NZ New Company First 30 Days Checklist: What to Do After You Incorporate (2026)

You have just incorporated. Now what?

Incorporating a company in New Zealand takes about 20 minutes on the Companies Register. What comes after takes considerably longer, but most of it only needs to happen once. This checklist covers the essential steps in the order most founders should complete them, based on what matters most for compliance and cash flow.

Week 1: Legal and financial foundations

Open a dedicated business bank account

Your personal and business finances must be separate from day one. Most NZ banks (ASB, ANZ, BNZ, Westpac, Kiwibank) offer business current accounts and can often open them online. You will need your company number, a certified copy of your certificate of incorporation, and personal ID. Expect 3 to 7 business days for approval at the main banks; challenger banks like Wise Business are faster but have fewer integrations.

Register for GST if required

If your company expects to earn more than NZ$60,000 in any 12-month period, GST registration is mandatory. Many founders register voluntarily from day one even below the threshold, because it allows you to claim GST on all startup costs including equipment, software, professional fees, and rent. Register via MyIR at Inland Revenue. Choose your filing frequency carefully: monthly suits high-turnover or cash-constrained businesses; two-monthly is the most common; six-monthly suits low-volume, low-GST operations.

Register for PAYE if you have employees

If you are hiring anyone (including yourself on a salary), you must register as an employer with Inland Revenue and set up payday filing before the first pay run. Payday filing means submitting employment information to IRD on or before each payday. Failure to file on time attracts penalties. Accounting software like Xero handles this automatically once configured.

Appoint an accountant or bookkeeper

The cost of a NZ small-business accountant (NZ$1,500 to NZ$4,000 per year for a sole-director company) is almost always recovered in tax savings and penalty avoidance within the first year. An accountant will help you choose the right balance date, advise on GST timing, set up provisional tax correctly, and ensure your chart of accounts is structured for IRD scrutiny.

Week 2: Insurance and compliance

Get public liability insurance

If your business interacts with clients, suppliers, or the public in any way, public liability insurance is essential. A single claim for property damage or personal injury can easily exceed NZ$50,000. Most NZ insurers offer cover from NZ$300 to NZ$800 per year for a sole-director service business. Professional indemnity insurance is also essential if you provide advice, design, or professional services.

Understand your ACC obligations

Every NZ business pays ACC levies. If you pay yourself a salary, IRD collects an ACC earner levy automatically via PAYE. As a business, you also pay a work levy based on your industry risk classification. Self-employed directors should consider CoverPlus Extra, which lets you lock in a fixed compensation amount in case of injury, rather than relying on the ACC default calculation based on your last year of income (which may be low in your first year).

Review your Privacy Act obligations

The Privacy Act 2020 applies to any NZ business that collects personal information. You must have a privacy policy on your website, appoint a privacy officer (in most small businesses, the director), and have a process for responding to access requests and data breaches. If you collect health information, financial information, or information from children, additional obligations apply. Non-compliance can result in fines of up to NZ$10,000 for failure to notify a breach.

Week 3: Operations and employment

Set up your accounting software

Xero dominates the NZ small-business market and integrates with most NZ banks, IRD, and ACC. MYOB is an alternative for product-based businesses. Set up your chart of accounts, connect your business bank account, and configure GST settings before you make your first transaction. This saves significant time at year-end and ensures your tax records are auditable from day one.

Draft employment agreements before hiring

Every NZ employee must receive a written employment agreement before starting work. This is a legal requirement under the Employment Relations Act 2000, not optional. The agreement must include: the nature of the work, hours, pay, location, and dispute resolution process. It must also include the employer sickness leave policy, holiday entitlements per the Holidays Act 2003, and any trial period clause if applicable. Errors in employment agreements are one of the most common and costly compliance failures for new NZ companies.

Register your company name as a trademark if it matters

The Companies Register grants you the right to use your company name as a company name, not as a brand. If your trading name, logo, or product name is commercially valuable, register it as a trademark with IPONZ (Intellectual Property Office of NZ). A standard NZ trademark registration costs NZ$150 to NZ$200 per class and lasts 10 years. Without registration, another business can use an identical or similar brand name and you have limited recourse.

Week 4: Digital presence and administration

Secure your domain and email

Register your company name as a .co.nz domain (NZ$25 to NZ$40/year via a registrar like Synergy Wholesale or 1-grid) and set up a professional email address. Using a Gmail or Hotmail address for business correspondence signals a lack of professionalism to suppliers, banks, and clients. Google Workspace starts at around NZ$10/month per user and provides email, calendar, and file storage.

Set up your company records

You are legally required to keep a share register, a register of directors, a register of charges, and copies of all resolutions. These can be maintained digitally. You must also file an annual return with the Companies Register each year on your anniversary date (NZ$45.74 online). Missing an annual return triggers an overdue notice and eventually leads to removal from the register.

Document your initial shareholder resolutions

Even as a sole director and sole shareholder, it is good practice to document the key decisions made when setting up the company: the adoption of a constitution (or decision to operate without one), the appointment of the first director, the allotment of shares, and the appointment of an auditor (or waiver of audit). These do not need to be filed with the Companies Register but should be kept in your company records.

First 90 days: provisional tax and balance date

Your first provisional tax instalment typically falls approximately six months after your balance date. If you chose a March 31 balance date (the most common in NZ), your first provisional tax payment falls in August. Ask your accountant to estimate this early so you are not caught short. The standard uplift method (105% of prior year tax) often results in underpayment for fast-growing companies; the estimation method is more accurate but requires care to avoid UOMI (use of money interest at 8.28% per annum).

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