Get Your Finances sorted for Year End and the New Financial Year

It’s hard to believe it’s already the 30^th of June! This is every accountant’s favourite day of the year! (I’m not kidding!)

If you’re a small business it’s important that you maximise the benefits of year end, and also start the NEW financial year on the right foot!

After 15 years of corporate finance experience, where ‘year-end’ lasts for about 3 solid months, it’s safe to say that I’ve got a few tips and tricks up my sleeve to develop an efficient and effective year end process, that can lead into your month end processes during the year.

Every business is different, and if you’re using the cash basis for your accounting and BAS, then it’s even easier. This means that you account for what has actually been received in the bank account, if you’ve got the cash, you include it, if not, it gets included in the next accounting period.

Have I lost you yet? You may have an accountant that does your year end finances for you, and a bookkeeper that helps you with your shoebox of receipts, but do you, as the business owner understand the financial position of your business on a daily, weekly or monthly basis?

My main tips for year end are:

• Keep all your receipts electronically or in a folder, or use HubDocs with Xero
• Reconcile your bank accounts on a regular basis (this may be daily/weekly or monthly) depending on the volume you have. (In Xero you want 0 Items to be Reconciled)
• Do your invoicing on a regular basis – if you’re billing the same amount each month, then use the ‘recurring invoice’ function in Xero
• If you have products that you sell, perform a stocktake at year end to determine the stock value for your year end accounts
• Calculate your payroll for the end of the year

For month end (about the 5^th of each month), you should get into the routine of reviewing your financial reports to determine how business is going. Work out what reports are best to be reviewed for your business. How regularly do you review your P&L – Profit & Loss report and the balance sheet? Do you know what debts you have, and how much working capital you have in your business?

I’m now a Business Coach, based in Gippsland, that aims to support small business owners to improve their financial capability, and in the month of July I’m holding several workshops to improve your understanding and knowledge of how to optimise your use of the Xero finance system. It’s been designed with small business in mind, and is easy to use! We’ll cover off reporting in the afternoon workshops, where I will assist you to develop a reporting routine to follow each month.

Check out the events listed on Gippsland Business Connect if you’re local to Traralgon, I would love for you to come along!

Basics of Xero – morning of Mon 12 July, Wed 14 July, Mon 19 July

Setup your Reporting in Xero – afternoon of Mon 12 July, Wed 14 July, Mon 19 July

Or do a FULL-DAY workshop, which includes LUNCH and the same content on the same days! (save $50!)

If you’re interested, but you would prefer online workshops to learn about Xero, please get in touch!

I’m also looking for future locations to hold these workshops, so please let me know if you’re interested!