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The Transformation Issue | Idealog.co.nz
Welcome to Elevator Pitch, where we
profile three start-ups or emerging
businesses about their business idea.
If you'd like to put yourself forward
to pitch, get in touch with us at
[email protected].HN
RY
A
nyone who’s worked as
a contractor, consultant
or freelancer knows that
alongside the freedom
and flexibility it brings,
the administration side of things
can be a bit of a pain. Alongside
the hassle of working out income
taxes, there’s also GST, ACC,
student loans and KiwiSaver to
think about.
And yet, the gig economy is
growing in Aotearoa as people
take advantage of the opportunity
to work flexibly, remotely or juggle different employers.
At present, 17 percent of the workforce is classed as
self-employed – or one in six New Zealanders.
Enter Hnry. It’s a one-stop shop “financial
sidekick” for self-employed contractors, freelancers,
sole traders and gig workers.
It automates these tasks on a pay-as-you-go basis
and takes care of financial obligations, such as taxes,
through predictive analytics software.
The algorithm takes into account how much the
user earns, the sort of work they do and predicted
business expenses, then analyses earning patterns and
applies income forecasting models to it.
Each customer gets their own unique Hnry Bank
Account to have their self-employed income paid into.
When the funds are received into this account, Hnry
automatically calculates, deducts and pay the right
amount of taxes, before passing the remainder on to
the customer, along with a payslip.
The cost? One percent of your self-employed
income, capped at a maximum of $2000 if you earn
over $200,000.
The idea for Hnry came about after the
co-founders found themselves working as freelancers
and contractors and witnessing first-hand what an
arduous task it is to manage financial tasks.
“We weren’t running a small business, but
suddenly the banks and government treated us as
though we were, expecting us to produce balance
sheets and cash flow forecasts just to get a loan or
a mortgage,” Fuller says.
Fuller says traditionally, contractors and
freelancers have been expected to figure out how
everything works for themselves using a myriad
of online calculators and spreadsheets, or hiring
an accountant.
The vision with Hnry is to make being
self-employed as simple and hassle-free as having
a permanent job.We gave James Fuller
a little longer than an
elevator ride to pitch
Hnry, an all-in-one
financial service for
self-employed people
that takes care of
tasks such as income
tax, Kiwisaver, ACC,
GST and more.