The importance of taking a proactive approach to accounting

Accredited Supplier, Sones Accountancy Services shows how taking a proactive approach to your accounting can lead to stress-free tax return filings.

Each year an impending tax return deadline can bring a lot of stress and worry to a landscape gardening business owner, especially if left until the last minute. Tax returns can be prepared and submitted only when the bookkeeping is up to date.  Is yours? Do you know how much tax you will need to pay?  Do you have enough cash in the bank to pay the tax as well as everything else? How would you like to be free of the stress of tax returns? 

As a landscape gardening business owner, you take a proactive approach in so many areas of your business. Getting leads and converting sales, sourcing the best price and quality materials, and finding staff that are up to scratch. So why not take the same approach with your business finances?

Imagine if your bookkeeping was completed online and kept up to date on a weekly basis so you can see how much profit you are making and calculate how much to set aside in tax.  In the future, when the year-end comes around, there will be no need to hunt for invoices and receipts to reclaim your expenses (some of which will be lost inevitably).

Tax returns can be completed easily when the bookkeeping is online and up to date and tax has been set aside in small monthly increments throughout the year. You could go one step further before your accounting year finishes and assess your online reports to see how much profit you’ve made. If your business has made a profit, you could think about using some of the profit to reinvest in your business which would help to reduce the tax bill.

As a landscape gardening business owner, you’re not expected to know how to do your ‘books’ and calculate your taxes. You must play to your strengths and that means building a strong reliable team around you, and not just on the tools. Bookkeeping and accounts are a very important part of your business, especially if you want to grow and scale. It is imperative that you know your numbers each month so you can make important decisions on the direction of your business.

Landscape gardening business owners, especially when starting out, think bookkeeping is a luxury they can’t afford. Until your books are up to date, you can’t tell if the business is making a profit or going to run out of cash. A good bookkeeper will be able to advise you on how much profit the business is making and how healthy the cashflow is, both of which are equally important. So, can your business afford not to have a bookkeeper?