Here’s our top 5 tips to get ready for the summer holidays. Taking these points into consideration will help you and your business get some well deserved time off

Tip #1 – Make sure you’re financially secure heading towards Christmas

December can be an expensive month. Christmas gifts, events (although maybe not as many this year), bonuses, and for many businesses, a period of closure over the holidays. December is not only an especially expensive month, but it’s a month with less business days. This can create a tricky dynamic between bills and income, which takes a bit of strategy and knowhow to manage. Make sure you have enough cash to cover any unexpected bills and to keep the business comfortably ticking over during the holidays.

Tip #2 – Get your Roster and Pay organised

Having your roster and pay sorted for the period over Christmas is vital. Load wages before you go on your break so you don’t forget, and make sure you know if there are are 3 or 5 payrun periods between now and the 20th February because that’s when you’ll have collected all the money for these often light billing months.

Tip #3 – Get your Tax sorted

There are a number of important Tax dates in early January, and it’s best to be aware of those before the Christmas break so you can plan your finances accordingly. The January tax dates are below:

  • Jan 15th – GST return & payment due (for period ending November 30th)
  • Jan 15th – Provisional tax for March balance dates
  • Jan 20th – Quarterly FBT return and payment due
  • Jan 28th – GST return & payment due (for period ending December 31st)

If you can get the payment for these dates sorted before Christmas, it means when you return to work in January you can focus on catching on missed time instead of worrying about sorting Tax.

Tip #4 – Send your invoices out on time

This year is unique. Because of Covid-19 and the traffic light alert system, it’s likely there won’t be as many end of year events as usual. Fewer big gatherings mean most of us will have a bit more time at our desks this December, which provides a unique opportunity to get a full month’s work out of December and properly get on top of things. Pick and choose your networking and marketing this month, and utilise this extra time to build a list of who your key relationships will be next year.

Tip #5 – Collect as much money as you can before Christmas

Collecting as much money as possible before Christmas is a great way to head into the holidays in a strong financial position. Following up on unpaid invoices and sending out December invoices promptly is a good way to make sure you get a solid influx of money before you head away on holiday.

We hope this article has been useful, next year we’ll be sharing something similar to help you kickstart 2022! If you need our help or want to discuss any of these point further, book in a meeting here. We’d love to get together for a no cost catch-up and discuss how we can help reduce your stress levels at this busy time of year.