By Neil Metcalfe, Posted on 17/03/2025
With March coming to a close, businesses in New Zealand are approaching the end of the financial year. This period can be stressful, with many rushing to complete essential tasks. To make things easier, here are a few key checks and actions to help ensure a smoother transition into the new financial year.
Not all of these points will be applicable to every business, so it’s worth checking with your business partner or accountant on what needs to be done.
Check all transactions
Through March, set aside time to ensure that you have entered in all of the transactions that have happened. Particularly look for all transactions that will need to be converted, such as an invoice from a quote.
Additionally, if there are any supplier or customer credits that have been created that need to be applied, now is the time to do it. If the credit doesn’t have a corresponding transaction or can’t be applied yet, then its ok to leave them until you have everything you need.
Complete all processes
Although many of these are regular processes for most users, it's important to complete them to ensure everything is updated and ready for the new financial year.
If you sell inventory, a stocktake done close to the end of the financial year is recommended. This lets you capture all of the inventory movements and ensure you have an accurate figure of on-hand quantities.
If you have set up Bank Feeds, ensure they are refreshed regularly and reconcile all transactions throughout March to ensure you haven’t missed any. If you don’t have Bank Feeds, you’ll still need to complete the monthly bank reconciliation when your bank provides you with the monthly transaction information.
Unless you are a business that takes full payment at the time of the transaction, you’ll need to send your customers a monthly statement. This lets them know how much they owe and will need to pay.
Once you have recorded all transactions for the financial year, you can prepare the GST return. It’s also worth checking the return with your accountant or tax advisor to ensure there are no mistakes or missed figures. Depending on your accountant or tax advisor, they may want to prepare this on your behalf.
Review your records
Once everything has been entered, it’s time to review your reports and records. Not just to look for anything out of place but to really look at the numbers to identify areas that might not be performing as well as planned.
Review unprocessed transactions, such as quotes and purchase orders, to see if any will need to be chased up, if they have been recorded as duplicates, or if they can be closed off.
Run the Stock movement report to determine how quickly stock is moving. If there are products that are moving slower than expected, it may be worth discounting them.
It’s also good practice to go through other reports and transactions to see if anything needs further investigation, such as something looking amiss or outside the norm for that customer, supplier or account. For example, if customer “Bob” normally purchases $300 at a time, and there’s one sale that’s $600, this might be worth looking into.
Lastly, once you’ve had your accountant confirm everything is correct, it’s time to close off the financial year. This can’t be undone and should only be performed once everything else has been completed and your accountant is happy with all of your records.
Need a hand? We’re here to help!
Wrapping up the financial year doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With the right processes in place, you can ensure a smooth transition into the new year and set your business up for success.
If you need assistance or have any questions, our team is here to help. Give us a call at 0800 424 948 or email us at support@infusionsoftware.co.nz. You can also reach out to your local Infusion Software Partner for expert guidance tailored to your business needs.
Let’s make this financial year-end as seamless as possible!