The Goods and Services Tax rate in New Zealand will change from 12.5% to 15% on Friday, October 1st, 2010. All transactions invoiced from this date must include GST at the new rate.

Every computer which runs Business Manager needs to be updated to the new rate as will all Estimates which will not be invoiced by September 30th.

Detailed instructions, including screen capture images, are available from the following document link however the basic steps are set out below.

Ensure that Business Manager is updated before running the GST Conversion.   

The tax rate must be updated in the following two places on each Business Manager computer:

 1. In Estimate, click on Tables > Estimate Manager Specific Options > GST Defaults, change the GST Percentage, then Save.

 2. In either Debtors Maintenance or Creditors Maintenance, click on System > GST Defaults, change the GST Percentage, then click the "Tick" button to save.

The above action will incorporate the new tax rate into all new estimates but will not affect existing estimates so, in addition to the above,

3. Run the estimate conversion programme by clicking on the following link:

Step 3 is done once only (ie from one computer only) and will affect all estimates except those with the status of "Finished", "Lost", or "Cancelled". All line items on those quotes with GST of 12.5% will be updated to 15%. (Note that any items with GST percentage other than 12.5, including tax-exempt lines, will not be updated.)