What’s Actually in a Monthly Bookkeeping Package? A New Zealand Checklist

By Jeme Ann Bregente, CPA (Philippines), Camellia Consulting · Sources checked 24 October 2026

Monthly bookkeeping packages in New Zealand are usually priced by transaction count or by tier, and the headline price tells you little about what is actually done each month. A complete package should leave the agreed accounts reconciled to the statements, GST coding reviewed and the open questions listed for you. Where payroll or GST returns are included, the scope should separate preparing them from filing them, and name who files. This checklist sets out what to expect, what is usually charged as extra, and what to ask before you sign.

What should a monthly package include?

• Bank and credit card reconciliations for every account, to month end, with each closing balance matched to the statement. “Bank feeds coded” is not the same thing as reconciled.
• Transaction coding with GST checked, so that exempt, zero-rated and non-GST items are not left on the default code.
• Accounts payable: supplier bills entered and a list of what is due. Agree who approves and releases payments; that should stay with you.
• Accounts receivable: invoicing if you want it, and an aged debtors report either way.
• Payroll preparation, if included: pay runs, KiwiSaver and holiday pay calculated, and the employment information ready for whoever files it with Inland Revenue.
• GST return preparation at your filing frequency, with the GST account reconciled to the return.
• Month-end reports: profit and loss, balance sheet, and aged receivables and payables.
• One list of open questions: unexplained receipts, personal spending through the business account, and anything large or unusual.

If a package leaves out one of these, it may still be the right package for you. Just make sure you know which ones you are doing yourself.

How does your GST filing frequency change the work?

Filing frequency	Who can use it	Return due
Monthly	Anyone; compulsory if sales are over $24 million in any 12-month period	28th of the month after the period ends
Two-monthly	Sales under $24 million	28th of the month after the period ends
Six-monthly	Sales under $500,000 (GST-exclusive) in any 12-month period	28th of the month after the period ends

Two exceptions apply to every frequency: a period ending 30 November is due on 15 January, and a period ending 31 March is due on 7 May. A due date on a weekend or public holiday moves to the next working day.

A six-monthly return does not mean six-monthly bookkeeping. If the reconciliations are only done when the return is due, six months of errors surface at once. A good package reconciles monthly whatever your filing frequency.

What is the payroll deadline?

Employers who file electronically must send employment information to Inland Revenue within two working days after each payday. Employers whose PAYE, including ESCT, totals $50,000 or more a year must file electronically. Smaller employers can file on paper, with 10 working days after each payday. If your package includes payroll, agree who files after each pay run, and how the two-day window is met when payday falls just before a weekend.

From 1 April 2026, the default employee KiwiSaver rate and the compulsory employer contribution both rose to 3.5%. If your payroll was set up before then, check the rates applied from the first payday on or after 1 April, including any employee on an approved temporary rate reduction.

What counts as a “transaction”?

This is where packages differ most. One provider counts every bank feed line; another counts invoices and bills separately; a third counts only items it has to code by hand. A business with 150 bank lines a month might fit under a “100-transaction” plan with one provider and need the next tier up with another.

Ask each provider for their definition in writing, and how a month over the limit is charged: automatically at the next tier, per extra transaction, or by agreement.

What is usually charged as extra?

• Catch-up or clean-up work on months that were not reconciled before you started.
• Year-end financial statements and the income tax return. Check whether the package includes them or only a year-end pack for whoever prepares them.
• Payroll set-up, new employees and complex holiday pay calculations.
• Inventory, job costing and multi-currency accounts.
• More than one entity, or consolidated reporting across a group.
• Filing with Inland Revenue. Agree separately who files each GST return and each payday filing: you through myIR, your tax agent, or your payroll provider.

What should you ask before you sign?

1. Who reviews the work before it reaches you, and are they qualified?
2. By which working day each month will the reconciliations and reports be finished?
3. How are questions sent to you, and how often?
4. Who controls the accounting file? Your business should keep administrator access to its own Xero, QuickBooks or MYOB file, and the right to export its records.
5. Where is your financial and payroll data accessed from, and how? Ask about user permissions, multi-factor authentication, confidentiality agreements and how incidents are reported.
6. Who covers the work when your usual bookkeeper is on leave?
7. What happens to the file and the working papers if you leave?

If you are choosing between a managed service and hiring one offshore bookkeeper yourself, our guide to managed bookkeeping or a dedicated offshore hire compares the two.

How are Camellia’s packages scoped?

Our Philippine CPAs work inside your own Xero, QuickBooks or MYOB file to an agreed monthly scope. For New Zealand businesses, monthly fees start at NZ$450 for up to 100 transactions, NZ$900 for up to 300, and NZ$1,700 for up to 700, which adds payroll preparation and a year-end pack. All prices exclude any applicable taxes. Before we start, we agree in writing what counts as a transaction and who files each return. See outsourced bookkeeping for New Zealand businesses for the full scope.

Camellia Consulting is a tax and accounting firm in the Philippines. We are not a registered tax agent in New Zealand, we do not file with Inland Revenue, and this article is not tax advice.

Sources

• Inland Revenue, Which GST accounting basis and filing frequency should I use?
• Inland Revenue, GST guide: Working with GST (IR375)
• Inland Revenue, Payday filing
• Inland Revenue, KiwiSaver changes

All checked 24 October 2026.