I bet you have either started or at least thought about spring cleaning your house, your wardrobe, your garage, but have you thought about spring cleaning your office?
Well I have just been through this process and it is amazing at just how much decluttering and re-organisation I have done in very little time. Now it’s not just about throwing things out, filing or moving things around your office. It’s about completely wrapping things up from the last financial year, making sure everything is sorted for this financial year and making some plans to ensure you can have a fantastic time come summer. Over the years, I have put this task on my things to do list over the Christmas break, but really I would have much preferred to be spending this festive season relaxing and spending time with family and friends.
So here is a little inspiration to get you started so you can have a sizzling summer!
- ensure all of your tax information has been bundled up and either taken to your accountant or ready to take to your accountant. If you are anticipating a tax bill, don’t use this an excuse to ignore your obligations. If you use the services of an accountant or tax agent, they can complete your return and in most instances be able to hold off lodging the return until next year. This can give you up until 5 June 2015 to pay the ATO so there is plenty of time to save between now and then. If you haven’t used an accountant in the past and would like to start using one so you can access their lodgement concessions, arrange a meeting and have them add you to their ATO list before 31 October 2014.
- ensure you have a system in place to start filing your current year tax information. I have a filing tray drawer system and lever arch file system and you should ensure you schedule time each week or month to stay on top of things. Click here for my blog covering filing systems https://thebizbuddy.com/great-accounting-and-tax-records/
- archive any old paperwork that you do not need to access on a day to day basis. I suggest either scanning this or filing in clearly labelled manilla folders and placed in a box and this can be stored in a garage or cupboard out of sight of your working environment as ideally you want this to be as uncluttered as possible. If there is confidential paperwork you no longer require (eg. old bank statements) you can shred this yourself or if you are doing a major cleanup there are companies that can do this for you at a very reasonable cost.
- take a backup of your computer records and diarise to do this on a regular basis if you do not already do so. Pop a reminder in your calendar or your may even like to explore the option of having a company attend to these backups remotely for you.
- tidy up some areas of your business that you may have been a bit slack in eg. chasing people that owe you money or make a decision to write the debt off and move on, actually invoicing for work that you have done (this may mean you have to finish something you have been putting off or dealing with an issue that has prevented you from completing the task), reviewing your current expenses and shop around for some better deals or at least diarise to do this when the renewal notices arrive (insurances, mobile phone plans), reviewing your pricing.
- set some clear goals of other things you want to achieve before you wind down for the Christmas break. Is it possible to ramp up your business over the next 2 months so you can be ahead of your work schedule and have some extra cash injected into your business?
I hope these tips have been helpful and motivating. Happy Spring Cleaning!