The budget landing: how to anticipate the 2021 accounting close?

Every year, company directors have to close out their financial year. The budgetary landing allows them to update their forecasts and objectives for the following year, based on the results of the year just ended. Why and how can we anticipate this landing in 2021 to prepare for 2022?

Cash flow: anticipate to make the right choices

As we approach the end of 2021, anticipating the closing of the accounts is an opportunity to question the relevance of applying for financing or authorizing debt deferral. All companies that have not yet taken out a state-guaranteed loan (SGP), as well as those that have benefited from a partial SGP, have until the end of June 2022 to apply.

" All companies that had prospects before the health crisis must take full advantage of the recovery," explained Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy and Finance, to justify his decision to extend the state-guaranteed loan scheme.

The landing of the 2021 accounts should also enable companies to take stock of the situation with the various authorities regarding the possible spreading of tax debts and deferrals of social security charges.

Better management of the 2022 budget

Anticipating the 2021 financial year will also enable companies to better manage the 2022 budget. While good management is always essential to a company's growth, whatever the context, it will be particularly important in 2022, at the height of the economic recovery.

Indeed, while the country has not yet returned to the same level of economic activity as before the health crisis, companies will have to cope with the disappearance of a number of public subsidies. What's more, soaring raw material prices and the expected rise in wages in an inflationary context will require very precise management.

The possible payment of an exceptional purchasing power bonus

Companies anticipating the end of the 2021 financial year will be able to decide whether or not to pay an exceptional purchasing power bonus to their employees, depending on results and forecasts.

This decision must be taken quickly enough for the company and its employees to benefit from the exemption from income tax, social security contributions and employee and employer contributions. This bonus is not included in the resources taken into account when calculating the amount of the disabled adult allowance or the activity bonus.

For this to happen, the exceptional purchasing power bonus must be paid by the company to its employees before March 31, 2022, hence the importance of anticipating the landing of the accounts in order to make an early decision.

Use the right tools

To prepare for the accounting landfall of 2021, it is essential that companies equip themselves with suitable, high-performance tools. Many companies use Excel as a management and reporting tool, but this is not the ideal solution, given the sheer volume of information to be processed. Certain tools offer greater flexibility, while facilitating data processing.

ERP ("Enterprise Resource Planning") systems, connected to a single database, are far more powerful and adapted to company management than Excel ever could be. Whether for human resources, accounting or purchasing, all data is automatically cross-referenced, making it much easier to calculate budget forecasts.