Year End Accounting

Before giving an end year financial report, accountants are required to re-check together with their auditors if all the records have been entered.  It is only after this has been done that they are required to file the accounting report before the stated deadline.  Incase this is not done; there is usually heavier penalty to pay which most of the times does no augur well with the tax-man.   Before a final print-out of the report is done, reconciliation of accounts should have been done earlier, for the interest of the company it is better to do reconciliation each month and close the books before beginning any new month.

Companies should invest in an external storage of all their important data, this will enable them to retrieve their financial information incase there is vandalism or theft of their computers.  There have been an increase in the number of thefts that occurs where companies are vandalized and all their data disappear, this should be avoided at all costs at financial details take long to prepare and if lost, means that the company has to go back to the drawing board and start again.  This has also helped companies where finances have been misappropriated and the staff in a bid to destroy any findings tries to vandalize the computers.  Companies should not let the staff know where the extra details are stored.

Companies are advised to make sure that all their financial dealings are within the required year.  It is not easy to back-date any financial dealings and whatever has not been accounted for in the previous year will have to move to the next year.  An end year financial report can only be submitted when all the financial dealings have been closed. Companies and their staff need to understand that once the books of account for the specific year have been closed, further dealings will have to move to the next year.  An end year financial report is the only financial document that gives a clear account of all the company’s financial dealings whether positive or negative.  It is necessary to submit it within the required period to avoid unnecessary penalties.