Business Documentation
Health Check for
NZ Businesses
Business documentation health check NZ for businesses that want to know where their contracts are falling short. We audit your employment agreements, terms of trade, leases and policies to find the gaps before they become expensive problems. Fixed fee, done for you.
Includes your free consultation, a comprehensive audit of your core business documents, gap analysis and a written report with prioritised recommendations.
A Full Audit of Your Business Documents — For a Fixed Fee
Many businesses sign contracts once and file them away. Laws change, your business evolves and what protected you five years ago may no longer be compliant or enforceable today. We audit everything and tell you exactly what needs fixing — in plain English.
What's included in your Documentation Health Check — $495 + GST
Everything below is covered under one fixed fee. No extras, no hourly billing, no hidden costs.
We Look for What Isn't There
The biggest risks in business documentation are often the clauses that are missing — not the ones that are wrong. We stress-test your documents for the gaps that leave you exposed.
Plain English — Not Legal Jargon
Our report tells you what the risks are, why they matter and what to do about them — in plain language your whole team can understand and act on.
Commercially Focused
We don't just check for typos. We look for unenforceable penalty clauses, missing liability caps, compliance failures and the commercial risks that could cost your business real money.
Legislation-Current Review
Recent updates to the Privacy Act, Health and Safety at Work Act and Employment Relations Act can render older agreements non-compliant. We check your documents against current law.
Fixed Fee Certainty
$495 + GST covers the full audit and written report. Asking a law firm to review everything typically costs thousands. We give you the same commercial insight at a fraction of the cost.
Actionable Next Steps
Every finding comes with a clear recommendation. If you need documents rewritten we can quote that separately using our fixed-fee drafting services — you are never left without a path forward.
Is Your Paperwork Protecting You or Exposing You?
Most NZ business owners sign contracts once and file them away. But laws change and businesses evolve. Documentation that was compliant two years ago may be leaving you exposed today — and you likely wouldn't know it until something goes wrong.
How We Audit Your Business Documents
Simple, fast and done for you — from first call to written report with prioritised recommendations.
Free Consultation
We chat briefly about your business structure and industry to ensure the audit targets your specific risks and the documents that matter most for your situation.
Send Your Documents
Once you confirm the service you simply email us copies of your existing contracts, leases and policies. No need to prepare anything — just send what you have.
Deep Dive Audit
We review your documentation line by line — looking for compliance gaps, missing clauses, outdated provisions and real commercial risks specific to your industry.
Report & Roadmap
You receive a clear written report with findings, prioritised recommendations and next steps — so you know exactly what to fix, in what order, and at what cost.
Ready to get started?
Book a free consultation or buy directly online — $495 + GST.
Documents We Audit for You
The Health Check covers your core operational documents — the agreements that govern how your business hires, sells, operates and protects its assets. All included under one fixed fee.
Margate Group is a business consultancy, not a law firm. We provide commercial documentation audits and business support services. We do not provide services reserved for lawyers and we cannot represent clients in court proceedings.
Trusted by Businesses Across New Zealand
Real outcomes for real NZ business owners who needed their paperwork sorted.
We can't recommend The Margate Group highly enough. During our business's start-up phase, Margate provided invaluable, clear, and precise advice on agreements and structure. They have a unique ability to explain complex legal jargon in plain terms.
As a SME owner, getting the right advice isn't always easy. Margate strike the perfect balance of professional, direct and genuinely caring. From contract negotiations to tricky customer non-payment disputes, they've consistently helped me achieve the right outcome. Highly recommend.
It's not often I write reviews but I have been incredibly impressed with work done by Margate reviewing a number of contracts for my business. Highly recommended.
Why Business Documentation Goes Out of Date
Most NZ business owners don't realise their documentation is out of date until something goes wrong. Understanding why this happens helps you stay ahead of the risk.
As a general rule, core business documents should be reviewed at least every two years — or whenever there is a significant change to your business, team structure or the law. In practice, most NZ businesses sign contracts once and file them away, reviewing them only when a dispute forces the issue.
Specific triggers that should prompt an immediate review include: hiring your first employee or expanding your team, bringing on contractors, signing or renewing a commercial lease, legislative changes affecting your industry, a near-miss with a client or supplier dispute, or preparing to buy or sell the business.
The cost of a documentation review is a fraction of the cost of a single employment dispute, contract enforcement failure or Privacy Act breach. Prevention is always cheaper than resolution.
The Privacy Act 2020, which came into force on 1 December 2020, replaced the Privacy Act 1993 and introduced significant new obligations for all NZ businesses that collect, hold or use personal information. Most businesses updated their thinking about privacy but not their documentation.
Key changes include a new mandatory obligation to notify the Privacy Commissioner and affected individuals when a privacy breach is likely to cause serious harm. Businesses that fail to notify face potential fines. Many employment agreements, service contracts and website terms drafted before 2020 do not reflect this obligation.
The Act also strengthened individual rights to access and correct personal information, introduced new rules around overseas disclosure and gave the Privacy Commissioner stronger enforcement powers including the ability to issue compliance notices and refer matters for prosecution.
If your privacy policy or any contract that involves personal data collection was drafted before December 2020, it almost certainly needs updating.
Terms of Trade are only as good as your ability to enforce them. Many businesses discover too late that their terms contain drafting errors or omissions that render key clauses unenforceable when they need them most.
Common enforceability issues include failure to incorporate terms at the right time — terms must be brought to the other party's attention before or at the time of contract formation, not after. Terms presented on an invoice after work is complete generally cannot be relied upon.
Other common problems include penalty clauses that courts may void as unfair, missing jurisdiction clauses that create uncertainty about which country's law applies in disputes, absent personal guarantee provisions where credit is extended to companies, and IP ownership clauses that don't clearly capture work created during the engagement.
The Fair Trading Act 1986 and Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 also affect the enforceability of certain types of clauses. A commercially focused review identifies these issues and tells you exactly what needs to be fixed.
Contractor misclassification occurs when a person is engaged as an independent contractor but the real nature of the arrangement meets the legal definition of employment. The label in the agreement is not determinative — New Zealand courts and the Employment Relations Authority look at the reality of the relationship.
The 2024 Gateway Test introduced clearer criteria for determining contractor status. To qualify as a genuine contractor arrangement, the agreement must meet specific requirements including that the contractor can subcontract, provides their own equipment, sets their own hours and is in business on their own account. If the arrangement doesn't meet these criteria, the person may be entitled to employment rights regardless of what the contract says.
The consequences of misclassification are severe. A worker reclassified as an employee is entitled to retrospective leave, minimum wage back-pay, PAYE obligations and KiwiSaver contributions. Personal grievance rights also apply. A documentation review identifies whether your contractor agreements are at risk before this becomes a problem.
Commercial leases are among the most significant financial commitments a business makes and among the most commonly misunderstood. Many tenants sign standard ADLS lease forms without fully understanding their obligations.
Key areas that commonly create problems include make-good obligations — the requirement to restore the premises to their original condition at lease end, which can run to tens of thousands of dollars — permitted use clauses that restrict what business activities you can carry out in the space, and rent review mechanisms that can significantly increase costs at renewal.
Assignment and subletting rights are critical if your business circumstances change. Fitout ownership and removal obligations can also create significant unexpected costs. Personal guarantees by directors are standard in commercial leases and create significant personal liability that many tenants underestimate.
A lease review before signing or renewing gives you a clear understanding of your obligations and the opportunity to negotiate terms before you are committed.
A Documentation Health Check is an audit and risk report. We review your existing documents, identify the gaps and risks, and give you a prioritised written report with recommendations. We tell you what needs fixing, why it matters and what to do about it. The Health Check does not include rewriting or redrafting documents.
If the Health Check identifies documents that need to be rewritten or updated, we can quote that separately using our fixed-fee drafting services. For example, if your employment agreements need updating we would quote the employment contract service at $295 + GST per agreement. You only pay for the fixes you actually need.
This approach means the Health Check is genuinely useful on its own — many businesses find that only one or two documents need updating, and the report gives them the information to prioritise their spend. You are never required to engage us for the subsequent work; the report is yours to act on however you choose.
Ready to audit your business documents?
We review your employment, commercial, property and policy documents and give you a written report with prioritised recommendations.
Start with a free 30-minute consultation — or buy directly online for $495 + GST.
Book Free Consultation Buy Now — $495 + GSTCommon Questions
About the Health Check
Honest answers about our Documentation Health Check service.
Can't find what you're looking for?
Ask Us AnythingThe Health Check covers your core operational documents including employment agreements, contractor arrangements, terms of trade, supply agreements, commercial leases and key internal policies such as privacy and health and safety. We target the documents most relevant to your business during the free consultation.
The Documentation Health Check is a fixed fee of $495 + GST. This covers your free consultation, the full document audit, gap analysis and a written report with prioritised recommendations. No hourly billing and no hidden costs.
No. The Health Check is an audit and risk report. We identify what needs fixing and give you a prioritised roadmap. If documents need to be rewritten we can quote that separately using our fixed-fee drafting services. You only pay for the fixes you actually need.
Laws change and businesses evolve. The Privacy Act 2020, Employment Relations Act updates and the 2024 contractor Gateway Test have all changed what compliant documentation looks like. If your documents haven't been reviewed in the last two years they may no longer protect you — and you likely wouldn't know it until something goes wrong.
Traditional law firms charge by the hour, meaning a full review can cost thousands. We offer fixed-fee certainty at $495 + GST. Our review is commercially focused — we look for real risks like unenforceable clauses, contractor misclassification exposure and compliance gaps, not just technical drafting issues.
Once you confirm the service you simply email us copies of your existing contracts, leases and policies. No preparation required — just send what you have. We handle the rest.
No. Margate Group is a business consultancy, not a law firm. We provide commercial documentation audits and business support services. We do not provide services reserved for lawyers and we cannot represent clients in court proceedings.
Yes. We work with clients nationwide across New Zealand. All our services are available remotely so your location is no barrier. We regularly work with clients in Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton, Tauranga and rural regions across New Zealand.
Get Your Documents
Audited Today
Don't wait for a dispute to find out your paperwork isn't protecting you. A fixed-fee audit of your core business documents — with a written report and prioritised recommendations delivered to you fast.
Get started today
Documentation Health Check — $495 + GST
Book a free consultation to discuss your documents or buy directly online and we will follow up to get started.
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We are a business consultancy, not a law firm. We cannot represent clients in court proceedings.