For many businesses in New Zealand, we are approaching our financial year end at the end of this month.
Now is the time to review your accounts to ensure they are clean and there are no skeletons lurking in the cupboard!
Sometimes, issues get left in the too hard basket, or the business can’t bring themselves to deal with an awkward situation.
So to help you have a clean set of books ready for presentation to your accountant, think about the following:
- Are all of your banks reconciled up to date? Are there any old items in the bank rec that need clearing?
- In your Accounts Receivable listing, are there any debts which you have little chance of collecting? Should you write them of this year and take the tax benefit? Tip: If you have had no contact with your customer for over 6 months, the likelihood of collecting any balance due is very low.
- In your Accounts Payable listing, do you have any long overdue amounts. If so, why? May be a suppliers bill has been entered twice, or perhaps you are in dispute with the supplier. Try to resolve the dispute so everyone can move on.
- If your business holds stock, then now is the time to review your stock valuation report for damaged, obsolete or missing stock. Again, better to deal with this now, so you can get the tax benefit this year.
This is a very short list, but hopefully puts you in the right frame of mind to attack those old issues and give you a clean sheet to start the new year.
Author: Trevor Huett
