5 Ways to Start the Financial Year Right
The month of April marks the beginning of a new financial year (FY) for many businesses, making it the perfect time to check on the health of your business and plan for the year ahead. If your accounts are in a mess, fret not – it’s never too late to get your records and budgets back on track.
Here are a few simple steps that are going to make all the difference as you proceed:
Start by reviewing your business plan
The end of a financial year is a good time to look at the bigger picture – this is the time to examine your business plan and do adequate research on the market and your competitors. One good practice to carry out is a SWOT analysis.
Once a strategy for the new FY becomes clear, take a look at the specific targets you’ve set for the business over the last year and establish equally specific ones to meet in the next 12 months. It is important to create quantifiable goals, such as increasing sales by 10%, decreasing media budget by 5% or investing in a different region.
Start staying on top of your finances
If your business isn’t making a profit, it is important to find out why. Take a look at your company’s financial statements over the past year and try obtaining insight towards how you can spend or save better. Figure out what strategies worked last year and try to weed out the ones that did not.
An in-depth analysis of your balance sheet, income, and cash flow statements could benefit your business in the year ahead. Identify trends and making strategic forecasts will also help you dole out changes to your business plan in a timely manner.
Start meeting your accountant
If you have not been meeting up with your accountant on a regular basis, it’s high time you do so. An accountant’s job scope is not limited to filing tax returns, they also provide valuable consultation in order to avoid crucial financial missteps, such as poor tax decisions and disorganised cash flow processes. This is especially so for small businesses.
Don’t have an accountant? Think about how one could benefit your business in the upcoming year – they might just be of invaluable help if it means you no longer have to bear the burden of ensuring payments are accurate or keeping your accounts in check.
Start implementing cost-saving measures
We previously talked about the various ways to save when it comes to running a business. As you spend this time auditing the past year’s worth of financial statements, flag up missed opportunities to cut back on costs, then address them accordingly.
For instance, find out if you can cut back on costs by shipping products in bulk, negotiate with long-term suppliers for cheaper pricing, or perhaps offer members of staff non-monetary incentives such as more vacation days.
Start thinking about upgrades
In addition to enhancing productivity in the workplace, technology has also made various processes and systems more cost-efficient. Having taken a long, hard look at your company’s performance over the past year, now is also a good time to think about hardware or software upgrades that might help save cost in the upcoming year.
Investing in technological upgrades can save you time and manpower. Many businesses these days have moved their IT processes to a cloud, reducing the time and hours required to maintain the infrastructure and generating cost savings in the process. You can also save on the operational costs of servicing of office equipment – by choosing the right partner, you not only invest in a history of reliability, but also ensure your business is cost-efficient.
Reviewing your business plan and financial processes are crucial to improve and set your business up for a more profitable year ahead. Adhering to these simple tips will surely give you a strong start to the new FY.
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