How we make things

A New Zealand tools and guides site built around its readers.

How a tool gets made

1. We find the official rule, for example Inland Revenue's tax bands or Tenancy Services' notice periods.
2. We write the rule down in plain English and work out examples by hand.
3. We build the calculator to follow the rule exactly, with one question at a time.
4. We test it against the worked examples, including edge cases, before publishing.
5. We show the source, the date checked and a note on what the tool does not cover.
6. We recheck when a rule changes and every April.

Sources and standards

Every tool and story follows the standards on our standards page: non-partisan, sourced and fair to the people and organisations we write about. Each one links to its sources, so you can always check it yourself.

Readers first

Many of our best ideas start with the people who live them. Tips, corrections and comments from readers shape what we cover and which tools we build. If you know something about a story, or want a tool we do not have, email [email protected] or use Tell us what to build. We check what readers tell us before we publish it.

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About us · Standards and corrections · How we stay free

Last reviewed 3 October 2026.