ACCA’s guide to your practice housekeeping and end-of-year planning
Finally, January is over! It is the time of the year when all practitioners should spend time on their own practice to assess if it is going in the direction they envisaged one year ago.
If yes, then great! They can then think about setting goals to achieve in the year ahead. Nonetheless, things don’t always go as planned, and this time of year might be more for reflection and taking actions and lessons to implement to improve things.
Client management
A good starting point is tidying up your clients’ information and looking at your practice management.
Current clients:
Previous clients
Assessing cyber risks
It will be worth considering any cyber risks associated with technology/software used by the practice and how to mitigate them. As some of the software is used and offered to clients, firms must adhere to all data protection policies to protect themselves. Read ACCA's guidance on managing cybersecurity.
Review AML procedures
ACCA-supervised firms play a critical role in detecting and preventing money laundering and terrorist financing (MLTF). You need to ensure that you have reviewed your firm’s policies and procedures and they are all up to date with the changes that happened in the practice during the year. CCAB advises carrying out periodic reviews on your clients’ due diligence and keeping a record for any compliance visits.
ACCA's AML hub includes latest guidance, a suite of factsheets, coupled with a risk-assessment tool, 'know-your-client' form and training support which will ensure that you operate a robust system when dealing with clients – both at the onboarding stage and throughout your relationship. Key factsheets have recently been updated, so please take a look at how your practice policies and documentation needs to be updated.
Year-end planning
Next on your list should be to start planning your March year-end company accounts. You should use the year-end meeting as an opportunity to ask your client about developments in their business so that you can plan ahead to save them tax, hopefully.
As part of carrying out the year-end review for the current period, look back at prior periods and determine whether:
Depending on the services you provide to your clients, clients often require your proactive advice for:
You need to start arranging dates in your diary to see these clients so there is sufficient time to implement these decisions before the year end.
Individual tax planning
A similar planning exercise can then be undertaken for high earner individual clients. You may need to check:
Preparing for basis period changes
From 2024/25, the profits for sole traders and partnerships will be taxed on a tax-year basis – ie to the end of 5 April instead of the profits for the 12 months to the accounting date in the tax year. An ACCA free webinar explains the practicalities of basis period reform and the transitional rules.
This article summarises the useful guidance along with how to get your overlap profit figure. Once a request for overlap profit is submitted, the taxpayer can expect to receive a response from HMRC within three weeks, unless the case is particularly complex. So, it is crucial that members request this information well in time before the beginning of the next tax year to advise client accordingly.
Practice growth
Last but not least, you should also consider how you can make your firm stand out to clients, potential clients, recruits, and those you may wish to influence. You can find some useful top tips to drive business efficiency in an uncertain economic climate.
Remember you can take and use articles from In Practice and utilise ACCA guides and other support material to grow your own practice.
You may wish to join the Practitioner LinkedIn group and access The Practice Room for latest updates.