The end of the financial year is fast approaching for many businesses, and it can seem a daunting time of year. But the end of year process can be easy if you are prepared.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Your financial statements are the foundation of your business and can help guide your future business decisions. Reviewing the past financial year can help you identify strengths and weaknesses, and give you goals and objectives to work on, to enable you to grow your business.
Whether it is to increase sales, reduce your inventory, or focus on reducing your accounts receivable, these goals are based on your business’s individual needs.
get your business documents in order
The sooner you are prepared for your financial statements the sooner we will be able to complete them.
The most common business documents we require at Diprose Miller to prepare your financial statements are:
- Payroll information for your employees
- Closing inventory/work in progress figures on hand
- Confirmation of balance sheet items: bank statements, loans, term deposits, hire purchases
- Invoices for purchases or sales of assets over $500
- Debtors and creditors
- Dividend and interest certificates
- Shareholding documents
- Insurance and ACC invoices
- Donation invoices
After the balance date has passed it is difficult to work backwards to try get closing stock on hand or work in progress figures, so we encourage you to set a reminder to document this on 31 March.
Over the course of April (for March balance date clients) you may receive bank statements, loan statements, and resident withholding certificates. We encourage you to collect these in a folder, so they’re on hand for your accountant. It can take time for your accountant to get this information from third parties if it is not provided, so it definitely pays to have these documents ready to go.
review your financial statements for the previous year
Reviewing your financial statements for the prior year can be used as a basis of the information we require. Review your assets to see if you have sold any over the course of the year or whether some have become obsolete.
Being properly prepared for the completion of your annual financial statements can save you time and money in the long run, plus provide an insight into how you can improve your business going forward.
