As we approach the end of this year, it’s the perfect time to sit and reflect upon your business finances. Whether you’ve struggled or exceeded your expectations, it’s time to start making your next steps to improve next year. What was successful and brought in lots of profit? What didn’t go as well and requires further thought? Thinking about these things allows you to carefully consider your future goals and create realistic targets for your business. Reflection can only get you so far though and there are other steps you can take to ensure success next year.
Get your taxes in order
As a business you’re always looking for ways to cut costs and save money. A common mistake that business owners make is to think doing their taxes themselves will save them money. However, hiring a professional accounting firm to take care of your tax could in fact save you money.
When you run a business, day-to-day life is full is important jobs and things that you can’t ignore. Chances are you’re not an accountant by trade and the world of tax can be daunting and above all, time consuming. Tax law and legislation is constantly changing and it’s hard to keep a check on what you should and shouldn’t be doing. It’s an accountants job to keep track of these changes and by doing so, they can help you lower your bill. Even once you’ve paid their bill, accountants will likely find you ways to save enough money to cover it and then some.
Organisation
You might think as a business owner that you’re pretty organised with every aspect. However, being organised regarding tax is completely different to being organised in other areas. If you take a good look at your paperwork, you’ll probably find there’s lots of room to make savings.
Come the end of the tax year, we see far too many people raking through receipts and rushing to get their paper work in order. Engaging in the services of an accountant means that all of your taxes will be organised and submitted and you haven’t had to worry about anything.
There are lots of accounting software options around to help you keep your expenses on track and safely recorded. Accounting technology takes the stress of receipts and paperwork out of tax organisation and allows you and your accountant to view your accounts/expenses in real time. Now is the best time to begin using something like this as it is determining your good habits for the rest of the year.
Sort your team out
Tell your employees about your goals and visions for the upcoming year. What do you want to achieve? What are your financial targets and where do you want to be this time next year? If they know then they can help work towards achieving these goals. Sharing your plans will also help to boost team motivation and individual aspirations within your company. If you use freelancers, find out what their plans are to make sure they fit in with yours. If they don’t, you can begin to plan to accommodate any differences in vision.
The more you talk to your team, the more they will tell you. Maybe somebody plans on having children soon, somebody else plans to travel for a period of time, somebody else might want to focus on a specific area of their job, things like this are good to know so that you can plan for a smoother year.
By understanding the whole team and allowing them to understand your plans, you will create a sense of union within the team. With a full team effort you’re more likely to achieve your goals.
Analyse your account
You’ve probably never thought to change your business bank account. Have you considered the fees you’re being charged and whether other accounts could offer you lower ones?
Has your business account let you down over the last year? Changing before the new year could be the best time to do so. Spend some time reviewing and comparing bank accounts to find ones that will work well for you. If you’re struggling then ask your accountant for advice as they could know about accounts you’ve not come across in your research. High fees on bank accounts don’t mean that you’re getting a better account so don’t fall into the trap.
We hope that this has helped in getting you prepared for next year as a business owner. For help/guidance on anything featured in this post then please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Call us on 01427 613613
Email us on info@abc-accounting-services.co.uk
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