Tax season can be a source of stress for both company directors and accountants. To avoid late-filing penalties, or even the risk of a tax audit, it's vital that all documents are filed on time. This is the time to bring together every item of evidence, check every transaction and take stock of debts and receivables - in other words, to provide a true and fair view of the company's assets and liabilities. There are several ways to get through this ordeal. Here are three tips to help you get through the 2023 financial year.
Anticipate
Whether you entrust the task of closing the accounts to the company's own accountant or outsource it to an accounting firm, the best way to meet deadlines and avoid being overwhelmed is to think ahead.
- Day-to-day bookkeeping is obviously the ideal solution. Not only does it give you greater control over day-to-day management, it also allows you to deal with problems as they arise (invoicing errors, lost documents, unpaid bills...). Keeping a constant eye on your accounting situation avoids many bad decisions, such as over-investing in relation to available cash, or failing to follow up a dubious customer who ends up uncollectible.
- Make regular appointments with your chartered accountant, who is the most competent person to find out which documents you need to provide. This will make it easier to prepare them, rather than searching for them at the last minute. Throughout the year, the chartered accountant is able to detect and correct accounting anomalies. A good relationship with a chartered accountant can only be beneficial.
Getting organized
When the end of the fiscal year approaches, as early as autumn, it's a good idea to draw up a list of things to do, and carry them out chronologically. Obviously, some tasks can't be done until last, but there are many others that can be scheduled in advance.
A company director is often caught in a bind. Constantly on the lookout for new opportunities to keep their business running smoothly, they tend to leave the administrative side to one side. However, if you want to approach the year-end accounting period with complete peace of mind, it's essential to devote yourself to your accounting in good time, delegating certain tasks to your colleagues whenever possible.
Cost accounting is more in line with information needs, and therefore more useful to managers. On the other hand, interest in cost accounting should not take precedence over more time-consuming tasks such as accounting entry or document retrieval.
Going digital
In particular, it has been proven that the digitization of supporting documents avoids errors and saves time. Thanks to new technologies, time-consuming tasks such as entering invoices can be automated. In this area, online accounts offer a wide range of tools: management of expense claims, control of supplier payments and expenses, dematerialization of accounting documents...
There are many advantages to modernization:
- reduced costs,
- fewer errors,
- improved part traceability,
- time saving,
- increased productivity,
- improved working conditions.