In Australia the financial year is a 12-month period designed for Tax purposes. It starts 1st July and ends 30 June. Whilst many of us stress in the lead up to it ending, processing our tax, closing off our financial books/software, sorting out our ledgers, profits, losses, and balance sheets; we often breathe a sigh of relief when it's over and then simply switch off until the next year comes to a close. What we may not realise is the beginning of the new financial year is a great time to reflect and reassess for the year ahead.  

So, what are some things you should reflect on based off the past year's performance and what should you look to do for the new year's?

‍

Look at the financials ;

Did your finances for last financial year line up how you planned?
Without going through and looking at where your expenses lie and your profit vs loss, there is no way to track or set goals and growth targets for the year ahead.  Ask yourself questions like; were your expenses a lot higher than they should have been? What went wrong and how do you fix it?

On the contrary, did you have a great year? Perhaps your business grew, and you took on a new employee. How does this reflect in your financials and performance for the coming year? Perhaps your revenue has increased? How does that impact your decisions on where to take the business moving forward?

Other contributing factors that come into play are lease or loan repayments, wage increases, staffing changes, superannuation, long service leave; and all these elements can play a huge role in your financial plan and budget for the year ahead.

Review and look at your Business Plan ;

As spoken about in one of our previous blog posts - What is a Business Plan?, at Helix "we like to see a business plan as a document that forms part of an all-encompassing idea, it's one of the foundational pillars of business and it usually has a couple of different sections. It becomes the framework that tells the story of where you are going and how you are going to get there."  

At the start of a new financial year take the time to review and revise how your business plan is tracking. Do you need to change or update goals, processes, or procedures? Are you thinking of bringing out a new product or offering? Do you need new assets? New funding? Are loans or Debt Financing expiring?

It doesn't all have to relate to costs either. Look into staffing, is it too high or low for the productivity of your business or perhaps your website is old and out of date?

If you're finding yourself overwhelmed or not sure where to start with Business Plans, at Helix Plan we offer a Business Success Map and an Action Plan that you can download off the website here. Ranging from $29 to the bundle for $59, you can have access to a traditional business plan layout as well as cash flow tracking.

Employee Performance ;

Popular and built into the systems and processes in the corporate world, performance reviews can prove beneficial for both employer and employees. In smaller business spaces this process can be overlooked unless it has been created and implemented.

If you're not already, start designing and carrying out performance reviews, set processes for pay rises or bonuses, set rewards to acknowledge the time and energy employees put into work, as one of the biggest commodity crises you can encounter is keeping and maintaining good staff.

Most employees like to know how they are performing and tracking. Having performance reviews allows them to know how they are going, if they are doing a great job, what areas they may need to improve or focus on, if there is any work they need to upskill. It allows you as the employer to have the communication with them and in turn create a positive, communicative, workplace culture.

‍

In summary, the start of a new financial year is a really important time to reflect on the year just gone and plan for the new year ahead. Take the time to consider all the factors mentioned above, financial, and non-financial. The good and the bad.  

Ask yourself why certain things happened; if they were negative ;how do you fix it? If they were positive ;how do you do more to make it an even better year this year!

‍

‍