Now you are finished with 2020 – what next?
So, now that you have completed your tax return for 2019 what next?
It may be the last thing you want to do but preparing for 2020 taxes now will help make the process run a lot smoother and less stressful when it comes to filing your return in 2020.
As a busy entrepreneur, your tax return may already be a thing of the past. Here are a few tips on why you shouldn’t let that happen and what you can do now.
Set up your systems:
While there’s more than one way to organise your expense receipts and invoices, you do need some form of filing system that will help you keep everything in one place. Don’t wait until January 2021 to start organizing important 2020 documents.
A very simple system could be:
- Get 12 document folders
- label each one a different month from January to December
- get out all your invoices and receipts
- put each document into the relevant month
Having this done will make it a lot easier to pull together at the end of the year.
Engage with your accountant
Book time with your accountant, make sure they are available to do your accounts earlier in 2021. The sooner you know how well (or badly) you have done in 2020 the better for you to plan for 2021.
Monthly Management Accounting
One of the main advantages of doing your accounting monthly is that you get up todate information about your company as and when it is happening. This is vital when you are trying to move your company on to the next level. Finding out if your company has done things right 2 or 3 months after the year end can mean you have wasted the 1st quarter of 2021 doing the same things as you did in 2020. Therefore, if you made a loss in 2020, chances are you will make a loss in Q1 2021. So it makes sense to do your accounts monthly.
Create a budget and forecast for 2021
You are 42% more like to achieve your goals if you write them down, this increases to 65% if you attach numbers to them. Knowing whether you have achieved what you set out to achieve helps you redefine what is working and what is not working in your business.
Getting your 2020 taxes done as soon as possible finishes off the year properly and lets you focus on the achieving your goals.
Not sure of your next steps? Contact me here for a FREE 15 chat, where I will help you map out your next steps.
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