11 tips to improve the management of your end of year finances

As we are approaching the end of the financial year and for me 6 years in business (!), I thought I would share our financial checklist to hopefully alleviate any undue stress and last-minute requests for information. This checklist will also give you a good start as you move into your next financial year.

Whether you are sole trader, a startup or running a multiple million-pound empire, solid financial management is a must to run be profitable and sustainable business.

The End of Year Financial Checklist

1. Assign a cut-off date to ensure costs that the business incurred before year end get tax relief assigned within the right year.

2. Ensure all invoices are raised for work carried out this year.

3. Ensure your bank reconciliations are up to date aligned to your bookkeeping entries. This includes ensuring your booking keeping codes are consistent and descriptions of your bills and services are accurate and throughout.

4. If your payroll end of year is aligned to your business end of year, this is the time to prepare or to expect your P60s to be prepared.

5. Book an end of year meeting with your accountant and financial leads to help you financially plan for the year ahead and to better understand position over the last year.

6. Once you have had your end of year finance meeting, write out your financial goals, planned expenditure and debt repayments for this new financial year.

7. Review all subscriptions and sense check whether you are still fully utilising these services.

8. If you are changing your pricing structure, this is the time to communicate this to your clients and update financial literature. Factor in national cost of living and tax increases.

9. Ensure all tax return information is correct, signed and submitted.

10. Schedule personal and company tax payments to ensure these are paid on time.

11. Archive any information and make sure this is clearly organised and labelled.

If you are in doubt about any of the terms I am using, please seek advice from your accountant!

If development and growth are your goals over the next year, I can help you with developing the right systems and processes that will remove unproductive, non-revenue generating tasks, freeing up your time to do the job you do best and support your teams. I work with busy Clinical Directors and Network Managers who require support in the development of their Primary Care Networks as well as in a business consulting, 1-2-1 capacity. To understand how I can support you schedule a call with me.

Tara has an MBA in Healthcare Leadership and Management, is published in the London Journal of Primary Care and hosts The Business of Healthcare Podcast.

Tara has written blogs for the NHS Confederation, appeared on the General Practice Podcast and the You are Not a Frog Podcast with Dr Rachel Morris.

Tara has 3 children. Her youngest has Type 1 Diabetes and her middle child has the kidney condition, Nephrotic Syndrome. Working with healthcare professionals is not just a job for her, it's part of everyday life. And as a result, she has developed a huge passion for helping others to deliver excellent care.

Find out more about THC Primary Care and follow me on Twitter.