Is it a bird, is it a plane?

For Wanaka, Easter is a crazy but special time. Every second year we host Warbirds of Wanaka, an incredible event for our small town. W.O.W. reports that this attracts 80,000 people to Wanaka over this long weekend.

The excitement is building as we hear some of the planes arrive for the big event and we run outside for a sneak preview!

Pssstt, get your groceries locals!

Early birds get the nice sunrise

Wanaka and Early Birds were treated to a sensational sunrise this morning. Lovely for a Monday!

CRUNCH - your online accountant

This week we launched our baby!

A year and a half in the making, crunch brought together a wonderful team of local graphic designers, optomisation brains, web techs, strategic consultants, marketing and of course our in house team.

So far we have had a wonderful response with clients zooming through the process!

Bake it till you make it!

On the 7th April our Findlay and Co Family will be holding our Inaugural Bake Off Competition! (aka a shared lunch). With two possible options; sweet or savoury, all staff must draw from a hat to determine the category of which they must create their feast. This years celebrity judges are Sue Drummond a TVNZ Master Chef participant, and Ed from Radio Wanaka.
The format will be present your dish followed by a devouring of the entries by the entire team. Excellent!

Shock horror its terminal tax time!

Wanaka and the surrounding area was treated to a spectacular electrical storm this weekend. Booming thunder and serious lightening woke up the town early Monday morning.
Shock horror, this is also your friendly reminder to pay terminal tax April 7th. If you have any questions or would like us help you to set up installments, please give us a call.

The tables have turned....

Heads up, FYI!!!
The 2011 Inland Revenue PAYE tax tables are out. There is a change in the calculations for 'pay as you earn' income tax. You need to start using the new tables from April 1st.
In the past IRD has sent these out but to make sure that you have a copy we have kindly supplied a copy of these in our toolbox.

F & C @ A & P

This weekend we were part of the Wanaka Show.

With our clients Pure Ice Cream we had a tent and sold Ice Cream. Unfortunately it threatened to snow and it wasn't ideal Ice Cream eating weather.

It was great to get out and about and see our customers, next year it will be bacon buttie breakfast!

We love smart cookies

We are stoked to see these three clever clogs Rod Drury, Sam Morgan and Stephen Tindall putting their heads together to come up with this wee gem.

Under the snazzy name Pacific Fibre these 3 musketeers are proposing to build a 13,000 km submarine fibre cable between NZ, Aussie and the USA.

This underwater venture could cost in the vicinity of $900 million and be ready for 2013.

Here at Findco we believe in innovation. We are keen to see NZ in the running to become the worlds next top models of forward thinking. Fast internet is the key.

Definitely a case of 'down there for dancing, up there for thinking' - nice one chaps!

Best in show

This year we have a stand at the Wanaka A and P Show. Given our rural roots we decided to get amongst it. We would love to see you there for a good for a yarn!

Who ate all the PIE

Advantage, point, match, game over for some investors as new tax laws come in to play April Fools day of this year. The Taxation Act 2009 introduces changes to align RWT rates on interest with recent changes to personal tax rates and the company tax rates, and alignment of PIE tax rates with personal tax rates.
GoodReturns.co.nz quotes Paul Mersi, PricewaterhouseCoopers financial services partner, saying: "The changes are totally logical and consistent with the new personal tax rates; it's just that they're late, so that means some people in this interim year are advantaged or disadvantaged by the lateness."
The announcement has been made early so banks and other financial institutions can get their ducks in a row. If you are concerned or want to check your situation with Wayne or Scott, drop them a line or phone in to understand your set up today.

Tax changes - clear as mud

Landlords all over New Zealand are almost breathing a sigh of relief as John Keys recent announcement went against most of the Tax Working Groups recommendations - to hammer the landlords. In actual fact other more juicy snippets of tax reform stole the limelight in Keys 20 minute speech. However the lack of clear information and Keys keeping “mum” about changes has the housing sector thinking - if not now, then when? All signs are pointing towards the most imminent changes being, disallowing depreciation, (which investors feel they can cope with) and a fairly clear indication that capital gains tax, risk free rate of return and land tax can be ruled out for now.
Our feeling is that the decision to scrap depreciation on buildings would be a good move, as this causes problems down the track when the property is sold. We would encourage Mr Key’s reform of building depreciation to still include chattels as these assets do depreciate in the true sense.
Wouldn't you just know it, what’s important is that you make sure you speak with your accountant!! Make sure you have good advice and options to consider. You can read our Rental Tax Guide by jumping on our website and grabbing a copy.

Double Whammy Pay it Forward

As wee tikes Wayne and Scott belonged to Cubs. So when were were approached by the Arrowtown Scouts to help them fund raise to get to the Annual Jamboree, we jumped at the chance. The Club has come up with a really great scheme where we are able to make a donation and in return we received several hours of our Scout Jack Swain's time. We decided to 'pay it forward' by donating Jacks time to the Arrowtown Plunket. We will be watching to see what great help Jack will be to Plunket soon...Scouts Honour!