December is probably the second most popular trading year end for businesses; the most popular being the 31 March.
Your end of year planning should include a review of your results – prior to your year end – so that there is an opportunity to make any advantageous changes. From our perspective, there is nothing quite so depressing as being made aware of these “opportunities” after the year end date has passed and when there is no way to incorporate possible tax saving strategies.
For traders with a December year end, a good time to do this is from October 2019, when the results for the nine months to 30 September are available.
Apart from your management accounts we could also discuss the following matters and if any investment be considered before or after your year end:
- Are you contemplating the purchase of new equipment or vehicles?
- Are you considering significant repairs or improvements to plant or buildings?
- Could you write off or consider a sale of redundant stock?
- We could estimate your business taxes based on trading for the current year and plan for savings to fund the future payment.
- If you have made trading losses are there opportunities to set off these losses against past profits and recover tax to aid cash flow?
With all the uncertainties that the exit form the EU has caused in the past two years there has never been a more opportune time to invest in planning. Business fitness could be the key issue for 2020 and beyond.
Accordingly, if we have not already organised a review, and your trading year end is imminent, please call so that we can discuss your options.