Bookkeeping tasks to complete in January

January is a great time to review your bookkeeping processes and get your business’ finances organised for the new year.

For many businesses, January is a quiet time of year that is best used to review performance and processes and plan and prepare for the year ahead.

Complete the following bookkeeping tasks in January to make looking after your business’ books simple in 2020.

Make sure everything is up to date

Start the new year as you mean to go on by ensuring that your business is up to date with all payments to suppliers and ensure that any late payments owed to you have been chased so that you’re starting the year with a clean slate.

Review your bookkeeping software

The right software can help make bookkeeping tasks quick and simple to complete whilst keeping all your business’ important information organised and secure.

Bookkeeping software can also automate certain tasks, saving you time and reducing the risk of human error.

If you don’t yet use bookkeeping software, or are unhappy with the system you’re currently using, January is a great time to research an alternative solution. We recommend QuickBooks, Freshbooks, Sage and Xero.

Review performance

The new year is the perfect time to review your business’ performance throughout the previous year in order to create a cashflow forecast for the year ahead.

Identify where any seasonal dips and peaks occurred and create a budget to help you to manage your cashflow over the year.

Review processes

If you feel like you’re forever playing catchup with your bookkeeping or losing important information, then now is a good time to review and improve on the processes you have in place.

Get organised by setting reminders for submission deadlines and invoice due dates for the year ahead. Create a process to capture and store receipts electronically at the time of purchase to keep your records secure and accurate.

For further help or advice with your business’ bookkeeping and accounts in 2020, speak to our team here at Michael Bell & Co by calling us on 01484 690 730.

Plans to cut corporation tax put on hold

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that the planned cuts to corporation tax are to be put on hold.

On 1st April 2020, corporation tax was due to fall from 19% to 17%. However, in the run up to the December general election, Conservative party leader Boris Johnson has announced that this cut to corporation tax is to be put on hold to help fund “other priorities”.

Johnson has said that the money that would have been spent on the cut, will instead be put into the NHS and other national services. An article on the BBC website, however, claims that the cut would not mean any additional money being spent on the NHS, instead it would be used to fund an existing pledge to GP training.

During the speech where Johnson made the announcement, he made a plea for business leaders to understand his decision, claiming that it was the “fiscally sensible thing to do” and would allow him to put £6bn into public services.

With the general election on the horizon, it’s thought that Johnson has made the decision to distance the conservative party from their image of being a party for big businesses and the wealthy.

At the same conference, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn announced that he planned to raise corporation tax but promised that rates would be no higher than they were in 2010 when Labour were last in power.

Corbyn, who has been accused of being “anti-business”, justified his decision by saying: “It’s not anti-business to say that the largest corporations should pay their taxes just as smaller companies do.

“And it’s not anti-business to want prosperity in every part of our country – not only in the financial centres of the City of London.”

For help or advice regarding corporation tax, give our team of accountants here at Michael Bell and Co a call on 01484 690 730.