Having your finances in order is so important in any business…don’t let yourself become stressed at the last minute because you weren’t prepared from the get-go! Get some organisational skills under your belt and remember to have a solid plan.
Let’s talk about yearly self-assessments in a very simplified way, what would you need? Every sale and purchase to do with your business- This means receipts, invoices, bank statements, notes to do with finances, etc, any other income, even if its unrelated to your business as we’ll need to know tax you’ve already paid and how much of your tax-free allowance you’ve used. It’s important to know what is tax-deductible and what isn’t, also…
Why it’s important to be organised…
There is nothing more important than being organised when it comes to running a business, and even more so when dealing with your finances! Check out these tips and tricks into making your accounts a well-oiled machine:
- Size Order: A key tip to keep your papers in order is to try and keep your work in size order, meaning large papers at the back, and smaller at the front, this may not seem like a big change; it helps in cutting down the time that you may spend looking for a small receipt in a stack of papers!
- Date order: It can also be beneficial to keep your work in DATE order, everything will be easy to locate that way, and this is a great tool to use when you are doing yearly accounts. Perhaps look into purchasing and using a binder, where you can label each month.
- Groups: Try and keep your finances in some type of group order, in terms of what it is. Perhaps a section for invoices, another for sales, another for receipts, your working notes, and so on! This can help you easily locate what exactly it is you’re looking for.
- Folders: Get folders in which to organize your papers, even a staple a few paperclips or some rubber bands can do a world of good for your peace of mind in knowing you are staying on top of your finances. Paperclipping relevant papers together is a quick way to break up your papers into understandable sections.
- Sticky Notes: Sometimes purchasing in something as simple as a few sticky notes or labels can really make things clearer and more organised, for example, if you bundle up your work, why not slap a label on it to make things a bit more clear?
- Keep your work neat and tidy! Not only for yourself but for your accountants! Cut out the hassle of having to organize it at the last minute and keep it tidy as you go; get into the habit of following your own filing system, big or small.
- Know your deadlines: It is important to know your times and dates in which things are due, perhaps get yourself a notebook where you can jot these important dates down, along with places, phone numbers, and anything else you may need to be reminded of. Also, why not set an alarm on your phone to remind you? However, this being said, at Diamond Accounts we are very on top of helping our clients to bring in their paperwork in time.
- Get a good accountant (That’s why we’re here): Can’t handle it all on your own? That’s what we’re for. We take pride in helping our clients and enabling them to be the best they can be! Our team of experts have got it covered. Also, it is important to note that even if being organised isn’t one of your strong suits, we are there to help you every step of the way- never hesitate to ring up and ask for advice!
Follow these steps and you’ll be an organisation pro in no time… here at Diamond Accounts we’re used to dealing with big piles of paperwork and rest assure if you don’t organise it, we will!