Being a contractor in New Zealand’s IT sector offers an exciting opportunity for career growth, flexibility, and higher earning potential. But it also requires a solid understanding of the administrative, tax, and financial responsibilities involved.
With Younity’s fully integrated onboarding platform, we’ve made the process as simple and efficient as possible. From digital contract signing to managing your tax obligations, we ensure that everything runs smoothly, allowing you to get to work without unnecessary delays.
Starting Right: A Digital Process That Saves Time
When you’re offered a contract through Younity, your onboarding journey kicks off with Onboarded, our fully integrated digital platform.
Gone are the days of drowning in paperwork and chasing down signatures. Onboarded allows you to provide all the necessary information quickly and easily, with no need to re-enter your details at multiple stages.
This allows you to focus on your role without being bogged down by administrative tasks, saving time and helping you get started faster.
Clearing the Compliance Hurdles
Before you begin your new role, Younity ensures that all the necessary compliance checks are completed quickly and seamlessly. These align with our client’s needs and could include a criminal record check (MoJ), credit check, AML check, right to work check, NZ passport checks, or any other check our clients require.
While these checks might seem intimidating at first, they are essential, particularly if you’re working in industries such as finance or banking, where stringent standards must be met.
These checks are completed entirely through our digital system (CV Check), meaning there’s no need for you to handle paperwork or manually submit documentation. The results come back quickly, so you can move on to the next phase with minimal delay.
Digital Contract Signing: Convenient and Flexible
Once your compliance checks are complete, Younity sends out your contract for digital signing. This allows you to sign your contract electronically from anywhere, whether you’re at home, on the road, or in another country.
This streamlined process ensures that you can sign your contract without any unnecessary back-and-forth, so you can get to work as soon as possible.
Navigating Tax and Administrative Requirements
As a contractor, managing your own taxes and financial obligations is a crucial aspect of the job.
It’s vital to stay on top of your tax obligations, especially when it comes to provisional tax and ACC payments. Proper tax management not only avoids penalties but also ensures you stay financially healthy as a contractor.
Before you start any contract, you’ll also need to ensure you have public indemnity and professional liability insurance cover. This protects you from being taken to court in the event of a major error, omission or negligence claim.
Once you’ve started contracting with us, it’s good to know that all your ongoing admin like timesheeting and invoicing are digital and online, making it easy to get your admin done, from wherever you are.
While taking care of these obligations might be new to some, our onboarding process helps to make it easy to handle these essential administrative tasks, without confusion or delays.
If you want to know more about the admin around contracting, check out our ‘Contracting with Younity’ page for more information and guidance.
Mastering Financial Management as a Contractor
One of the biggest shifts for professionals moving into contracting is managing their own finances.
Unlike permanent employees, contractors do not receive benefits like annual leave, sick leave, or employer KiwiSaver contributions.
While the trade-off is often higher pay rates, the responsibility for financial management falls squarely on your shoulders.
To ensure you’re prepared, here are a few key tips:
- Set up separate bank accounts for taxes and savings: This will help you set aside funds for tax payments and avoid spending everything you earn.
- Stay ahead of your GST and tax obligations: Regularly transferring a portion of your earnings into these accounts will help you avoid end-of-year surprises.
- Use tools like the IRD’s calculators: These can help you estimate how much to set aside for tax and ACC payments.
- If managing your taxes seems overwhelming, there are third-party services like Hnry that, for a fee, handle all your tax and GST obligations (if you’re a sole trader) on your behalf. These services allow you to focus on your contract work rather than the complexities of tax compliance.
Avoiding Common Pitfalls: What Contractors Should Watch Out For
While contracting offers flexibility and higher pay, it also comes with risks if you don’t manage your responsibilities properly.
One of the most common pitfalls for new contractors is underestimating tax obligations.
It’s easy to assume that your earnings are entirely disposable, but a significant portion will need to be set aside for taxes and other expenses. Failing to do this can lead to financial strain at tax time.
To avoid this:
- Be diligent about your finances. Track your income and set aside a portion for tax payments.
- Consider professional support. Whether it’s a tax advisor or a service like Hnry, having someone manage your financial responsibilities can save you time and stress.
By staying on top of your tax and financial responsibilities, you can enjoy the benefits of contracting without the risks.
It’s also wise to build up a financial buffer in case your contract finishes unexpectedly early. Contracts are often project-based and can occasionally be cancelled or resized. Having a buffer relieves the stress of needing to find a new contract straight away and provides some peace of mind.
Ongoing Support: Younity is Here to Help
One of the biggest advantages of working with Younity is the ongoing support we provide. We don’t just handle the onboarding process and leave you to it; we’re here throughout your contract to assist with any questions or issues you may have.
Whether it’s a query about your contract, a question about timesheeting, or anything else related to your role, our team is always available to help. We believe in maintaining clear and open lines of communication, so you’re never left in the dark.
This level of support allows you to focus on your work, confident that we’ve got your back when it comes to any administrative or compliance concerns.
We aim to keep things seamless and easy, taking the effort out of contracting. From onboarding to ongoing communication, we’re committed to making your contracting journey in New Zealand’s IT sector as seamless and successful as possible.
Check out our Contracting page for more details about contracting with us.