It has become something of a time-honoured tradition for accountants to face mounting levels of pressure and stress as the end of a financial year approaches. As they have to cope with a flood of activity - accounts to sign off, paperwork to complete and reports to collate.
But this is one accounting tradition that has passed its sell-by-date. While a certain amount of stress goes with the territory for any financial professional, this way of working is outdated and inefficient.
By placing unnecessary strains on a company structure, it’s liable to expose any underlying problems or weaknesses. And the worst possible time to discover any problems is when a deadline is looming.
With proper use of technology and a move to smarter management systems, there’s no longer a need to cope with this annual spike of workload. By helps to minimise stress, reduce errors and improve organisational efficiency.
Here’s a look at some of the ways your business can remove its reliance on this traditional end-of-year rush:
Be prepared
While it’s the end of the financial year which finance teams tend to fixate on, what’s more important is what’s done at the start of the year. It’s the preparations that are made for the 12 months ahead - scheduling regular tasks rather than leaving it to those final weeks of the tax year.
A plan should be created which sets out all of the important HMRC milestones that need to be met, with corresponding internal deadlines to ensure reporting requirements are met.
Better technology
The start of a financial year is also the time to review the systems and tools your finance team are using. Any paper-based and manual processes can now be replaced with faster and more efficient digital alternatives.
A prime example is the way that a digital system improves the efficiency of managing employee expenses - reducing the time spent on admin. It will also automatically generate the kind of detailed information required by the tax authorities.
Real-time reporting
A major advantage of digital ways of working is the ability to work in ‘real-time’. Information is instantly accessible with no time lag created while information is manually processed and collated.
It allows accounts and reports to be regularly updated as part of a weekly or monthly schedule. By doing so, it smooths out the workload and removes the need for such a year-end rush to retrospectively catch up.
Expert advice
One of the problems caused end of financial year stresses is the risk of mistakes being made, especially with tasks involving the complexities of the tax system. With a deadline approaching, there’s a tendency to struggle on and hope for the best when problems arise.
With a more structured approach, there is the time to make much better use of the rich source of financial information and advice that’s now available online.
So if your finance team is starting to feel those familiar stresses and strains as the end of the tax year, it could be time to review your approach. It’s always going to be a busy time of year for finance professionals, but with proper planning and the right tools there’s no need for it to be painful.
Bernard Crumlish is finance manager at webexpenses