Wow, the end of financial year rolls around quickly doesn’t it?
The 30th June will be here tomorrow but it’s still not too late to review your data file and talk to your bookkeeper about any plans for the next financial year.
Some points to consider:
Review and clarify all Balances on your Balance Sheet
1) Bank Accounts, Loans & Clearing Accounts
Reconcile all Bank, Credit Card and Loan Accounts. Check the balances of your other Bank Accounts such as Undeposited Funds, Electronic Clearing, Clearing or Deposit accounts, Loan accounts & Payroll clearing. Generally a clearing account should be zero at 30th June or you should be able to explain the balance to your accountant.
2) Debtors (Customers) & Creditors (Suppliers)
– Review your Aged Creditors & Aged Debtors.
– Do some last minute debt collection.
– Write off any Bad Debts.
– Check your Customer Deposits, do they equal your Customer Orders Paid?
– Check your Suppliers Deposits, do they equal your Suppliers Orders Paid?
– Review outstanding Sales & Purchase Orders.
– If you deal with Foreign Currency talk to your bookkeeper or accountant regarding the rate of exchange for 30th June
3) Assets
Make sure you have kept all the details of assets purchased to supply to your accountant for depreciation purposes.
4) Stock
Complete a stocktake. Check your actual stocktake matches the Stock on Hand in your Balance
Sheet.
5) BAS & GST Accounts
Reconcile GST to June BAS. Reconcile BAS amounts reported for the year and correct any mistakes.
6) PAYG Withholding, Payroll & Payment Summaries
Reconcile PAYG Withheld and Gross Wages paid to the figures reported on your BAS’s. Reconcile Superannuation and
Payroll Tax. Prepare Payment Summaries and supply them to Employee’s by 14th July, 2014.
7) Superannuation Payable.
Match your Superannuation payments to your Superannuation Payable Liability Account. Make sure any Superannuation owed for the April to June 2014 Quarter is paid by the 28th July 2014.
8) Backup your data and prepare to roll forward to the new financial year.
Also, don’t forget to review your Profit & Loss statement and check current balances to those for the same period last year. Investigate any major discrepancies and amend or make note of as required.
It’s also a good idea to do some checking of any applicable KPI’s or Benchmarks for your industry to see how you are travelling compared to others in the same business. This also helps to reduce your chances of being flagged for an ATO audit and gives you a good starting point to improve the financial health of your business.
The end of the financial year doesn’t have to be scary or intimidating. With a little bit of planning you can be adequately prepared for the new year looming just around the corner!