As we are all aware from the recent budget GST will change on October the first to 15% rather than the current 12.5%. How this will affect you as a business owner however may not be quite so clear.
Pricing is one area which you will need to be careful with. If you have quoted people a set rate for their accommodation and they are not staying until after October the first you will have to abide by that rate and cannot increase the price to cover the additional GST amount. If the price was a rate plus GST then you are able to pass the additional tax rate on to your customer.
How does your front desk system include the GST on an invoice and are you able to change this easily on the October 1st change over date. Do you manually change the system or is it something the support team will do remotely? Make sure you have this sorted out before hand so you have a smooth transition period for this rather than a shambles on the day.
The administration of GST is also quite involved. If you have a GST period which covers September and October there will be one month at 12.5% and one month at 15%. This will mean you have to fill in two separate GST returns for each rate.
There may also be an issue with the claiming and paying of GST. The important element will be when the time of supply occurred. It is very important to carefully monitor and record sales and purchases over this transition period to insure the correct rate is claimed. For instance if you are on a payments basis and have a supplier whom you purchase from in September but pay the account in October you will need to ensure the account is only claimed on the 12.5% rate, even though it is paid after the GST increase date. Also the reciprocal will pertain to payments made to you after October 1st for goods you have provided prior to this date. The GST payable on this income is only at the 12.5% rate. Will your accounting system be able to cope with these variances; does it have the ability to use two different GST rates? As you can see the change of the GST rate is something which needs a bit of consideration for you as a business manager or owner.
This general information has been formulated from reading and research but I am not a qualified accountant or financial advisor. To see how the GST changes impact on your individual business you should consult with your professional in this area such as your accountant or the Inland Revenue Department.
May 30 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
I have recently been following Hubspot and receiving their regular e-mail s. Hubspot is a company in Massachusetts which promotes online marketing and web analytics. It is based on the premise that permission marketing ( contact via a customer coming to your webpage, blog etc via a search) rather than interruptive marketing( eg: interruption via TV when a person is trying to watch a show) is far more effective marketing. They have products which help you measure internet marketing techniques and tools to use in this field.
I am always a bit confused by all the jargon and bits that go with social media, blogging, twitter etc but have certainly found that a lot of contact is made via these avenues. I am constantly surprised at who mentions something I may have written when I didn’t even realize they read my posts etc. Consequently I do take notice of things relative to this style of marketing and hence when I received the latest e-mail form Hubspot which offered a free grading report for my web site I foillowed the link and ran the report.
I thought it made very good reading and seemed to actually make sense to me. I ended up being graded above 57% of the 2 400 602 websites which have been ranked so far. I didn’t think that was too bad. The report followed with comments and points about the website which I found quite good. It of course included the usual sell our product statements from Hubspot but after all it is a free report so this was quite acceptable to me.
If you are like me and curious about things go to this link and see just how your web site ranks. http://bit.ly/9dNNn9
May 13 2010 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Here is an interesting article from the Motella Blog. http://motella.blogspot.com Maybe not the kind of service you need to follow!!! I wonder how it would reflect in the ratings for this motel on trip advisor?
Monday, May 10, 2010
Motel “Complimentary Hot Breakfast”
For those motels that are looking for new marketing ideas, we see that Spoof Times have reported on an innovative way for motels to offer a “Complimentary Hot Breakfast.”
Former guests of the Budget Inn and Travel Center of Wichita, Kansas are suing the hotel for failing to follow through on their advertisement of a “Complimentary Hot Breakfast” for their guests. “It was the main reason that we decided to stay there on our cross country trip,” said Wayne Garth of Denver, Colorado.
When asked how the motel breakfast did not meet their expectations, Mr. Garth said “Complimentary means free, right? At least, that’s what I always thought it meant. My credit card was charged for five $9 meals after we left. There is nothing complimentary about that!”
“Now, let’s look at the word hot. They had powdered donuts and bowls of Fruit Loops or Cornflakes. That doesn’t look very hot to me!”
Rahad Patel, owner of the motel, offered the following explanation: “When you enter our breakfast area, my daughter is standing there, thanking you for coming in. She tells people that they look nice, that she likes their clothing, or that they have cute kids. She is very complimentary to all of the guests.”
“My daughter is also dressed in a string bikini while she does this. Even though I am her father, I must say that she is pretty hot. She is also a straight “A” student and is going to be a doctor.”
“Breakfast was served by a very attractive girl saying nice things to people. That qualifies as Complimentary and Hot, doesn’t it?”
May 10 2010 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment »