Preparing your End of Financial Year (EOFY) information often feels stressful—there are receipts to sort out and reports to review, and you need to make sure you have all the necessary information about your income and expenses. It can be overwhelming, and it can make the EOFY feel daunting. Read the tips for end of financial year below to know more.
The end of the financial year isn’t just a time to collect receipts and find invoices, however. It’s also a time to reflect on how your past year went, what went well and what didn’t, and what you can change for next year.
Here are 3 tips for end of financial year.
1. Consider redoing your files
One of the most overwhelming parts of the end of the financial year is finding all the invoices, receipts and reports you need so you can properly file your taxes. Pay attention to how easy it was—or wasn’t—to find what you needed his past year.
Did you have to search 15 different places for all your receipts? Did you have a combination of online and physical invoices? Did you have clearly labelled folders for everything? Did you leave everything for the last minute?
If you found yourself searching high and low for every piece of paper you needed, you might want to consider revising your paperwork so it’s easier and less time consuming to manage.
Can you keep track of everything through software and apps? Is there technology or equipment that can help you? Is it worth investing in new systems?
The effort you put now into sorting your paperwork and developing your systems will pay off hugely every year when you can quickly and easily find all the information you need. Let’s face it, you’ll come up against the end of the financial year every year so you may as well be systematic about it.
2. Reflect on your year
The end of the financial year is a perfect time to reflect on how the past year went. Celebrate the big successes, but remember to focus on other victories as well. Even if you didn’t meet your financial targets, did you survive a particularly tough year? Did you manage to pivot your business and try a new model? Did you take some risks and learn from them? Did you grow your business or expand your offerings?
It’s great to have goals for each year and celebrate when you achieve them, but it’s also important to look at where things didn’t go according to plan and how you grew from those situations. You may need to refine your business plan if you’re not meeting your financial targets, or rethink how you arrive at your goals in the first place.
Do this before you start planning the year ahead, so you can revise your strategies going forward.
3. Plan for the future
Now that you’ve reflected on what went well and what went sideways last year, you can better plan for the coming year. Research upcoming events and schedule your marketing calendar. Plan ahead to address slow times or busy periods. If you didn’t meet your financial targets last year, either change how you set your goals or your strategies for achieving them.
Final thoughts
Although the end of the financial year can feel stressful, it’s also a fantastic time to reflect on the past year, celebrate your achievements, and don’t beat yourself up for things that didn’t quite go to plan! You can take the time to plan ahead and incorporate the lessons you learned from the past year to make the upcoming year your most successful yet.
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