As the year draws to a close, taking stock of where you’ve got to as a business can be hard. Christmas will be here very soon, and with it comes time away from work for your staff and some well-needed downtime.
So what should you be thinking about as a business owner before the year ends? Let’s discuss.
Get ahead of your tax bill
With the self-assessment deadline fast approaching, have you made sure you’re in the right place to deal with it?
Making sure your records are up-to-date and you have all the necessary paperwork ready for the deadline will stand you in good stead to avoid any potential penalties.
If you miss the payment deadline on 31 January, HMRC will issue you a fine. Failing to file your self-assessment will automatically incur a £100 fine. After 30 days, you’ll be charged 5% of the outstanding tax amount.
If HMRC doesn’t receive your self-assessment for three months, you will be charged £10 a day for a maximum of 90 days.
These are all best avoided, and the more you’ve done, the less likely you are to encounter problems.
Do some planning
Where do you want your business to go in the future? What are your ambitions? What could be improved?
Setting aside time to plan and look at your next steps will set you up for a successful 2023. Especially if you already have a pre-existing business plan – you can update and amend this document where appropriate.
It’s a cliche, but if you don’t plan, you plan to fail. Even an hour of looking aheadwill give you so much value going forwards.
Have a Christmas party
It’s not too late to reward your staff with a Christmas do. It’s fun to celebrate the year you’ve just had, highlighting to your team that you care about their achievements and letting everyone unwind together.
If you work in hospitality, you may have to wait until next year to have your bash, as you’ll likely be too busy. But for others, even if you just take the office out for a meal, it’s a great time to make everyone feel appreciated.
You may also be eligible for a tax exemption on the costs of your party as long as it fits certain criteria from HMRC – this normally gives you a tax-free amount of £150 per head (provided you haven’t used it earlier in the year).
Take some time off
Working hard running your own business can mean spending time outside of normal working hours doing tasks you simply didn’t have time to get to. It means bringing your passion and commitment to work every single day.
This is exhausting. Trust us, we know all about working longer hours than we should. So now that Christmas is nearly here, it’s time to take some well-earned time off.
Whether that’s just spending time with your family or finding a cheap mini-break somewhere, getting away from work will only do you good in the long run.
Speak to your accountant
If you’re unsure what you could be doing better or what the business landscape will look like in 2023, that’s where we come in.
We love talking to you about what you’ve got going on, and it gives us a chance to flex our insight and bring real value to your operations. Especially when we’re business owners ourselves.
To talk about planning, your business, your goals, or just to find out what you need to do to be ready for the self-assessment deadline, get in touch with us today.
