In the blink of an eye another financial year end is upon us.
This blog is designed to get you thinking about how you could be treating the beginning of a new financial year.
Yes, it’s important to take heed of what your tax accountant has advised for year-end, and make sure you do what’s important. For example, make sure you have contributed to your super fund, do your stock take, write off those bad debts, pay your employees' super, etc.
Getting that right is important, but is there really a need to get caught in the hype of marketers wanting you to splurge on new items just before year end? Well, maybe if you have had a fantastic year and you want to reduce your tax a little, but really, a deductible purchase is just as deductible in October as in June.
Buying something for the sake of it or just to save tax is never a good idea. Doesn’t it make more sense to buy things when you need them and not chase a tax deduction for the sake of it?
Time for Reflection
Just like the start of a new calendar year, where many of us use the new year as an opportunity to reflect, re-assess our goals and make resolutions, we can similarly do this by putting our business hat on when the new financial year comes around.
Questions you may want to reflect on include:
Has my business achieved what we wanted it to over the past 12 months?
Have we dealt with certain matters that have been put in the “too hard basket”?
Have we implemented the changes that we have been thinking about for some time now?
Are our staff meeting expectations? Do they need to be up-skilled or performance managed?
Have we set a budget for the next financial year?
When am I finally going to get around to……?
Whilst making sure you do whatever your tax accountant suggests, it is equally, if not more important, to take stock of where your business is at and where you want to take it to moving forward.
Of course, this can also be done any time of the year, as with an asset purchase that will bring you a deduction, irrespective of when you buy it.
As creatures who love to mark milestones, maybe your financial year end might best be served by some reflections, or an impromptu strategy session with your business partner or key staff. It may just be the trigger needed to send your business in the right direction for the new year.
Comments