the change that the Reserve Bank has been wanting to see.
It may not seem like it yet, especially when you are putting diesel in the truck or scanning the shelves for a bargain at the supermarket but 6% is good news.
Profit Improvement Plans
However, most businesses will be feeling pressure from increased costs and the slowing in consumer demand. In this environment, the most common response is to think of how you can maintain profit, not improve it.
This is because we often look for the “one lever” to pull that will fix it. Find a cheaper supplier, raise my price, reduce the serving size etc. A profit improvement plan is about analysing all aspects of your business, understanding how they interact and effect your profit. Looking at sales, suppliers, production, people etc. every part of your business.
Your Profit Improvement Plan will invariably involve “multiple levers”, changes across different parts of the business and processes. It will be an ongoing process of reviewing your results against the plan and responding.
It is not easy, but now is the perfect time to create a Profit Improvement Plan because you are going to do a significant part of the work anyway as you are searching for that single lever.
If you are interested in creating a Profit Improvement Plan for your business contact your Partner for a chat about what is involved.
The Young Enterprise Scheme (YES)
In early June, we were excited to once again host the Young Enterprise (YES) Pitch Challenge in our offices. Attracting seven different schools from all over Dunedin, the young entrepreneurs delivered their business idea to a “Dragons Den” of local businesspeople and representatives from the Polson Higgs team. Over two days the judges offered their expertise, insights and helpful advice to the young entrepreneurs.
The Otago Regional winner this year was Rejura, from Otago Girls High School. Their product is a mascara remover, and they will go onto the National Pitch Challenge in Wellington.
For the past two years Dunedin Teams have performed exceptionally well with Abalro (Bayfield High, 2021) and Sole (Otago Girls High, 2022) winning the national titles, so expectations are understandably running high for the Wavea team. Jamie and Accounting Solutions team are going to do a bit of extra training with the Rejura team on the finance part of their presentation to ensure they are ready for the national pitch challenge.
South Island Dairy Event (SIDE) 2023
In the last week of June, some of our Rural team visited Invercargill to attend the South Island Dairy Conference. Run by farmers for farmers SIDE is a great way for our Rural Team to connect with the farming and dairy community.
Tom Hanning, and the Rural team (Gayan Mendis, Katie Duncan and Jack Hutton-Atkins) spent two engrossing days listening to keynote speakers and attending dairy themed workshops with topics ranging from “mitigating milk price risk” to “Contract Milking & Self Employment”. However, Toms pick was a workshop on “Breaking the mould on traditional investments”. With two speakers, one that had started a Distillery on their farm and the other had created a mountain bike track on their farm. Their message was that there is opportunity out there to do more than just traditional farming methods.
If you would like to talk about setting up a distillery on your farm or how to mitigate milk price risk, please don’t hesitate to contact Tom or any of our Rural Team.
Supporting Charity Initiative
During the year the team at Polson Higgs provides support to numerous charities and community groups through our Charities Initiative. Currently we are working with two very different organisations, SuperGrans Dunedin, and The New Zealand Sea Lion Trust (which is based in Dunedin). Super Grans is a local Charitable Trust, and they are “mentors of life skills” and the Sea Lion Trust provide protection and education about endangered marine mammal species.
Both organisations have projects that our Xero specialist Courtney Adams and HR Team, Lisa Sintmaartensdyk and Vanessa Barker have been able help with. All three are enjoying working with such diverse organisations and helping them make a difference in our community.
If you are member of a Charity or Community Group that we can help with accounting and/or advisory services, then please contact us.
NPS Survey
During June we ran a Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey again to find out how satisfied you - our clients, are with the service we provide. Many thanks to those that completed the survey and provided feedback. These surveys are important as they give us a better picture as to where we stand. The things we do well, and more importantly the areas we need to improve so we can deliver the best service possible to you.
Our current NPS is 49 and to put that into perspective the industry benchmark is 31 (Perceptive 2022 NPS Industry Benchmark report). While we are happy that our current NPS exceeds industry average, we want to do better. So next time you see the survey request in your inbox, please take the time to complete it and provide us feedback on how we can deliver excellence to you. Alternatively, you can simply email your feedback to info@ph.co.nz at any time. Thank you for your continued support.
Experience makes the difference
Every year during June we stop to celebrate long service milestones in the Polson Higgs team. Tom Hanning, the Manager of our Rural Team, has notched up Ten years of Service. But Tom is a relative new boy with Lynn King one of our administrative super stars, Michelle MacDonald Manager of our Payroll Division and Senior Consultant Robyn Patrick all celebrating fifteen years.
It was fantastic to be able to acknowledge the contribution that they make to the firm, because their experience really makes a difference.
Partner Henry Van Dyk congratulating Michelle.
Say Hello to New Xero Reports
If you are using Xero to manage your business, you may have noticed that Xero is retiring their “old” reports. This change is effective from 31 July 2023. It is therefore a good time to review how you are currently using reports within Xero and make any changes to utilise “new” reports moving forward if required.
The new reports allow for greater flexibility and customisation, as well as support the newer technology utilised by Xero. All reports available under the “old” reports have been transitioned to new reports and most have additional functionality.
If you are currently using any old reports, this will be indicated in Xero, either with a prompt in the search bar or in a tool bar at the top of the report:
If you are currently using any old reports for your custom report templates, you will need to recreate these using an equivalent new report. From 31 July 2023, you won’t be able to access these templates or run reports with them. You will have read only access to any published or archived versions of these reports.
Xero have released some additional information here:
https://www.xero.com/blog/2022/07/new-reports-in-xero/
If you need some help in rebuilding your custom report templates or have any questions about utilising reports in Xero to support your business please contact your Polson Higgs partner or manager.
We have Client Parking
Recently we have noticed that it is becoming harder to get a park in Moray Place directly outside of the office. We do have parking available for clients at the rear of the building for you to use. There are 8 parks, two rows of four. Please park considerately and leave your keys at reception in case others need to get out. The Polson Higgs parks are clearly marked, please avoid parking in the Hotel carparks.
Whilst you can park at the rear, you will still have to come through the main door on Moray Place and report to reception. If the hill is any issue for you, please phone reception (03 477 9923) and they will let you in the backdoor.
There is also off-street parking available nearby at the DCC Filleul Street Carpark or Wilson Parking in Moray Place.
If you have a question about anything, please don’t hesitate to ask on info@ph.co.nz.
Stay safe and keep in touch.
Kind regards,
The Polson Higgs Team.
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