30th June, 2025
For more than 15 years, the Annual MYOB Business Monitor has tracked the sentiment, pressures and performance of New Zealand’s SME owners and operators across the country.
This year’s edition surveyed over 1,000 owners of businesses with up to 199 employees across major industry sectors. With answers gathered between January and March 2025, it provides a snapshot of their confidence and concerns. Here, we share four key insights every accountant and bookkeeper needs to know to support SME clients in the year ahead:
This year’s Business Monitor shows that economic confidence among New Zealand’s SMEs is the strongest in five years, with the highest proportion of respondents since 2016 expecting the economy to improve. This positivity may be driven by falling interest rates and easing inflation — coming off the back of a recession, New Zealand’s SMEs could see these as signs that the worst is now behind them.
Most SMEs also reported steady business performance over the past 12 months. And with confidence often comes growth: investment, expansion and new initiatives come to the fore as the Government assesses levers to support local business and economic recovery. For accountants and bookkeepers, conversations around cash-flow planning, budgeting, and understanding growth-related tax implications and regulatory shifts become increasingly relevant.
Most SMEs are still feeling the strain of recent economic challenges, however, the green shoots of revenue recovery are beginning to emerge. The 2025 Business Monitor reveals that 28% of SMEs have experienced an increase in revenue since the same time last year, and 35% anticipate revenue growth over the next 12 months.
The largest group — 43% — reported stable revenue compared to the previous year, and 45% expect that trend to continue in the coming 12 months. While stability is reassuring after recent downturns, that ‘stable’ revenue for some businesses could also mean the lower earning levels experienced in the previous year is unchanged.
MYOB Chief Executive, Paul Robson, points to the sentiment shown in this year’s Business Monitor as an indication that more businesses are ready to focus on the future.
“It’s clear local SMEs are ready to build on the gradual improvements of the last year and accelerate this positive momentum. Key to this, though, will be a focus on business fundamentals — like cash flow, stock management and profitability — balanced with seizing opportunities to innovate their operations to improve productivity and boost sales, as conditions improve.”
With the recently announced Investment Boost in the Government’s 2025 Budget, now is also an ideal time for clients to revisit their growth plans. As trusted advisors, accountants and bookkeepers can help SMEs assess their eligibility, understand the potential tax benefits, and make informed decisions around reinvestment and expansion.
Despite growing optimism, rising operational costs continue to weigh heavily on SMEs. The top pressure points include rising inflation, cost of living, and climbing fuel and utility costs. Those surveyed reported that their overhead costs have increased by a margin-squeezing average of $1600 per month over the last year, and many are bracing for further increases to energy bills.
One in five SME operators say they are “very concerned” about rising energy prices and their impact on business operations this year. Further pinching SME margins are rising compliance costs — potentially linked to changes in tax and reporting obligations, vehicle licensing, and health and safety requirements.
With the spotlight on operational costs, it becomes increasingly critical for SMEs to seek support from accountants and bookkeepers to drive operational efficiency and manage margins. This will spur conversation around cost management strategies, compliance-related changes and new tech like specialised software and automation.
Despite the continuing high-cost environment, more than two-thirds (69%) of SMEs surveyed indicated they’re holding steady with an ‘excellent’, ‘very good’ or ‘good’ overall financial position. A further 23% reported a more constrained ‘fair’ financial position, with only 7% selecting ‘poor’.
However, it’s important to note that as margins are crunched, so are the margins for error. Accountants and bookkeepers may need to work more closely with clients on building financial resilience. That means going beyond buffers and forecasts to include scenario planning and rolling cash flow projections, cost-to-serve analysis, repricing and reviewing product profitability.
Clients may also benefit from looking at funding options such as overdraft facilities or invoice financing, and identifying grants or incentives like the Government’s new Investment Boost. Supporting clients as they automate admin processes, optimise stock levels, and renegotiate supplier agreements can also help free up capital. Helping them implement tighter debtor controls, cyber insurance reviews and succession planning can help shore up businesses for the long term.
This year’s Business Monitor paints a picture of a cautiously optimistic SME landscape. Confidence is returning, with many SMEs shifting from survival mode towards growth. However, uncertainty around operational costs means tight margins are still a very real threat, and the road ahead is still peppered with some uncertainty.
For accountants and bookkeepers, the key takeaway is simple: your clients need your proactive and strategic support now more than ever for navigating cash flow, managing margins, and building financial resilience to take them securely into the future.
Read the 2025 MYOB Business Monitor Insights Summary.
Information provided in this article is of a general nature and does not consider your personal situation. It does not constitute legal, financial, or other professional advice and should not be relied upon as a statement of law, policy or advice. You should consider whether this information is appropriate to your needs and, if necessary, seek independent advice. This information is only accurate at the time of publication. Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of the information contained on this webpage, MYOB disclaims, to the extent permitted by law, all liability for the information contained on this webpage or any loss or damage suffered by any person directly or indirectly through relying on this information.