As the end of the financial year approaches, you are probably thinking about hiding under the desk from your tax return.
Unfortunately, you might have to crawl out from under there as that return won’t submit itself!
While your bookkeeper and your accountant can do a lot of the financial heavy lifting, there are a few things that you need to do also.
The great news is, they aren’t huge things. But they are important.
So, we have put together your End of Year Financial Checklist to make sure you are golden on the tax front! Here it is…
Your Small Biz End Of Year Financial Checklist
1: Get Yourself A Bookkeeper
If you don’t already have a bookkeeper, then you want to get one on your team. Pretty soon, your business is going to grow beyond the point of wanting to (or being able to) stay on top of your own financial transactions.
Having a bookkeeper means that you can relax in the knowledge that your finances will ALWAYS be ready for the end of the financial year. It will also give you an on-the-pulse look at your money situation and if the numbers are going in the right direction.
2: Get In The Cloud
There are a number of great cloud-based accounting options out there. Having your business dialled into one makes it easy to manage your financials and communicate with your bookkeeper and accountant. Access your records at any time and be able to streamline the management of your accounts.
If you aren’t already on Xero, MYOB or another cloud based system, we recommend you get that sorted ASAP. Oh, and as a side note, Admin Army can help you get set up with one.
3: Get Your Records Up To Date
Make sure everything is accounted for in your financials by entering all invoices and receipts. Don’t forget to update your employee and payroll records too. By having all of this information entered, you will be able to generate an accurate picture of your year’s work in your financial reports.
4: Do What Your Bookkeeper And Accountant Ask
There is a lot of work that these financial gurus can do on your behalf. But they will need some extra info from you. That includes details of home office expenses, any assets acquired, any lending taken and various other facts.
Provide them the information they need by the required deadline. That way, they still have time to complete the required financial analysis and reporting for your tax returns.
5: Stocktake
Part of your process should be to conduct a stocktake. Create a physical inventory of the stock you have on hand. Not only does it give you a chance to see how much investment you have sitting in your stock room, but you can also check how each line performed. Form a plan to maximise the popular lines and how to deal with slow moving items.
Even if you don’t sell physical products, it is still worth doing a stocktake of sorts. Go through each service offering to see what is making money and what is costing you. Reduce or eliminate services that are holding you back.
6: Review Your Revenue Goals
Once the tax aspects are out of the way, you can use the information gathered to do a little reflection and planning.
At the beginning of the last financial year, you probably set some revenue goals. So, how did you measure up? Did you manage to achieve those goals?
If you did, then great! It is time to set some even bigger goals for the coming year and a plan for how you will achieve them. If you didn’t quite meet those goals, then find out why that was. Was it because you fell down in an area, had an underperforming offering, or wasted money on unnecessary spending.
This assessment is important to ensure that your business continues on the right trajectory in the coming year.
So, have you got your bookkeeper sorted? If not, get in touch with the team here at Admin Army. As premier bookkeeping specialists, we can help make sure the end of the financial year will be a breeze in your business!