1 – YOUR BUSINESS TIP
Once again we’ve heard about how busy January is for Accountants in the UK.
Once again I’m amazed by why so many seem to be working to the calendar (and deadlines) of HMRC AND not managing their own timetable to suit them, their business and their financials in a far more effective way.
All tax returns have to be in by the end of January.
So it seems the large majority of accountants take that as their deadline and pass this on to clients. (Big shout out to those accountants who DO work to educate their clients and who work to their own timetable so they have a relatively good experience of January each year!)
Then clients are operating on a ‘last minute.com’ alert and trying to get everything organised and sorted in the end of year mad ‘panic’.
And there’s just no need for any of that stress.
It can be totally different, stress free AND work to YOUR ADVANTAGE.
Solution:
Here’s how. And it’s really simple. We even have a simple one-page tool to help you do it for yourself.
First – look at the tax year ends. Let’s focus on the personal tax one that creates a load of stress for accountants and individuals. Unnecessarily.
So the UK tax year STARTS on 6th April and ENDS on 5th April the following year.
So – the first key date is 5th APRIL which is the last day to be included in the tax year. eg 5th April 2022.
Then – the sensible thing to do is to count forward (say 3 months) to the date when you believe you’ll be able to complete your tax return. So let’s allow 3 months, add a bit on for delays getting figures for certain things.
Now you’ve arrived at a date that might be something like mid-end of JULY.
THAT’S YOUR IDEAL TIME TO START GETTING YOUR FIGURES TOGETHER.
You’ve still got 6 months to:
- finalise them
- get them all to your accountant
- in plenty of time for them to do their calculations
- and STILL have plenty of time to discuss findings
- and take your accountant’s advice
- and STILL have months before they officially need to be submitted to meet the HMRC deadline.
Yes, it’s that simple.
So why do people – especially so many professional advisers – leave it until the last minute?
Habits? Conditioning? Lack of forward planning?
I think it’s usually down to simple ‘education’.
We’ve been conditioned and educated that tax returns have to be submitted by the end of January. That does not mean ‘at’ the end of January.
So do yourself a favour, and do your accountant a huge favour.
Download your FINANCIAL CHECKLIST – check your key dates for the year and get them in Part 2 of this simple template. Then get those dates in your diary/calendar. Even if you only use Part 2 of this Checklist you’ll be winning more and stressing less.
Hey presto! Like magic YOU’RE back in the driving seat.
By the way – this works for your Corporation Tax/business financial year end too.
2 – YOUR MARKETING/LINKEDIN TIP
I have an unusual post for you.
Here it is (scroll down until you see the text in the image):
So, I think it’s pretty obvious why this post is different, right?
Now, here’s the takeaway for you.
(No, it’s not that you should turn all of your text upside-down from now on).
The takeaway is, you have to always think of ways to make your content stand out from the crowd.
It might be the colours you use in your images.
It might be the way you record a video.
Or it might be the type of hook you use in your first sentence.
But you always need to strive to stand out. Or else, your content will only get lost in a sea of posts.
Solution:
One of our most difficult things when it comes to posting regularly on LinkedIn is coming up with consistent ideas for content and what content works best for your business.
We’ve created a 32-page E-Book full of our collective knowledge on LinkedIn. What works best and what strategies will get you more leads from LinkedIn.
Want a copy? Click here: resources.90dayplanning.co.uk/Content-Secrets