Tips For getting your accounts done earlier

As we move into March, we think it’s a good time to start thinking about your Tax Return.
Yes, we know what you are thinking - didn’t we just do that?
You got your tax return in and probably thought - that’s it for another year, so you can forget about it.

Or…

Maybe it can be less stressful, especially if you left it to the last minute again.
We all love a deadline, most of us work better when we have one but when we leave the work until the very last minute it can be stressful. 

So here are some tips for managing your accounts over the year, making things more manageable for you and your accountant!

1. Set your deadline earlier. Talk to your accountant, ask them what they need from you and set time aside each week or month to do this. Block the time out in your diary for finance time.
2. Make it a habit - use software like Xero, or Quickbooks, to keep your records up to date as you go
3. If you are a Xero user use hubdoc to snap and forward receipts to the software to speed up reconciling income and expenses; for Quickbooks use the Quickbooks receipt capture. Both work on phone apps.
4. Stay in touch with your accountant and update them of any changes through the year.
5. Do a pre end-of-year review - eg get everything up to date as far as you can in March, this makes finishing it off much easier.
6. Focus on the positives of getting your tax return in early. If you’ve made payments on account and your income is lower than last year, then you will reduce your next payment due in July, or possibly get an early refund. This also helps you plan for your next tax payment.
7. Getting your accounts done early can help with getting mortgages and loans approved.
8. File paperwork as you go along to avoid any lost documents / receipts and last-minute panics, (again you can use the software to get it in your system).
9. Lastly, set yourself a business challenge. Know exactly where you are with your numbers and profits each quarter - to do this you’ll need to have your records up to date and you’ll have better business finance information which will help make those decisions throughout the year. 

We offer bespoke working sessions to help you with any area of your business numbers - because when the numbers work, your business works. If you would like to discuss what you need and how we can help you then please book a call today.