In this article you'll find a beginners guide for configuring Solo's settings and details of what each setting does. If you're still unsure about anything or have questions, please feel free to send us a message using the in-app chat.

The first step for setting up your Solo account is to configure your settings. This will customise Solo's features to your unique situation and make sure your tax calculations are accurate. You can adjust your settings at any time. To set up your account, first go to the Tax settings page (click on 'Settings' in the main menu).

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Provisional tax is not a seperate tax from income tax. Provisional tax is simply payments of your income tax during the financial year so that you don't have to pay all of your income tax in one big payment at the end of the financial year – it should really be called 'provisional payments' instead of a tax.

If this is your first year being self-employed you don't need to pay provisional tax (but you still have to pay income tax at the end of the financial year).

You have to pay provisional tax if your tax bill was more than $5,000 for the previous financial year.

To be sure if provisional tax applies to you, you can check your myIR account. In your myIR account, click the More... link for Income tax, then click View account registration details. If a 'Prov tax method' is displayed in the list then provisional tax applies to you.

There are two settings for provisional tax:

When Yes is selected, Solo will automatically calculate your provisional tax for you and display your provisional tax periods on the Solo Dashboard and on the Taxes page. You can then see how much provision tax you owe and when to pay it.

Note: When 'Provisional tax' periods are being displayed on the Solo Dashboard, you might not see your 'Income tax' period. This is because your provisional tax is your income tax and displaying both would be a double-up.

The frequency that you select will determine how many provisional tax periods are displayed on the Solo Dashboard and Taxes page. If you select 4-monthly you will see three provisional periods per tax year, and if you select 6-monthly you will see two provisional periods per tax year.

More info: How Provisional Tax works

More info: How Income Tax works

GST (goods and services tax) is a tax added to the price of most goods and services.

If you're registered for GST, you'll need to charge GST on your goods and services then pass it on to the IRD. You can also claim back the GST on your business expenses. GST is charged at a rate of 15%.

You do not have to register for GST just because you start a business. However, you do need to register for GST if you made over $60,000 in the last 12 months, or if you expect you will make over $60,000 in the next 12 months.

You can register for GST on the IRD website at any time.

There are four settings for GST:

When Yes is selected, Solo will automatically calculate GST on your income and expenses so that you know how much GST to pay. Solo will also display your GST periods on the Solo Dashboard and on the Taxes page so that you know when your GST returns are due, and calculate your ready-to-file GST returns so that you have all the figures you need to simply copy and paste into your online GST returns.

The frequency that you select will determine how many GST periods are displayed on the Solo Dashboard and Taxes page.

Note: When you enable GST, all of the GST periods will be displayed in Solo since the start of the current financial year. If you have already filed some of the GST periods, you can close/complete those periods by going to the Taxes page and clicking on the 'File & Pay' button for the period. Don't worry, when you close a GST period no information is sent to the IRD and it will not effect Solo's calculations.

*The months refer to the last month of the GST periods. You can check your GST filing frequency by logging into your myIR account then clicking the More... link, then click View account registration details.

The periods that you select will determine which GST periods are displayed on the Solo Dashboard and Taxes page.

If you registered for GST during the financial year, you can set your GST start date. GST will only be calculated on transactions from this date onward.

Leave the GST start date turned off if you didn't register for GST during the current financial year.

More info: How GST works in Solo

Everyone who works in New Zealand pays ACC levies. These levies cover injuries that happen at work, at home, on the sports field, and when you’re out and about. Basically ACC is New Zealand public health insurance.

Yes, when you start out as a sole trader, you’re automatically on ACC’s CoverPlus. What you pay will be based on the type of work you do and your income.

Your first levy invoice will arrive after the end of your first year in business. After that, you’ll be invoiced once a year, usually in July or August.

You only need to enter your BIC code so that Solo can accurately calculate your ACC. Your Business Industry Classification (BIC) code identifies the type of work that you do and will look like this: M692430

You can find your BIC code by logging into your myIR account. Or check out our article on how to find your BIC code for step-by-step instructions.

When you enter your BIC code, Solo will automatically calculate your ACC as you go and display your ACC period on the Solo Dashboard and on the Taxes page. You can then see how much ACC you owe and when to pay it.

Note: If you don't want to enter your BIC code yet, you can leave the BIC code field blank and enter it later. This will just mean that ACC is not displayed on the Solo Dashboard or Taxes page until your code is entered.

Solo calculates ACC's standard cover type – CoverPlus.

More info: How ACC works

If you earn rental income, such as from long-term tenants or a spare room on Airbnb, Solo will provide you with a few setup options so you can accurately track your rental income, claim rental expenses and generate ready-to-file tax returns.

If you don't earn any rental income, then you don't need to enable the rental income settings.

Income tax: Generally, all payments received from renting out property are considered income and are subject to income tax in the year they are earned. Solo automatically calculates your rental income tax based on the rental income and expenses you categorise.​​

GST: GST only applies to short-stay (less than 4 consecutive weeks) rentals. And only if you are registered for GST (earn over $60,000 in a 12 month period). Long-term residential rental income is exempt from GST, regardless of if you are GST registered. Solo will automatically calculate GST on your rental income only if you select the 'Short-stay (Airbnb)' rental type and have GST enabled. Otherwise your rental income and expenses will be excluded from Solo's GST calculations.

ACC: Rental income in New Zealand is generally considered passive investment income and does not attract ACC levies. Solo automatically excludes your rental income and expenses from ACC calculations.

There are three core settings for rental income (and more sub settings depending on your rental type):

When you toggle on enable rental income:

If you select either a room in your home or short-stay (Airbnb), Solo will provide additional settings:

When you rent a room in your home Solo needs to know what percentage of the home is being rented so that it can calculate the claimable portion of your expenses.

Two rental expenses settings will be displayed:

For example, if your house is 100 m2 and you offer 10 m2 for rental then you would enter '100' for the size of your house and '10' for the size of your rental area.

When you select short-stay (Airbnb), two sub types will become available. Solo will also automatically calculate GST on your rental income and expenses, if you have GST enabled in your settings.

When you select room Solo needs to know what percentage of the home is being rented out so that it can calculate the claimable portion of your expenses.

Two rental expenses settings will be displayed:

For example, if your house is 100 m2 and you offer 10 m2 for rental then you would enter '100' for the size of your house and '10' for the size of your rental area.

Are you the sole owner of the property or do you own the property with a partner? When you enter a property ownership percentage, Solo will automatically split your rental income and expenses according to the percentage.

For example, if you are the sole owner enter '100' %. If you own the property 50/50 with a partner then enter '50' %.

More info: How rental property tax works

When you use an area of your home for your business, such as your home office, garage or a workshop, you can claim a portion of the household expenses and reduce your tax bill.

If you don't have a home office, then you don't need to make any changes to the home office expenses settings.

There are two settings for home office expenses:

So that Solo can calculate your home office expenses, you need to enter the percentage of your home that is used for business.

For example, if your home is 100 square metres and your working space is 10 square metres (10% of the total area) you can claim 10% of the expenses. Therefore you should enter '10' for the home office area.

When you enter a home office area percentage, Solo will then display specific expense categories for claiming your home office expenses, and automatically apply the percentage that you entered to the home office expenses that you claim.

When you toggle on I own the home, three additional expense categories will become available. These categories are specific for home owners of the property where the home office is located:

More info: The complete guide to claiming home office expenses

When you use your own vehicle for business, you can claim a proportion of the running costs and reduce your tax bill.

If you don't have a business vehicle, then you don't need to make any changes to the vehicle business use setting.

So that Solo can calculate your vehicle expenses, you need to enter the percentage of your vehicle's use that is for business.

For example, if you only use your vehicle for business you can claim 100% of the costs. However if you use your vehicle for both business and private purposes you need to enter the percentage that relates to your business use.

Tip: You can claim up to 25% before you need to keep a logbook. Travel between home and work is not considered business use.

When you enter a vehicle business use percentage, Solo will then display specific expense categories for claiming your vehicle expenses, and automatically apply the percentage that you entered to the vehicle expenses that you claim.

More info: The complete guide to claiming vehicle expenses

Do you go to work in a commercial office, a workshop or use a coworking space? If so you can claim those costs back.

When you toggle on Enable commercial office, Solo will then display specific expense categories for claiming your commercial office expenses.

Once you've completed and saved your settings, next it's time to import your income into Solo. Check out our Getting started with Solo article for step-by-step instructions.