New Zealand
Bookkeeping and payroll for New Zealand businesses.
Visory runs bookkeeping, payroll, accounts payable and accounts receivable for growing New Zealand businesses, inside your own Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks file. The team behind our Australian customers works to New Zealand’s rules, with Delphi AI taking the repetitive parts under their oversight.
- The same dedicated team as our Australian customers
- PAYE, KiwiSaver and holiday pay in every pay run
- One flat monthly fee for the agreed scope
Choose your city
Four cities, one set of national rules.
New Zealand’s employer rules are national. What changes from city to city is the regional anniversary day and the local economy, so each page starts there.
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Auckland
Auckland
Anniversary day: 4 weeks annual leave, 10 days sick leave
Also covers Hamilton and the Waikato, Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty
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Canterbury
Christchurch
Anniversary day: 4 weeks annual leave, 10 days sick leave
Also covers Timaru and South Canterbury
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Otago
Dunedin
Anniversary day: 4 weeks annual leave, 10 days sick leave
Also covers Queenstown and the Lakes, Invercargill and Southland
Photo: Pseudopanax, Public domain
New Zealand rules
The New Zealand rules every pay run works to.
Each rule with the instrument that sets it and what it does to your month. Your team works to them every pay run and every close.
The rate step reaches every pay run.
Employer contributions are a cost on top of wages, so each step shows up in the monthly numbers, and payroll settings have to change on the right pay date.
Employers contribute at least 3.5% of gross pay for KiwiSaver members, up from 3% for pay dates on or after 1 April 2026, and the default employee rate is 3.5%. Both rise to 4% on 1 April 2028. Employers now also contribute for members aged 16 and 17. An employee on a temporary rate reduction to 3% may be matched at 3%, at the employer’s choice.
KiwiSaver Act 2006, as amended by the Taxation (Budget Measures) Act 2025; 3.5% from 1 April 2026.Sources Inland Revenue, KiwiSaver changes Inland Revenue Tax Policy, Taxation (Budget Measures) Act 2025
Holiday pay is a calculation, not a rate.
Annual leave is paid at the greater of ordinary weekly pay and average weekly earnings, so the payroll file has to hold an accurate earnings history, and the move to hours in 2028 needs planning now.
Employees are entitled to at least 4 weeks of paid annual holidays after each 12 months of continuous employment, and 10 days of sick leave a year once they have worked 6 months, with up to 20 days carried over. The Employment Leave Act 2026 received Royal assent on 6 August 2026 and replaces the Holidays Act on 6 August 2028, with leave earned in hours. Until then the Holidays Act applies.
Holidays Act 2003; Employment Leave Act 2026 in force from 6 August 2028.Sources Employment New Zealand, sick leave Employment New Zealand, taking annual holidays Employment New Zealand, Employment Leave Act 2026
The levy follows your payroll.
The earnings on your payroll become the July invoice, so a clean payroll lets the ACC invoice be checked against the books instead of taken on trust.
ACC sets each employer’s work levy from its industry classification unit and the liable earnings on its payroll. For 2026/27 the rate runs from $0.03 per $100 of earnings for accounting services to $0.99 for residential aged care, before GST. ACC invoices in July: a final levy for the year just ended and a provisional levy for the current one.
Accident Compensation Act 2001; rates from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.Sources ACC, calculating your levies ACC, understanding levies if you work or own a business ACC, Levy Guidebook 2026/27
April is a rate check every year.
Any pay rate near the minimum has to change from the first pay date in April, and rates set as a margin above the minimum move with it.
The adult minimum wage rose from $23.50 to $23.95 an hour on 1 April 2026. The starting-out and training minimum wage is $19.16 an hour, 80% of the adult rate.
Minimum Wage Order 2026; 1 April 2026.Sources New Zealand Legislation, Minimum Wage Order 2026 Beehive, minimum wage increase balances business and worker needs
Each employee carries their own ESCT rate.
It is worked out from their earnings and reviewed each April, so the contribution that reaches their fund is the gross amount less the right tax.
Employer superannuation contribution tax is deducted from employer KiwiSaver contributions at a rate set by the employee’s salary plus employer contributions for the previous tax year: 10.5% up to $18,720, 17.5% to $64,200, 30% to $93,720, 33% to $216,000 and 39% above.
Income Tax Act 2007; thresholds from 1 April 2025.Source Inland Revenue, employer superannuation contribution tax
Whether a day is an otherwise working day decides the pay.
Rosters, part-time patterns and alternative holidays owed all need recording in the payroll file, not in a manager’s head.
An employee who works on a public holiday that is an otherwise working day is paid at least time and a half and earns an alternative holiday. One who does not work that day is paid their relevant daily pay. Employees are entitled to a maximum of 12 public holidays a year, including their regional anniversary day.
Holidays Act 2003.Source Employment New Zealand, public holidays rights for employees
General information only. It does not take your circumstances into account.
Common questions
Questions New Zealand businesses ask.
Does Visory work with businesses in New Zealand?
Yes. New Zealand businesses are served the same way as Australian ones, by the same dedicated team, through this site. The service, the monthly Insights rhythm and the flat monthly fee are the same, and the work happens inside your own Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks file.
Does Visory have an office in New Zealand?
No. Visory’s head office is in Melbourne and its team works with New Zealand businesses remotely, by video call and inside your own accounting file. You know your team by name, and nothing about the work depends on where your office is.
What hours does the team work in New Zealand time?
Your team works 9am to 5pm Melbourne time on business days, all year round, which is 11am to 7pm in New Zealand for most of the year (noon to 8pm for the week or so each spring when New Zealand daylight saving has started and Melbourne’s has not). The Visory platform is open around the clock for documents, approvals and your numbers.
How much does Visory cost in New Zealand?
One flat monthly fee for the scope we agree, with no hourly billing and no timesheets. The fee is set after a discovery call and a look at your numbers, so it reflects your transactions, pay runs and entities rather than a rate card.
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An obligation-free discovery call about your goals and what you want your numbers to tell you.