Helping Your Clients Prepare For Financial Deadlines
Throughout the year there will be deadlines that your clients will need to meet for their businesses.
Obviously, the big one is the end of financial year (EOFY).
But, there are plenty of other obligations your clients will need to adhere to.
So that there isn’t a mad panic when those dates start to roll around, you can help them prepare ahead of time, making their job easier… and yours too!
Let’s explore the ways you can help your clients prepare for their various financial deadlines and obligations.
Helping Your Clients Prepare For Financial Deadlines
As a bookkeeper, there are many things you can do to help your clients. But, in return, you need them to have some input from them. These are some of the ways you can help your clients prepare for all the financial deadlines they will need to meet:
Record Keeping
The key to accurate financial records is good record keeping. When your clients have up-to-date and accurate records, they’ll have all the info they require on hand for financial reporting and necessary submissions to Inland Revenue.
The easiest way to maintain those records is through an accounting system like Xero or MYOB. This makes their job (and your job) easier! Having a central system to track income, expenses, invoices, receipts, payroll and other financial information will streamline the process of submitting various financial returns - like tax, GST and payroll.
How you can help
- Set them up: Work with your clients to establish a reliable and efficient record keeping system. Likely, it will include getting them set up in Xero, MYOB or similar and ensuring they have a good chart of accounts and standardised procedures for documenting the finances of their business.
- Give guidance: Let your clients know what you need from them to keep their records accurate and up to date. Decide who is going to complete which task so that nothing gets missed.
- Reconciliation: Regular reconciliation ensures your clients will always have accurate records, and that the correct financial position of the business is reflected. Reconciling can include bank accounts, credit card statements, and other financial platforms like PayPal or Stripe. By taking this job on regularly, it makes it easy to spot and remedy any discrepancies before they become an issue and whilst it is fresh in everyone’s memories.
- Regular Reviews: Conduct regular reviews of each of your client's records to ensure they are accurate and complete. You’ll also want to schedule check-ins with them to go over their financial statements, chat about the info those statements present, along with providing feedback and gaining clarity on any queries.
Calendar Management
Meeting financial goals and deadlines relies heavily on having good calendar management. There are a lot of important deadlines dotted throughout the year - tax due dates, GST returns, and payroll schedules all need to be submitted correctly and on time. Then, there needs to be available funds to cover the necessary payments.
How you can help
- Identify the dates: Identify and highlight the important financial dates that are relevant to your client’s business. Then, add them to a customised calendar, tailored specifically for each client. Share that calendar between you both so that you can collaborate where needed and stay up to date on upcoming deadlines.
- Reminders: Creating a reminder system can ensure nothing slips through the cracks. Automated reminders can let you and your clients know about upcoming deadlines so that the necessary information can be available in the right timeframe.
- Planning: Identify critical deadlines and help your clients prioritise time and resources so those deadlines are always met. Being proactive and planning ahead can reduce stress and pressure for you both and ensures everything is in order well ahead of deadlines.
Regular Reporting
As you know, financial reports can tell a lot about how a business is truly operating. By running key reports regularly, you’ll be giving your clients accurate insights into their business performance and helping them to make informed decisions.
How you can help
- Define key metrics and reports: Work with your clients to understand which reports would be most helpful for them and if you need to, customise the reporting for them.
- Choose a frequency: Determine how often you will provide the reports. The frequency should be practical for you to manage while still meeting the needs of your clients. Usually monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly or annually work well.
- Assist with interpretation: Reports contain lots of helpful data, but it can only be helpful to your clients if they understand that data! Help them to interpret and understand the reports so that they can gain insight into their business performance. Good things to track are such things as key performance indicators (KPI’s), trends and variances to help develop your clients business.
- Forecast and Budget: Take the reporting one step further by using the data to create forecasts and budgets for your clients. Support them to forecast their future financial performance and to develop budgets. Then, don’t forget to review the actual performance of their business against the budgeted figures. This will help them to track their progress and make corrections if needed.
Payment Planning
Meeting financial deadlines can also mean payment obligations for your clients. It’s important that your clients are prepared for these payments to avoid penalties, ensure compliance, and maintain good financial standing.
How you can help
- Cash Flow Management: Having the right amount of money in the right account at the right time of the month is crucial for meeting those payment obligations. You can help your clients achieve this by developing a robust cash flow management plan. By forecasting incomings and outgoings, you can work towards having the funds available to make the payments by the necessary due dates. It is also prudent to help your clients create an emergency fund to draw on if cash flow falters.
- Tax Planning: Tax planning and strategies that you can offer will help your clients to optimise their tax position and effectively manage their tax liabilities. Also, help them to factor in how their tax obligations might impact their cash flow by developing a plan to meet those payments, or to potentially consider a payment arrangement plan.
- Payment Reminders: Those financial obligations can sometimes roll around quicker than your clients would like! Providing them with helpful reminders can prevent them from being caught short and avoid missing important deadlines. Remind them also that there are a range of payment options available so they can use the one that is most convenient for them.
Working With Your Clients
When it comes to financial deadlines, there are so many ways you can help your clients. Many of the resources available at ICNZB can assist you in providing excellent support to your clients.
Check out the resources available on our website now, or where you can join a local ICNZB meeting.
If you aren’t a member yet, there are plenty of benefits for your business and lots of opportunities for personal development available when you do join. As a respected organisation here in New Zealand, membership to the ICNZB can drive your bookkeeping business forward and offer a great avenue for support and camaraderie.
Find out more about joining the ICNZB Team HERE.