MYOB welcomes introduction of New Zealand Business Number

30 August 2013

MYOB welcomes introduction of New Zealand Business Number

MYOB welcomes today’s confirmation from Government that it will introduce a New Zealand Business Number (NZBN), lauding it as a solid step in making local business owners’ lives easier.

The 13-digit Global Location Numbers, provided by GS1 NZ, will initially be applied to all registered companies by the end of the year, for them to use when dealing with government agencies.

MYOB will look to build a field for the NZBN into its software and sees scope for further improvements that add value to the business community. In fact, it has partnered with local credit reporting company Centrix Group Ltd on delivering a simple online credit risk assessment tool that uses the NZBN as a look-up field when searching for credit risk information on particular companies.

MYOB General Manager Business Division, James Scollay, says the introduction of the New Zealand Business Number is a valuable step forward in improving business and government collaboration.

“Our MYOB Business Monitor research consistently shows SMEs want their interactions with government made easier. This move offers significant advantages for them and their accountants in helping to ease the paperwork burden,” he says.

“Once implementation is complete, the New Zealand Business Number will simplify the process of dealing with different agencies such as the Companies Office, Inland Revenue and ACC. We also see this as greatly complementary for our many customers moving with us to cloud.

“The ability to input a single number online and have information such as company details and GST numbers automatically populated will minimise duplication, improve data accuracy, and reduce the time spent on data entry. This will be especially helpful with electronic invoicing and e-commerce transactions.

“We believe the government’s choice of the 13-digit Global Location Numbers is the right decision. It is an established and globally recognised numbering system, already in use with around 4500 NZ businesses. More importantly, it has the potential to facilitate business to business reporting and provides integration with overseas customers and global supply chains.”

Leading Auckland Chartered Accountant and MYOB Connected Practice Director, Michael Prasad of MPG says, “A single business number will help simplify processes for Accountants and Business Advisors and it will be easier for clients to remember one number for their business.”

Cetrix Group Managing Director, Keith McLaughlin, supports the NZBN move, saying, “A unique identifier for New Zealand businesses will assist significantly in avoiding errors in linking and will ease the process of obtaining credit for all businesses, but in particular businesses that are not registered companies.”

This move will more closely align New Zealand to international markets, particularly Australia where the Australian Business Number has been a requirement for some time.

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