Invoicing

It’s good to know how and when we invoice your client, including when levy payments are due, the payment options available, and how you can help your client avoid late payment penalties and referral to external debt collection agencies.

On this page

  1. Invoicing the self-employed
  2. Invoicing employers
  3. Payment through schedular (withholding) payments
  4. Requesting a review of your client’s invoice

Invoicing the self-employed

Your client’s invoice is calculated using the earnings recorded in the IR3 tax return for the previous financial year. Inland Revenue provides us with the relevant information so that we can generate an invoice.

Your client is sent one invoice annually covering a tax year (1 April to 31 March). We begin to send levy invoices from July, but this depends on when your client files their IR3 tax return.

Self-employed clients who stop trading or who are newly self-employed

Once a self-employed client has traded for a year and then filed an IR3 tax return for the previous financial year, they will receive two invoices. An invoice will be calculated based on their actual earnings amount for the previous year, and they will also receive an invoice for the current year based on their previous year’s IR3 tax return.

Self-employed invoice timeline.

This invoicing process will continue until they stop contracting or being self-employed, and advise ACC of their final self-employment date.

Invoicing for ACC CoverPlus Extra

Once your client’s ACC CoverPlus Extra application has been accepted, we’ll automatically send them their invoice. This CoverPlus Extra invoice is in addition to any levy payable for CoverPlus cover from 1 April, up until the date the CoverPlus Extra policy comes into effect. If the CoverPlus invoice has already been paid in full, a credit/refund may be issued.

Invoicing employers

Your client’s invoices are calculated based on the earnings filed to Inland Revenue through their Employer Monthly Schedule (IR348). Inland Revenue will provide us with the relevant information so that we can generate an invoice.

Your client will receive a pack, generally between July and August each year. The pack contains three important pieces of information: 1: summary of account, 2: provisional invoice and 3: year end adjustment assessment. Information about these is listed below:

1. Summary of account

This summarises your client’s current account balance. The total will include the invoices for the levies in your pack, and any other balances you have yet to pay for previous invoices.

2. Provisional invoice

This is an estimate of your current portion of the Work Account levy for the current levy year.

It is ‘provisional’ because it is based on your client’s previous year’s actual earnings, adjusted by a Labour Cost Index. This takes into account expected wage and salary increases.

Your client will not receive a provisional invoice if:

  • the invoice amount is less than $20
  • they are a new employer and have not provided ACC with an estimate of their liable earnings
  • they had no earnings paid to employees in the previous year.

3. Year end adjustment assessment

Once we have your client’s actual liable earnings for the previous year, we are able to send out an adjustment covering:

  • a ‘wash-up’ of the provisional payment made for the current portion of the Work Account levy in the previous year. This is generally in the form of a credit or debit note
  • the residual portion of the Work Account levy and Health and Safety in Employment levy for the previous year.

Payment through schedular (withholding) payments

Schedular payments are wages paid to contractors by employers. As there is no ACC levy deducted at source, people who earn schedular payments are treated as self-employed by ACC and will receive an invoice from ACC.

This is a fact of which many contractors earning schedular payments are unaware, particularly as employers are not required by law to advise their contractors that they will be invoiced for their injury cover. They’ll receive their levy invoice at the end of the financial year in which they earned the liable earnings.

If your client receives schedular payments, you can help them prepare and plan ahead by making them aware that they will receive an invoice from us.

So, if they complete a three-month contract with payment via schedular payments from April 2007 to July 2007, they won’t receive their first-year ACC levy invoice until 2008/9, once Inland Revenue provides us with their IR3 tax return information.

Requesting a review of your client’s invoice

If you or your client believes that the information we have used to calculate their invoice is incorrect, contact the Business Service Centre. The invoice, however, must still be paid by the due date.

If your client wants to have their invoice formally reviewed, you (or they) can apply for an independent review by completing the ACC33 Application review (DOC 37K) form and sending it to us within three months of the invoice date.

The review process at a glance

  1. On receipt of the application form, ACC will appoint an independent reviewer.
  2. ACC and the reviewer will gather any further information required. You can also submit any additional information you think is relevant.
  3. The review will take place within three months of application. You will be invited to attend, along with your client.
  4. A decision will be made within 28 days of the hearing, and you will receive a copy of the reviewer’s decision soon after that.
  5. If either the levy payer or ACC disagrees with the decision, you may appeal to the District Court.
  6. You can withdraw a review application at any time.

Find out more about the review process

Find out more about by reading the review process information. Alternatively, you can contact the ACC Business Service Centre, your client’s Account Manager or a Business Relationship Manager.

You can also download our ACC255 Working together (PDF 498K) fact sheet.

Last updated: 23 June 2010