At the beginning of October, there was a change to the rate of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 12.5% to 15% in New Zealand. This increase was the first to occur locally in some 20 years, so a number of the software products had probably never been tested as to their compatibility. It was going to be a test for those who were operating their businesses with outdated or unsupported software. The change was big news.
As a business owner, there must be a high degree of confidence in your software to cope with these types of legislative changes, so that there is no interruption to the daily flow of business. The change must be seamless and painless and be handled in accordance with law.
The majority of Abel customers are international, and in the case of our USA based customers, have to deal with different forms of taxation such as Federal, State and Local Government. Tax changes in these environments occur regularly, so this instilled confidence in the team, that Abel would not need to undergo open heart surgery to cope with a mere 2½% sales tax change.
It was also interesting to talk to friends and colleagues in business about their preparations. Some assumed that their software would be compliant come 1st of October, with no contact having been made between themselves and their software vendors.
This was not the case with Abel, all customers were individually advised of their compatibility. The process went according to plan, the changeover happened without incident, and it was business as usual for our NZ customers.