Bookkeeping a Tricky Task over the Holiday Season

The holidays can get tricky for the payroll team because everyone wants to have their two week holiday over Christmas. Not to mention all the extra Christmas staff to manage. This Christmas, make sure you and your business are prepared for anything.

Don’t forget holiday pay for your staff. In New Zealand, there are four public holidays over Christmas and New Year’s. These are Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and January 2nd. Anyone who would usually be working on the days of the week that these days fall on (or the subsequent Monday & Tuesday if they fall on a weekend) need to get paid for them separately from their annual leave.

The last day you can pay your employees before Christmas for it to process Christmas morning is the 24th of December before 5pm. After that, you’ll have to wait until the 27th of December because of Christmas and Boxing Day being public holidays. We are lucky in New Zealand that we are able to do banking right up until the day before Christmas, so make the most of that opportunity if you are stretched for time during the final Christmas rush.

It is also the responsibility of bookkeepers to collect debts, and Christmas time is the time to collect all your outstanding debts before the year is up. Make sure you set aside some time to focus on collecting them to ensure you have the necessary funds that you’ll probably need at this time of year, for things like bonuses, Christmas gifts, and also to give yourself a head start for January.

If you need some extra help at this busy time of year, don’t hesitate to contact 3rd Arm Admin for all your outsourced payroll and bookkeeping needs.