Guide

GST Guide For Business

Making a start with GST? Don’t worry. It’s a little extra admin, but this guide will help you get sorted.

A small business owner holding up a price tag

Download the GST Guide for Business

Get your GST sorted. Fill out the form to receive this guide as a PDF.

Getting to know GST

Find out what GST means for your business and get tips on how to handle some of the core tasks.

  1. What is GST?

    You’ve probably heard about GST – it stands for goods and services tax and is added onto prices in New Zealand.

  2. Registering for GST

    Find out if your business needs to register for GST. If so, learn how to do it and find out what happens next.

  3. Calculating GST and issuing tax invoices

    If you’re a GST-registered business you must add GST to your prices. You also need to issue GST invoices. Find out how.

  4. Claiming back GST

    GST-registered businesses can claim back the GST they pay on business expenses. Let’s learn how.

  5. Working out your GST refund or payment

    Working out GST is simple maths. Keeping track of all your transactions is the tricky part. Let’s learn the process.

  6. GST returns and due dates

    As a GST-registered business you’ll declare how much you’ve collected and paid. You do this by filing GST returns.

  7. Tools and guides for your business

    Now you know the ins and outs of GST, but it can be tough to keep on top of it all. Xero’s got the resources to help.

Why Xero knows GST

Millions of small businesses and 200,000 accountants and bookkeepers use our software to deal with things like GST returns. We asked some of them for explanations and pointers, which we put into this guide.

Handy resources for small businesses

Running a business takes a lot of hard work. You might also find these other resources helpful.

Cash flow forecast template

Use this template to find out how much money you’ll have in the bank next week, next month, or even next year.

Get the free template

Guide to growing your business

Learn what goes into growing a business and get ideas to help you take the next step.

Read the growing your business guide

Invoice guide

Don’t let your cash flow suffer. Check out our tips on the art of invoicing to help speed up payment.

Read the invoicing guide

Start using Xero for free

Access Xero features for 30 days, then decide which plan best suits your business.