Advice for Boosting Your Tax and Accounting Department
Whether we like it or not, the CFO, the controller position, and other aspects of the business environment will all remain in place for some time to come. We’ve chosen to distribute a list of suggestions to at least make the tax and accounting department more effective, productive, and supportive of business success since the accounting team and its functions are unquestionably here to stay.
● Be prompt when reconciling.
No, you don’t necessarily need to reconcile them to your balance sheet and statements of financial position right away, but doing so at the end of each month will make it much easy. The alternative (complete reconciliation at the end of the fiscal year) certainly sounds awful.
● Create cutoff policies and abide by them.
As we’ve previously mentioned, it’s crucial to establish and strictly adhere to guidelines and deadlines for submitting invoices, requests for reimbursement, and other financial documents. Accounting procedures get guided by business rules, which must get followed, according to Vince Iannello.
● Continuing Education
Although it can be challenging to justify spending an hour or two reading at work, doing so is crucial in accounting. Laws, tax forms, and best practices are all constantly evolving.
● Make tax payments. Really.
Although no one likes to hear it, it must be said. Taxes must be paid on time and usually ahead of schedule. These are called tax installments. These installments will be applied against taxes owing upon filing.
● Seize the chance.
The majority of tax and accounting departments commit this error. A large portion of the work performed by an accounting department is cyclical, repetitive, or at the very least, predictable. That develops a mindset of following the same path without ever challenging it, missing opportunities for departmental improvement and cost-cutting.
● Accounting reporting alignment
Any size business needs to take this crucial step. You’ll likely need to produce reports for the accounting department’s own records-keeping needs, as well as those of other departments and executives, as well as for use in filing and tax preparation. To avoid work duplication brought on by formatting requests or software issues, a standardized system for reporting and data management becomes essential.
● Utilize the cloud for accounting.
That offers your department, executives, and other disconnected databases that might rely on manual entry and duplication not only access to information from any location but also a central hub of data that can be made available.
● Don’t think of accounting as merely a matter of compliance.
Accounting is more than just tax compliance; it makes your business run more efficiently, according to Vince Iannello. Selecting a marketing strategy that yields the best financial results is one example of how accounting and financial data can directly generate business insights and shape strategic initiatives.
● Don’t let customers off the hook for not paying their balances.
Ensure that your customers are paying their invoices in a timely manner. Not collecting your receivables when they are due will greatly hinder your cash flows and affect the solvency of your business.