Why NZ small businesses struggle with invoicing
New Zealand businesses face the same compliance obligations as large firms: 15% GST, accurate IRD records, and professional documents, but they usually do it between jobs or after dinner. Common roadblocks include:
- Siloed information. Quotes, receipts, and labour notes live across apps and notebooks, so every invoice is recreated from scratch.
- Slow approvals. Commercial clients, councils, and property managers expect tidy invoices with GST breakdowns and job references. Missing detail often delays payment by weeks.
- No live view of cash. Without dashboards, you cannot see overdue balances or plan purchases with confidence.
Ledgr solves these problems with Firebase-backed storage, meaning your job notes, clients, items, and invoices sync across desktop and mobile instantly. Every workspace stores its own data, no sample content, and automated reminders keep late payers in check.
Checklist before you send your first Ledgr invoice
- Complete your workspace profile. Inside settings enter your business name, IRD number, optional GST number, address, and phone so they appear on every invoice.
- Create your clients. Store the contact name, company name, email, phone, and address for each customer. Ledgr now saves addresses and phone numbers so you can autofill invoices in seconds.
- Build item templates. Save common services or billable products with a default rate, optional GST rate (15% by default), and description. Quantity and GST mode can still change per invoice.
- Set due date rules. Ledgr automatically defaults due dates to the 20th of the month unless that is fewer than 14 days away, in which case it rolls forward.
- Choose your terms and payment details. The default NZ-friendly comment is "Payment due 20th of the month following invoice." Update notes with bank account details, pay-now links, or manual payment wording.
Once these basics are locked in, tap New Invoice, select the client, import saved items, and choose GST mode (exclusive, inclusive, or no GST). Ledgr handles calculations automatically and stores every revision so you can re-open drafts without losing changes.
GST and compliance essentials for New Zealand sole traders
GST mistakes are the most common source of stress for new businesses. Keep this short checklist handy:
- Always show your IRD details. Ledgr invoices display your IRD number and optional GST number on every PDF and email.
- Track GST collected. Dashboards separate subtotal, GST, and balance due so you know exactly what to set aside before filing.
- Store receipts digitally. Attach supplier invoices or fuel receipts; Ledgr keeps them for the seven-year IRD retention period.
- Highlight partial payments. When a customer pays part of an invoice, record it in Ledgr so charts show the true outstanding balance.
- Use branded PDFs for tenders. Ledgr PDF output includes your logo, address block, GST breakdown, and payment method card.
Cash-flow tactics proven by NZ tradies
Encourage early payment
Offer 1–2% off if invoices are paid within seven days. Ledgr tags loyal clients so you can reward them automatically.
Invoice in stages
Duplicate drafts to switch deposit, progress, and final percentages. Clients get clarity and you keep cash moving.
Automate reminders
Schedule reminders three and seven days before the due date. Ledgr logs every reminder against the invoice timeline.
Monitor the pipeline
Overview dashboards reveal total outstanding, paid this month, and draft counts. Use that insight to plan hiring or equipment purchases.
Real stories from Ledgr customers
"Sunday nights were spreadsheet time. With Ledgr I load photos and materials from my phone, send the invoice before I leave site, and the apprentice's wages are covered on time." — Sam, Christchurch cabinet maker
"We work in rural Northland, so reception is patchy. Ledgr captures labour hours offline, syncs when we are back in coverage, and our GST filing is now boringly simple." — Claire, earthmoving contractor
"Our Wellington studio tags line items by service. Ledgr dashboards finally show which jobs are profitable, so we pick better clients." — Ana and Leo, creative duo
Which Ledgr plan should you start with?
The Free plan lets you send up to three invoices each month, try GST modes, and store unlimited clients. When you are ready for more automation, Ledgr Pro ($24 per month) unlocks unlimited invoices, automated reminders, recurring retainers, branded templates, and priority support from our New Zealand based team.
Because Ledgr runs on Firebase Authentication and Firestore, every business has isolated, secure data. There is no shared dummy content and no risk of another company seeing your numbers.