Hey everyone, Jason here from Calc Business Advisors & Chartered Accountants. Just a heads-up: 28th August is approaching, which means provisional tax payments are due—exciting, right?
I know that for many of us, this deadline can sneak up, even if our accountant has previously notified us. We often file these notices away, forget about them, and then scramble when the payment is due, thinking, “Oh no, I wasn’t prepared for this cash outflow!”
Here’s a useful tip to ensure you’re always ready for these payments (usually due in August, January, and May, with terminal tax in April): When your accountant provides your tax schedule, don’t just file it away. Instead, send it to your bookkeeper or controller and ask them to enter the tax payments into your accounting system as accounts payable.
For instance, if your tax payment is due on 28th August, you could date the invoice for August 1st. This way, it will appear on your accounts payable aging report starting August 1st, giving you a head start to prepare for the payment. This method applies to both the January and May deadlines as well.
You’ll likely have a mix of both business and personal taxes. You can manage both by planning for the necessary cash flow. For business-related taxes, treat them as business payments. For personal taxes, classify them as ownership drawings. You can pay these taxes from either your business or personal account—it doesn’t matter.
By organising your tax payments in this manner, they’ll appear in your accounts payable alongside all your other financial obligations, helping you with cash flow forecasting and ensuring you’re always prepared.
Need some help with this? We have a dedicated service designed just for this. Get in touch to see how we can help take some of the noise out of your day.
