4 Things to do NOW for your Business
David Balwin
CPA | Accountant | Business Advisor
With 30 June fast approaching, now is the time for Business Owners to prepare for the next financial year. Here are the four main activities you need to be doing right now to position your business for another successful year.
1. Tax Planning
Make an appointment TODAY with your Accountant for Tax Planning. Tax Planning looks at a financial situation or plan from a tax perspective with the aim to align financial goals with tax efficiency planning. Basically, tax planning looks to discover how to accomplish all of the other elements of a financial plan in the most tax-efficient manner possible. However, a word of caution – while tax planning is an important element in any financial plan, it is important not to let the “tax” tail wag the financial “dog.” As most financial actions have some tax implications, decisions on financial actions need to be made having regard for all matters and should not be avoided solely on the basis of tax.
Undertaking tax planning now can look at any actions to be undertaken before 30 June as well as actions for the next financial year. As planning can be a bit involved depending on individual circumstances, give your Accountant a bit of time to do the best job and don’t leave it to the last minute.
2. Setting Next Year’s Goals and Targets
Now is the time to start reviewing your business plan. If it is sitting in a draw (or on the computer) and hasn’t seen light of day for awhile, get it out, dust it off and have a look at what was planned for the business this financial year and what was achieved. Did things happen as planned? Were goals and targets met (or exceeded)? Did projected costs occurred or did they blow-out or result in savings?
Looking at this information, it is now time to update the business plan for the next 12 months. What goals and targets need to be set? What timeframes need to be identified for actions to achieve goals? What research and reviews need to be undertaken in relation to improvement of costs (eg, can you get a better deal on telephone accounts or stationery/office supplies)?
Planning is a vital exercise for all businesses. It underpins decisions and behaviours as a road map to achieve what you have set out to achieve.
3. Setting Next Year’s Budget and Cashflow Projections
CASH IS KING – the mantra for all business owners. If the business is not making money then it shouldn’t be in business. But more than that, the business needs to make enough money at the right time to cover expenses. Now is the time to use the information at hand to set the business’s budget for the next financial year and look at cashflow projections so you know how much money needs to be in the bank and when to pay the bills.
4. Ensuring Pricing of Goods and Services is Right
This is also the perfect time to review the revenue side of the business. Look at the pricing of your goods or services and see if any changes need to be made over the next financial year. Are you competitive with your prices compared to your competitors? Does CPI increases need to be factored in? Are your prices positioning you in the market where you want to be?
No matter how hard a business tries, if it has increasing costs and is not able to increase price, then no amount of increased sales will lead to increase profitability – in fact, the business maybe simply increasing its loss. For more information on this topic, refer my previous Blog – Increase Price –v- Increase Sales – what to think about.
Call the Balanix Team (3264 4783) today – we can help!
