COVID-19 business assistance

Supporting businesses to recover and grow, with a range of resources such as expert advisory services.

Businesses who are GST registered, have a New Zealand Businesses Number and fewer than 100 full time equivalent employees.

A discussion with a RBP Growth Advisor to identify the support needed, connections to providers and if eligible, funding to access expert advisory services.

Business Finance Guarantee loans may be available to help small and medium businesses access credit for cash flow, capital assets and projects related to the impacts of COVID-19.

Loans are provided by banks and non-bank deposit takers. Current providers are:

• Banks: ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Heartland Bank, Kiwibank, SBS Bank, TSB, Bank of China and Westpac.
• Non-banks: Nelson Building Society.

New Zealand businesses which are generally viable and meet the scheme criteria may be eligible. Your lender will assess if your business is eligible and apply its lending criteria and processes, modified to give effect to the scheme, and look through the economic cycle to take account of the uncertain  economic conditions caused by COVID-19. This will include the ability of your business to repay any credit advanced using the Business Finance Guarantee Scheme.

The scheme loans are intended to provide for businesses’ current and up-coming operating cash flow needs (including things like rent and staff expenses), and capital assets and projects related to, responding to or recovering from the impacts of COVID-19.

A government loan over a term of 5 years for small to medium businesses affected by COVID-19.

Businesses set up after 1 April 2020. They need to have been in business for at least 6 months before applying, and to meet other eligibility criteria.

Businesses will be entitled to a loan of $10,000, plus $1,800 per full-time employee, up to a maximum of $100,000.

It has been introduced as part of the government’s COVID-19 support initiatives to help cover business expenses such as wages and fixed costs.

When the government activates the Resurgence Support Payment, applications for the payment will open for eligible businesses and organisations 7 days after the alert level increase.

To be eligible, your business must have experienced at least a 30% drop in revenue (or 30% decline in capital-raising ability) over a 7-day period at the raised alert level when compared with a typical 7-day revenue period in the 6 weeks prior. You must also meet a range of other eligibility criteria.

The maximum size of the payment your business or organisation may be eligible for depends on the number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) and your level of revenue.

The Resurgence Support Payment is calculated as $1,500 plus $400 per FTE (up to 50 FTE). The maximum payment is $21,500. Sole traders can receive a payment of up to $1,900.

Businesses with low revenue will have their payment capped at four times the amount their revenue has dropped over the 7-day period. For example, if the business has 3 FTE employees, they would be entitled to $2,700. However, if their revenue drop was $500, the payment would be limited to $2,000.

Helping businesses keep paying eligible workers who:

• cannot work from home, and
• need to miss work to stay home while waiting for a COVID-19 test (in line with public health guidance).

Businesses and self-employed workers. There are also other criteria, which are outlined on the Work and Income website.

A one-off payment of $350 for each eligible worker.

Supporting employers whose employees can’t come into work because Ministry of Health guidelines recommend they stay at home, and they can't work from home.

Employers, including self-employed people, whose employees can’t work due to COVID-19. There’s more eligibility criteria on the Work and Income website.

Payments of $585.80 for people working 20 hours or more a week, or $350.00 for people working less than 20 hours per week.

All invoices due to be sent in 2020 had a three-month grace period which resulted in CoverPlus Extra invoices being issued from July 2020 and all other invoices from October 2020.

Businesses that pay an ACC levy.

• Delayed invoicing
• Payment plans
• To let us know if you’re no longer in business
• How ACC levies work with the government wage subsidy