The changeover in financial year always coincides with the changeover in seasons. As winter becomes spring, we bid goodbye to cold weather within weeks of setting up fresh accounts. It’s a hopeful time for freelancers everywhere – and the perfect point at which to tidy up your finances.
Here, we offer a list of top tips for spring cleaning your accounts, putting you in pole position to enjoy a stress-free financial year in 2018/19.
Clear a big debt
Most workers in Britain have some form of debt hanging over them, be it a credit card bill, mortgage or temporary loan. If you have a number of different debts to settle, take this opportunity to get rid of one permanently. Grit your teeth, wipe it clean and close the bill forever whilst you’re in spring cleaning mode.
You’ll have to tighten the purse strings a bit next month, for sure. But it will cast away a heavy cloud before a new financial year begins. Instead of making repayments for another 12 months, you can reinvest the money you save in your business.
Get the shredder out
If you have paper piled so high it’s peeking out of your desk drawers, it’s time to do some sorting.
Allocate a few hours to organising your paperwork during this year’s spring cleaning. Put the essentials (receipts, company accounts, contracts) in relevant, labelled trays, and shred the useless stuff (junk mail, old payment reminders, promotional offers from your bank) so they’re permanently out of the way. It’ll feel like a chore at the time, but it’ll make the months ahead considerably easier as you pick out documents quickly and easily.
Set up standing orders
If you keep getting stung by late payment fees or regularly fail to make minimum monthly charges, there’s probably a lot of unnecessary money coming out of your account.
Stop haemorrhaging cash from this moment forwards by setting up standing orders for debts you need to clear. This prevents you from incurring late fees and ensures your arrears are amended in much quicker fashion.
Bring in the experts
Before spring cleaning the home, you pick up the best bleach, the finest scouring pads, and tip-top stain removal solutions. Similarly, you should spare no expense when spring cleaning your finances. Stop panicking and pay a professional to do the job for you. This way, you’ll stay on top of your accounts for the year ahead and the foreseeable future.
Bright Ideas Contractor & Freelancer leave your accounts in sparkling condition when we’ve completed all our work. All you need to do is give us a call on 0161 669 4221 to arrange a free consultation. We’d be delighted to talk through your finances and help you get everything ship, shape and shiny.
