29th May, 2023
No one ever really enjoys having to handle all the tasks that come due at the end of the financial year (EOFY)
And when you’re a busy entrepreneur, it’s hard to find time and head-space to allocate to tax items.
However, even if you’re filled with dread at the prospect of another EOFY, you can take steps to make it a lot less stressful.
Here are some handy hints to help you stress less about EOFY.
Firstly, you’ll save yourself a stack of time, energy, and stress if you keep your business expenses separate from your personal ones.
When asked about the most common aspects that people end up tearing their hair out over, Belinda Spence, Senior Tax Manager at MYOB, says it’s the commingling of personal and business expenses.
“It’s not uncommon for small businesses, when starting out, to use personal and business funds interchangeably,” she says. “Unfortunately, this can cause many challenges at tax time.”
If you’re a sole trader, you may want to give yourself a break by setting up an additional personal account to use for all business comings and goings.
Creating a specific business account is essential for partnerships, companies, and other structures (including sole traders in many instances).
For both options, you can get a card attached to the account, whether debit, credit, or both, that you can use to keep a record of all your spending, along with online direct debits, payments, BPAY transactions, and the like.
Blast away end of financial year anxiety with our free guide
By making this change, it will be much easier to tell exactly how many tax-deductible transactions you’ve made and which income to attribute to the venture.
Plus, you know you’ll have a digital record of all transactions that don’t involve cash and less stress about keeping papers, in turn.
Once you have a specific account set up for your business, you can turn to online accounting tools to help you organise and streamline your records.
These days, there are multiple software programs you can choose from that take a lot of the headache out of handling business accounts.
Spence says, “MYOB’s platform can take the stress out of the end of the financial year by reducing the manual effort involved in getting your records in order and tracking your financial data in one central location. No more complex spreadsheets needed!”
This product is an all-in-one solution that makes it easier to send customers quotes and invoices and automate payment reminders.
In turn, you not only convert more enquiries to sales, but will find it easier to calculate accounts receivable information.
Plus, you may have GST and BAS elements to consider.
If so, the software can tally relevant GST information and simplify reporting at tax time.
If you use a bookkeeper or accountant to help you complete your business tax return, keeping them in the loop is essential.
The last thing you need is an external person getting confused or errors arising because they’re seeing outdated information.
Spence notes, “MYOB account holders can add their accountant or other consultants to their MYOB account so they can access key financial and tax data in real-time, which reduces the need to send files manually.”
We hear about hacker attacks on businesses, individuals, and organisations regularly these days.
With MYOB’s software, you can be rest assured that your company data is kept safe from cybercriminals.
The company uses encrypted channels for all communications, adheres to industry best practices and risk management standards.
Plus, you can choose who can log in to your MYOB account, limiting potential security risks from within your team.
MYOB is your business partner at tax time and throughout the year and can be trialled for free for new customers. Let us help you stress less this EOFY and beyond.
This article first appeared via SmartCompany.