Startups

​If you're building something new and innovative, then you need the best in the business to deliver that vision.

A question that clients sometimes ask is: would it be better to hire in-house developers or partner with a team like Custom D?

While we are somewhat biased, this article serves to provide more information on the benefits and reasons our clients have given for choosing to work with us.

Pitching for investment is a gruelling task for even the best startups. Being able to quickly convey your concept, how it works, and why it's going to change the world is essential.

Prototypes allow you to simulate products, ideas, and designs without sinking the time and money it takes to develop and implement them in code. It’s essential for discovering usability issues before a product launch, testing user feedback, and determining whether what’s been designed has legs or not.

For a lot of today’s startups, most interactions with customers happen through an app.

And the platform chosen for development can play a big role in the user experience and performance offered.

Many of our clients are tech businesses but the founders themselves have no technical background. It raises the question, do tech businesses actually need a tech founder?

Prompted by one of our clients, we've been doing a bit of reading and research on how NZ companies should treat the development costs of the products and services that we charge for.

As software has come to form a core part of many businesses now, it's a timely reminder to check and make sure that you're treating the costs correctly for tax and accounting purposes.

Below is our understanding of Inland Reveue's official document on the subject, the exciting and riveting: "INCOME TAX – COMPUTER SOFTWARE ACQUIRED FOR USE IN A TAXPAYER’S BUSINESS". We recommend that you speak to your accountant to get specific guidance for your business and circumstance — please don't take our advice as law.

First up, it's a pretty dry read, so make sure you have plenty of caffeine on board and no tempting distractions such as cute cat gifs anywhere nearby... in fact turn off the internet and lock yourself away. Or ask your accountant to read it — that's what they're designed for.

Each company and each project is different so there is no one rule that fits all when it comes to calculating ROI. Here are 7 elements to check when evaluating the ROI of custom software development.

The New Zealand Government are bringing in a new R&D Tax Rebate that takes effect from 1 April 2019. While the scheme is still only in proposal form we can see a few catches and things to bear in mind.