New data published by the IRD allows New Zealand companies to compare their financial data and performance against other New Zealand businesses.

The New Zealand Inland Revenue Department recently published the latest benchmarks for the financial ratios of business operating in New Zealand. According to a spokesperson for the IRD, the benchmarks have been used in the past by the IRD to help determine which companies may not be recording all of their transactions or which companies may be intentionally trying to misrepresent their financial activity.

The spokesperson explained that the this is the first time the IRD has published the benchmarks openly to the public, saying that the move was an effort to bring extra transparency to the tax system.

According to the IRD, the latest benchmarks may help business owners to find and address shortcomings in their business model by comparing their own performance indicators against those in the benchmarks. As an example, the IRD spokesperson said that using the data could help managers identify “… insufficient product mark-up, difficult trading circumstances or different cost or pricing structures from competitors.”

Currently the IRD has published benchmarks for businesses in the accommodation and food industries, administrative and support services, agriculture, forestry, fishing, construction services, education providers, utility providers, beauty services, real estate companies, rental car providers, and small food retailers and vegetable stores. Further businesses will be added throughout the year.

The entire set of benchmarks can be found on the IRD website.



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