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Excel workbook (.xlsx) with formulas that total themselves. Opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers.
Download the NZ expense report (Excel)New Zealand has the most straightforward GST of the five jurisdictions: a single 15% rate with almost no exceptions. That makes the expense report simple to run, but the core job is unchanged: separate the GST so the business claims its input tax and posts only the net cost. This template is built for that, with a 15% GST column, a net and gross split, and worked examples, so the summary reconciles straight into the GST return.
The download has a header block for the employee, period, and approver, a line per cost with the date, description, category, merchant, net, GST, and gross, and a totals row.
A single rate, almost no exceptions
At 15% with no reduced rate for everyday items, New Zealand GST is the simplest of the bunch. Nearly every business cost carries 15%, so the template’s single GST column covers most of what you record. The exceptions are narrow: financial services are exempt, so no GST is charged and none is reclaimable on related costs, and a handful of supplies such as exports are zero-rated. For an ordinary expense report, the 15% column does almost all the work. The simplicity is a real advantage at month end: there is no rate to look up per line and no reduced-rate judgment call, so the report comes down to recording the GST shown on each receipt and trusting that nearly everything sits at the standard rate.
Taxable supply information, not a tax invoice
The 2023 GST reforms renamed the documentation. What used to be a tax invoice is now taxable supply information, though the substance is similar. For purchases over NZD 200 you need the supplier’s details, the date, a description, and the GST amount or a statement that GST is included. The label changed; the discipline of keeping the supporting record for every claimed line did not. The template’s gross column records what was paid, and the GST column should only carry a claim where that information exists.
Net, GST, and gross
The three columns separate the cost. Gross is what was paid. Net is the cost excluding GST, which posts to the profit and loss. GST is the input tax the business claims rather than expenses. Splitting all three means the bookkeeper posts the net to the right account and the GST to the GST account, and the GST return reconciles to the receipts.
How to use the template
- Fill in the employee, period, and approver in the header.
- Record each cost with its net, the 15% GST, and the gross.
- Enter 0.00 in the GST column for exempt costs such as bank fees.
- Keep taxable supply information for every line over NZD 200 that you claim GST on.
- Total the report, submit for approval, and pass it to the bookkeeper to post and feed into the GST return.
Common mistakes
- Claiming GST on exempt financial services. Bank fees and interest carry no GST.
- Recording only the gross. Without the split, the GST has to be re-derived for the return.
- Forgetting the NZD 200 documentation threshold. Larger claims need the supporting taxable supply information.
- Treating zero-rated exports as standard. Exports are zero-rated, not 15%.
When the report should fill itself
A spreadsheet works, but extracting 15% off every receipt is automatable. Tools that help:
- Hnry and similar tools handle GST for sole traders automatically.
- ExpenseFlow reads each receipt, splits out the 15% GST, codes the net to the right account, and posts it into Xero or QuickBooks Online with the image attached, so the GST return figures build themselves.
- Hubdoc pulls recurring supplier records in with the GST already itemised.
Use the template to start, keep the GST split clean, and move to automatic capture as volume grows.