Year-End Preparation Kit
We are entering the final days of the 2012
financial year and there are a number of key areas where careful consideration
and planning can assist in managing year-end tax obligations and providing
you with information, checklists and tips you need to start the new financial
year in the best possible shape. Now is an opportunity for business owners to review
the current financial year and proactively approach the next.
Those who take
action now to review their systems, processes and software are more prepared to
hit the ground running on 1 July, placing their business ahead of its
competition.
1.
EOFY Tips and Information
2. Payroll Year-End
Checklist
3. EOFY Checklist
1.
EOFY
Tips & Information
· Keep you financial records up to date. Identifying
errors is much easier over a short time period than after 12 months’ time has
passed, so perhaps review your books every week or month rather than every
quarter. Mistakes can be picked up sooner, potentially saving you money in the
long term.
If you don’t have the time to do this and would rather invest time in working on your business rather than in your business, hire a professional
bookkeeper. This
ensures less stress and time to prepare your accounts, reducing costs of
administrative tasks that your accountant may have had to do at a higher rate. Therefore
saving you time and money.
· Timing issues. The benefits of
deferring assessable income or bringing forward deductions will depend on the
circumstances of each business and their overall anticipated tax position in
the current and future income years. The following are common deductions that
can be brought forward:
ü
Interest
ü
Bonuses
ü
Directors Fees
ü
Training
ü
Development
ü
FBT June quarter installment
ü
Superannuation (must be paid before 30 June not merely incurred)
Please consider your cash flow position before any expenditure is brought
forward or income deferred.
·
Write off bad debts before 30 June.
Write off any outstanding debts that are 12 months or older and/or are
considered non- recoverable. Remember to claim back any GST.
· Trading Stock.
An accurate
stock take must be undertaken at the end of the financial year. Any obsolete
or damaged stock is able to be written off.
· Plant & equipment
Review the
depreciation schedule and match to plant and equipment on hand. Account for additional
depreciation deductions or write off assets that are obsolete or have been
disposed of. This should be undertaken at the end of the financial year in
conjunction with the stock take. Consider
holding off buying business assets until the new financial year, because the
instant asset write-off increases from $1,000 to $6,500 from 1 July 2012.
· Ensure your BAS and superannuation guarantee charge statements
are lodged and paid by 28 July.
Make sure to pay your superannuation guarantee contributions for the fourth
quarter of 2012 by 28 July 2012. If you or you miss this deadline, you must
submit a Superannuation Guarantee charge statement to the ATO.
The following checklists are mainly based
on the use of MYOB software but most of these would still apply to any business.
2. Payroll
Year-End Checklist
¨ Ensure that you have entered all wages to 30 June 2012
¨ Print key payroll reports
¨ Reconcile PAYG withholdings by comparing the total payments made to the ATO
with the total PAYG figures appearing on the Payroll reports.
¨ Check that the
superannuation amounts have been paid for the 3 quarters to date and reconciles
for the year to date.
¨ Print or
prepare Payment Summaries for your employees. Before
you begin, make sure all of the employees you are preparing payment summaries
for have an address (including town and postcode) and a tax file number
recorded in their card. You will also need details of any fringe benefit
amounts and reportable superannuation amounts for your employees.
¨ Backup
¨ Start new payroll year
¨ Load payroll tax tables before you enter pays in the new year
3. EOFY Checklist
¨ Record all transactions for the current financial year up to 30 June 2012
and clear the suspense account
¨ If you have inventory, you need to do a stocktake on 30 June 2012
¨ Reconcile all bank accounts, credit cards, bank loans, barter cards.
¨ Reconcile Accounts Receivable
¨ Reconcile Accounts Payable
¨ Reconcile Inventory – write off obsolete or damaged stock
¨
Reconcile Owner/Directors Loan Accounts &
Inter Company Loans
¨
Reconcile GST Control Accounts
¨
Review Fixed Assets – new, sold, write offs
¨ Print Financial reports,
review and compare to previous year
¨ Backup and send data file to your
Accountant
¨ Enter adjusting journals
provided by your Accountant and compare final P&L and Balance Sheet to the
Accountant’s Financials
¨ Backup and store safely
¨ Start new financial year (keep
prior year data).
by Antonette, ACK Bookkeeping Services.
Nominate now to be this year’s Brisbane or Gold Coast
Young Entrepreneur of the Year. 
