Do you have a business or family logo?
Did you know that you can have this logo appear at the top of certain reports?

It's a really nice way to personalise your reports. For example...

So to do this you need to firstly be in the Cashflow screen

• Click the Cashflow drop down menu
• Select Edit
• Select Notes
• Use the Change button to import the file of the logo
  (This is also where you can add a note to appear on the first page of reports and a footer to appear at the bottom of your reports, for example "The Womble Family - Farming the Womble Valley since 1904" or whatever you like)
• Click OK

A great Wairarapa evening out for all the family...

The changes to our Health and Safety laws have now been in place for a year, and Work Safe New Zealand have said that farm deaths are down. This is fantastic news. It's still early days, with only a year not being long enough to call it a trend, but it's certainly a move in the right direction.

While I still think there is alot of uncertainty around what we are supposed to be doing and if we are doing enough, I think farmers are having alot more positive conversations about health and safety. The change in the law certainly generated alot of conversations in our house and community. As Al McCone (Work Safe New Zealand agricultural sector leader) said
"The good thing about the new legislation is that it has raised everyone's awareness and we have been able to build on that and start educating on what appropriate health and safety for a farm looks like."
You can read a bit more about this here...

Too early to tell if farm health and safety laws are working

The new health and safety laws for farms are a year old and is it a coincidence that farmer deaths are down?

There are lots of great resources and workshops out there to help.
I've just signed up for the ‘Protecting Your Team’ – a one-day programme offered by AWDT in partnership with Worksafe New Zealand and ACC. This is the 2017 calender...

To find out more information and register click here...
http://www.awdt.org.nz/programmes/protecting-your-team/
Does anyone have information on any other health and safety workshops or resources?

We had a sad looking pet lamb with bloat- a tablespoon of baking soda mixed with a few tablespoons of water and a tablespoon of cooking oil has done the trick. Prevention better than cure... so might need to try the natural yoghurt in the milk next year for the pet lambs...

@Sean.Bennett thanks so much for that Sean, very interesting stuff

Adding or Removing GST
One of my favourite Cashmanager tips has to be the quick and easy way to add or remove GST from a transaction or cashflow screen entry...

simply type or select the figure and use

• <Ctrl><+> to add GST to the amount
  or
• <Ctrl><-> to remove GST from the amount

There are quite a few other handy keyboard shortcuts that are really useful

• <Ctrl><+> creates an income transaction
• <Ctrl><-> creates an expense transaction
• <Ctrl><F12> finishes a balances transaction or creates a new line
• <Ctrl><F> brings up the filter box
• <Ctrl><S> brings up the Search box to find a specific transaction
• <Ctrl><G> to Go To a specific transaction line
• <Ctrl><N> adds an additional note to a transaction entry
• <Ctrl><R> brings up the reconcilliation options
• <Ctrl><B> to turn the bottom panel on/off
• <Ctrl><C> to copy selected area to Windows clipboard
• <Ctrl><V> pastes copied data

Closing A Financial Year

Follow this link to our Help Centre to find all the info you will need to close a financial year...

https://community.crssoftware.co.nz/topic/162/how-do-i-close-a-financial-year

*in your Cashmanager database you can have two financial years open at any time, so if you already have two open you will need to close off the oldest one in order to open your next year

The changes to our Health and Safety laws have now been in place for a year, and Work Safe New Zealand have said that farm deaths are down. This is fantastic news. It's still early days, with only a year not being long enough to call it a trend, but it's certainly a move in the right direction.

While I still think there is alot of uncertainty around what we are supposed to be doing and if we are doing enough, I think farmers are having alot more positive conversations about health and safety. The change in the law certainly generated alot of conversations in our house and community. As Al McCone (Work Safe New Zealand agricultural sector leader) said
"The good thing about the new legislation is that it has raised everyone's awareness and we have been able to build on that and start educating on what appropriate health and safety for a farm looks like."
You can read a bit more about this here...

Too early to tell if farm health and safety laws are working

The new health and safety laws for farms are a year old and is it a coincidence that farmer deaths are down?

There are lots of great resources and workshops out there to help.
I've just signed up for the ‘Protecting Your Team’ – a one-day programme offered by AWDT in partnership with Worksafe New Zealand and ACC. This is the 2017 calender...

To find out more information and register click here...
http://www.awdt.org.nz/programmes/protecting-your-team/
Does anyone have information on any other health and safety workshops or resources?

A great Wairarapa evening out for all the family...

For us...
Any invoices we need to send out for the previous month I email out before the 10th, for payment by the 20th.
All the invoices that arrive get tucked away through the month. Generally around the 17th (once most of them are in) I sort through them all and leave them out for James to look through (this can take a few days and a bit of nagging... ). If there are any discrepancies or mistakes then I will get them sorted then pay them all on the 19th or 20th.
I use the Wagebook in Cashmanager so filing the PAYE is easy as I can import the IR348 directly in to myIR and then set up the payment online.
Generally in the first few days of a new month I will import the previous months transactions (into Cashmanager) and code them all. (Although now that we have Bank Feeds set up I sometimes code transactions mid month as they come in, which is quite good as it seems like less of a big job!). I then file all the invoices away, but in A-Z dividers, oldest- newest... that makes more sense for me for some reason...
When GST is due I file that through myIR, nice and simple. Generally after a GST period I update my revised view, re-look at the budget and make any necessary changes. I then email a newsletter and updated reports to our equity partners. My go-to reports are Performance Summary, Stock Reconcilliation, Cashflow and expanded Cashflow Detail.

CDAX Weed Wiper
6 meter fold out CDAX weed wiper, around 4 years old.
Great working order.
Comes with all hoses and spare pads.
$2500
Located East of Masterton.
Ring James or Annie Cates 063722827 or email jamesandanniecates@yahoo.com

I agree Anna. We use the phone for business far more than personal and our house is a meeting place up to three times a day for staff, stock agents, fert reps etc, plus running the office...
If people would like to pass their feedback on to IRD then they have until 22nd December to email them at public.consultation@ird.govt.nz

@UglyDuckling Thanks so much for that, that sounds great!

We are involved in two equity partnerships.

The most recent partnership is still in it's first financial year. We were fortunate that we had friends who were keen to be involved (and also manage the property) and the bank put us in touch with the other two parties. I do the budgeting and admin for the partnership and my husband has an overseeing role within the business. For us, a good relationship with the Bank and networking was invaluable in finding our partners and also having a good reputation meant that people were keen to be involved.

We looked at quite a few farms, and put offers in on two others before securing the property. It was a real journey to get it going. Lots of meetings, reports, budgets, emails etc. We made sure we used a good lawyer and have clear processes in place, for example if anyone wants money out.

Our initial budgets were all very conservative, with the thinking that it is better to under-promise and over-deliver, rather than the other way around.

I think it's important to have goals set (particularly around repaying debt vs taking $ out) and understand what each partner wants out of the deal... hunting access, learn about farming, keep a horse, regular drive around... whatever it may be.

One of our main focuses (and I think one of the keys to a successful partnership) is communication. The partners put in a lot of money so I think it's really important to keep everyone in the loop, give them some value. I do an update roughly every 2 months with updated budget and reports and also a newsletter, which is laid out like the front page of a newspaper. The newsletter is basically an update with what has been going on, with an explanation of why certain decisions have been made, a word from the farm manager, a Health and Safety update and any other info of interest.

I also normally put in a photo or something to liven it up. The non-farming partners seem to enjoy getting this. The reports are great but the newsletter is a bit easier to digest, especially for people without a farming background. We also keep in touch with the other partners through phone and email in between. It's made clear that they can ring any time if they have any queries.

I think it's also really important to build a relationship with the other partners and have a bit of fun! Get together for a meal, a catch up at duck shooting etc.

Equity Partnerships are a great way to get into farm ownership and grow your equity.
A successful equity partnership is brilliant. It's great to be part of a team and share the success with others. Everyone brings something different to the table and with the right people and the right dynamic your business will go from strength to strength. However a partnership that doesn't go so smoothly can be messy and not end well...

How do people go about getting into an equity partnership?
What is involved in getting a partnership up and running?
And what advice do people have to ensure a successful partnership?

Once you have weighed up both options there is potentially not alot in it...
Grazing them for a full year protects you in a drought and will guarantee a quality 2th (great if you struggle to grow your hoggets). There is ofcourse high cost involved, so you would need to be making $$ somewhere else to pay for it. If you carry on with grazing them out short term could you look at putting in a crop specifically for growing your hoggets. If you are going to look at a whole year then do your homework and look into what deals are out there.