Why you should STILL file your accounts on time…
As mentioned previously, Companies House has announced that companies can apply for a three month extension to accounts filing deadlines.
Ordinarily accounts need to be filed at Companies House nine months after the company year end. This year though, we all know things aren’t anywhere close to normal!
Whilst we can see that this may be helpful for some businesses, we would recommend that you consider the exact opposite!
Prompt preparation of your accounts will enable you to see exactly where your business is.
Even if you don’t need funding now, there’s a chance that you may later. If your most recent accounts are available, lenders can see them and know where you were heading before Coronavirus hit. You become a far more credible applicant if you are up to date and prepared.
It will enable us to help you see where improvements could be made to efficiency and cash flow.
Coming out of Lockdown in the best position possible, and ready to get your business back on track will mean that you need to be prepared. Any inefficiencies will hold you back, and cash will be absolutely key. When preparing the accounts, it’s easier for us to see into the workings of your business and help you look at ways to put yourself in the best position possible for the future.
Get an early indicator of any tax to be paid.
As I mentioned above, a tax payment could make a dent in your cash balance, so getting early warning of any tax amount will be a really smart thing to do. At the moment it’s possible to make a Time to Pay arrangement with HMRC fairly easily, but it’s only going to delay any liability rather than clear it. You will still need to pay it eventually, along with any deferred VAT or personal tax, so it’s important to have a clear idea of your liabilities as early as possible so you can plan to clear them.
Get them out of the way!
Even taking account of all of the above, you may not feel that there is any benefit to getting your accounts prepared sooner rather than later. However, if your accounts are done before the end of any lockdown period, you can concentrate fully on getting the business back on track once we get back to normal.
It’s a really good idea to minimise all your distractions for the first months that we’re back to ‘normal’.
We can’t cope with a huge flood of work…
As an intentionally small firm, if all of our clients leave their accounts until the three month extension, we won’t be able to cope! We won’t be able to give you the advice and guidance that you deserve, as we’ll crunching the numbers to hit your statutory deadlines. Your accounts should be SO much more than a tick in a box, so get the information to us sooner rather than later and we can give you the value that will help you the most.
If you’d like to discuss any of the above, the filing deadline that’s applicable to you, OR whether you should apply for an extension to your filing deadline, do get in touch. For some people it could be a good move!
Business Updates
We send regular updates that keep clients aware of changes and suggestions on a wide range of subjects; if you’d like to receive those too, just add your details below and we’ll do the rest! We promise not to bombard you and you can unsubscribe at any time.
