 Although the new financial year is upon us we still need to time to look backwards for a little while yet to see what we can learn from the year just ended as well as getting depressed by working out how much tax we have to pay, either because it’s too much or too little which, as someone has reminded me recently, can often be worse!
To do so, you firstly need to carry out an initial assessment of the year (see my Blog Post on Simple Planning for the Year Ahead) and secondly, to get your records to your accountant. Firstly, there are a couple of general principles to think about:
If you supply incomplete information it will only delay the process and in the longer term, will cost you more. Are there missing bank or credit card statements, no loan or HP documentation, no details of use of home expenses or inventory valuations? If in doubt ask your accountant for a list of what is required specific to your circumstances, or better still, ask him or her to visit you to collect what is required.
It’s no good thinking that because there’s a year to submit the figures, you can delay the inevitable accountant’s bill by going to ground or filing it in the too hard basket. Leaving things to the last minute means there’s no time to obtain missing information, ponder on tricky issues or doing things in a rush which is always a mistake as then things get missed.
What you will actually need to take to your accountant will vary, but generally we’re talking about the following:
- Use of home as office costs (even if you have business premises)
- Vehicle log book or business kms travelled
- RWT certificates for interest bearing accounts
- Any new assets acquired or any sold or scrapped
- If you haven’t got accounting software or software with a general ledger, accounts receivable and payable, inventory and work-in-progress records, and all your bank and savings accounts statements.
- If you do have accounting software and you reconcile all your bank accounts, just a copy of the closing statements will normally do
- A back-up of your accounting software
- Details of any obsolete inventory or slow moving items worth less than cost
- PAYE, FBT, RWT, and GST returns and workings
- A list of any assets, equipment or tools introduced into the business
- Loan and HP account statements and/or documentation
- Any business expenses paid privately
- Any sales banked privately
- Copies of invoices for asset additions or disposals, ACC, legal fees, and insurance
- Details of personal interest and dividends received or any other investment income
If in doubt ask, but whatever you do, do it properly and don’t leave it too long!
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