Answer
The Create New Company Assistant walks you through the minimum information needed to start processing New Zealand pays. It takes two steps: entering your company details, then setting your pay schedule.
Step 1 ÔÇö Start the Assistant
Open the Entities menu and choose Add new company. The Create New Company Assistant opens.
If your subscription has reached its company limit, a notice will appear instead. Contact support or upgrade your plan to add more companies.
Step 2 ÔÇö Enter Company Details
On the first page of the assistant, enter:
- Company name ÔÇö the name as it appears on payslips and Inland Revenue submissions.
- IRD number ÔÇö enter the employer IRD number in the Enter the company's IRD number: field. Lightning Payroll accepts 8- or 9-digit numbers and validates the format before you can proceed. If you receive a validation error, check the number with your accountant or Inland Revenue.
- Which country's payroll rules do you need? ÔÇö select New Zealand if this option is shown. (It appears only on NZ-licensed accounts. If you do not see this field, your account is already configured for New Zealand payroll.)
Click Next when all fields are complete and valid.
Step 3 ÔÇö Set Pay Schedule End Dates
On the second page, choose the pay frequencies your company uses:
- Tick Weekly?, Fortnightly?, or Monthly? (you can enable more than one).
- For each frequency you enable, select the date that marks the end of your current pay period from the dropdown. Lightning Payroll uses this as the anchor for all future pay run dates.
At least one frequency must be enabled before you can finish. Pay end dates can be adjusted later from the Pay Dates tab on the Company screen.
Click Finish to save the company.
After Setup
Once the company is created, you can add employees and configure settings such as KiwiSaver rates, leave entitlements, and tax codes. Before submitting your first Employment Information filing, you will also need to connect Lightning Payroll to Inland Revenue ÔÇö see How Do I Connect Lightning Payroll To Inland Revenue For Payday Filing?
If Lightning Payroll reports that your IRD number is missing or invalid when you try to submit, see Why Does Lightning Payroll Say My Company IRD Number Is Missing Or Invalid?
