Depending on your business type, the December-January period could mean an increase in customers and cash flow, or it may be a slow period for your business.
If your business experiences slower trade over the holiday period you will need to conserve cash as you still need to pay suppliers, rent and your staff, but without the income. If you are a business owner in this category it would probably make sense to put a percentage of your takings during the year, into a separate account to draw upon during this quiet time.
Make sure you invoice well ahead of your holiday period shutdown, don’t delay invoicing until the new year and perhaps even consider offering a small discount to customers who pay before the holidays.
However, if you are in hospitality or tourism this time of year is the busiest, so you need to be thinking about how you are going to make the most of this peak period in sales. Get organised – make sure you have got your additional staff members trained up and ready to hit the ground running. You may also need to purchase additional stock, so get your extra orders finalised in plenty of time.
And don’t forget your quarterly BAS will be due in February, so don’t be tempted to dip into your set aside tax funds, you don’t want to start 2019 in the ATO’s bad books!
