Every Business Owner Can Take Time Off This Christmas. Here’s How.
You work hard all year, and for what? It’s important to remember why you went into business, so you remember to take that time off.
We went into business so we could spend more time with our families and less time lining someone else’s pockets, remembering this makes getting our butts out of our office and down to the beach that little bit easier to prioritise. Here’s how you can make it happen for you too.
Apologies to everyone in hospitality and retail - unfortunately these tips won’t really apply for you.
Schedule Your Payroll Payments in Advance.
Running a business with employees means you need to pay them. No one wants to miss being paid, especially over the holiday period when we’re all buying all of the gifts, drinks and party foods. Xero allows you to schedule all of this in advance.
You should have a pretty good idea of the working hours and leave payments for each employee. Xero allows you to post your pay runs in advance and set up the payments so they’ll be ready to go in your internet banking.
If your regular pay day will fall on a public holiday, consider scheduling the payment for the day before to allow the bank to process this without delays. Keep that team of yours happy.
Supplier Payments Can Also be Scheduled Ahead of Time
No one wants to come back to work in the new year with a back log of emails, phone calls or people chasing them for payments.
Planning out your cashflow requirements over the Christmas period is a wise and proactive choice you’ll thank yourself for when you return to work. In the same way you can schedule your employee payroll for Christmas, you can schedule your supplier payments in Xero as well. Your business cashflow should be fairly predictable here, but you will be able to jump in and make any changes if you really need to as well.
Get Your Invoices Up to Date Before You Hit the Beach
Having your invoicing up to date will help you plan your cashflow for the period you’re on leave. With any closures or low periods, there is the chance your income will be lower than a usual period of operations. Knowing what to expect can help you plan ahead.
Invoicing and bookkeeping might be lower on your priority list usually, but getting ahead of this will pay dividends for your peace of mind and your ability to relax while you’re out enjoying yourself.
*not so subtle plug* If you hate the book work, or even if you love it and just don’t have time - this is where we can step in.
Plan Your Holiday Cashflow and Expenditure Ahead of Time
The lead up to an actual break can be enough to send anyone spare. The holidays are a wild ride, but there’s nothing like that floaty feeling between Christmas and the new year. Knowing what your numbers have done in the past will help predict what the trends are with your numbers.
Taking a retrospective look at what’s happened in years past will help you plan for your future. If this is your first year in business, that can be a more experimental experience, but any closure is likely to result in a dip in the numbers, at least momentarily. Planning for this is only going to help.
Super Payments Are Due in January
Don't forget quarterly super is due to be paid in January. The due date for payments to be received in your employee's Super Fund is the 28th of January.
For you, this means you need to make the necessary payments before the 20th of January, in order to allow time for the clearing house to process.
You are most welcome to make these payments early (as soon as your pay runs for December have all been posted) if you are going to be at the beach that day.
Planning Will Always be Key to Taking Time Out of Your Business
Planning is always a business owners best friend. Strategising ahead of time is a great way to keep you out of trouble and the business dream alive.
While Tax Planning typically happens in May each year there’s plenty of planning that happens all year round to keep your business, not just function, but thriving.
