How to get your business ready for tax year-end

As another financial year wraps up, it’s time to take stock and claim back what was spent. To help your business get primed and prepped for tax year end, we’re sharing some ways you and your team are ahead of the jump.

Managing a company, employee data, and payroll information can produce a lot of records to juggle and keep track of. Whether you’re just starting out or are a seasoned vet in the world of business tax, there may come a time when your team feels a little less prepared for the tax year end.

To help you stay ahead of the jump and be completely prepared for submitting your business claims, we’re sharing some expert points to stay on top of the tax year end.

While staying compliant may sound easy at first, it can be tricky – especially with changing legislation. In the recent report, Sage Payroll and HR in SA: Rising to the challenges of change, 77% of the respondents said they struggle with the complexity of payroll taxes, while 50% of the respondents said they battle to explain tax calculations to their workforce. 

This issue is more common than one would think as many businesses tend to leave upskilling and training regarding tax and legislative comprehension as an option while prioritising day-to-day business needs. But there are ways to prevent this while ensuring your business doesn’t slowdown, which include:

1OUTSOURCING external experts to handle and navigate the complexities of:

  • Keeping business records up to date,
  • Submitting tax remits,
  • Filing tax returns,
  • Processing payroll with current legislation.

By considering outsourcing these tedious data-heavy tasks, you free up your workforce to be able to focus on business needs and growth.

2KEEP your employees in the loop and trained so they can understand and assist with expense policies as well as keep time and expense reports for your tax returns. This will also help your business maintain compliance.

3CUT down on time-consuming tasks by making use of employee self-service platforms. These platforms will help with:

  • Enabling employees to track and update their personal information, sick leave, holiday requests, as well as timesheets,
  • Adaptability as these platforms are agile and primed for a remote or hybrid workforce,
  • Policy updates – these can be added to the platform to keep your team in the loop regularly,
  • Saving you valuable time and effort.

4EMBRACE automation by onboarding cloud-based systems which can assist your business with:

  • Eliminating errors from manual data entries,
  • Syncing with local legislation,
  • Keeping your business audit-ready,
  • Correctly classifying employees and contractors,
  • Ensuring on-time payments,
  • Opening a possibility to integrate it with your accounting software to further enhance accuracy and compliance.

If you’re still having trouble getting your business ready for tax year-end – contact your business accountant or enlist the help of payroll professionals and processing software. Software like Sage’s payroll processing software can help keep you and your team informed about your business's costs and expenditures and track it all with peace of mind. 

To strengthen your business, find out more about Sage products and services here.