Why you should keep your accounts up to date in the December holidays
With the December holidays coming up, businesses around South Africa are swiftly preparing for a well-deserved break after setting back into a sense of normalcy this year.
Due to the shorter month, as well as year end deadlines looming, December processing can often take a seat on the back burner. However, the need for real time processing and document maintenance is ever important. Below we explore a few reasons why your accounting record keeping should be at the forefront during this December period:
- Adequate document maintenance allows businesses to have a true reflection of their financial position by remaining up to date. This also ensures that supplier and other statutory payments are initiated before doors are closed for the festive period, thus adhering to any credit terms.
- Keeping tabs with suppliers on outstanding invoices will ensure that no documents are amiss. By uploading documents to the cloud as and when they are received, this will also ensure that no hardcopy documents are misfiled or misplaced during this busy period.
- With 2022 in full view, cash flow forecasting is a key area that allows businesses to adequately prepare for the future. These important financial decisions can only be forecast accurately if the financial affairs of the business are up to date.
- Over and above this, document maintenance and timely processing allows businesses to ensure that their tax obligations are adhered to and that SARS deadlines are met. This will also ensure that expense claims are maximised for submission of VAT returns.
- As the hustle and bustle picks up again in January, it can often get very busy, very fast. Timely receipt of December invoices will streamline accounting processes into the new year.
- With many South African businesses preparing for the financial year end either in December or February of each year, any backlogs from December can filter through into the new year and possibly affect the readiness of accounts for financial reporting purposes.
- If you’re looking to secure credit terms with a new supplier or to secure lower interest rates on a new lending facility, timely Management Accounts or Annual Financial Statements are one of the first items that will be requested. Getting this done is made easy with real-time processing.
With the above points highlighted, it is evidently imperative to keep your December accounts up to date to provide you with peace of mind that your financial affairs are well taken care of. If you are looking for accounting assistance and would like to sit back and relax during your December holidays, get in touch with us.
