The end of your financial year is a critical time for every business. Whether your year ends on 30 June (Australia, New Zealand), 5 April (UK tax year), 31 March (India, some NZ businesses) or 31 December (US, Canada, many others), the same preparation applies. A thorough end-of-year process ensures accurate tax returns, clean financial statements and a solid foundation for the year ahead.
Reconcile all bank accounts and credit cards
Send final invoices and follow up on outstanding receivables
Record all payables and accrued expenses
Review and write off any bad debts
Complete a stocktake if you hold inventory
Review and process depreciation on all fixed assets
Reconcile payroll, super/pension and tax withholding records
Review prepaid expenses and adjust as needed
Back up all financial records and data
Prepare financial statements - P&L, balance sheet, cash flow
Review tax position and plan any last-minute deductions
Engage your accountant for tax return preparation
Businesses in United Kingdom operating under the VAT + MTD system must meet these compliance requirements set by HMRC:
Starting end-of-year preparation too late
Not reconciling all accounts before closing the year
Forgetting to process depreciation entries
Not writing off bad debts before year-end
Missing opportunities for pre-payments that could bring forward deductions
Not backing up financial records before year-end adjustments
SortBooks connects to your Xero account and handles VAT + MTD compliance automatically. Every transaction is categorised with the correct tax treatment, bank feeds are reconciled in real-time and your HMRC-ready reports are always up to date. No more last-minute scrambles or manual data entry.
Every transaction gets the correct VAT + MTD code automatically - 97%+ accuracy from day one.
Generate compliant reports for HMRC at any time - no reconciliation needed.
Never miss a filing deadline. SortBooks tracks your obligations and reminds you in advance.
Australia and New Zealand: 30 June (some NZ businesses use 31 March). UK tax year: 5 April (many businesses use 31 March or 31 December). US and Canada: typically 31 December for calendar-year businesses. India: 31 March. Your business may use a different year-end if approved.
Ideally, start 4-6 weeks before year-end. This gives you time to chase outstanding invoices, process depreciation, review your tax position and make any last-minute adjustments. With SortBooks, much of this preparation happens automatically throughout the year.
SortBooks keeps your books clean year-round, so EOFY is not a scramble. Bank accounts are reconciled in real-time, transactions are categorised correctly and your financial statements are always current. Your accountant receives clean, audit-ready data.
Join thousands of United Kingdom businesses using AI to handle their bookkeeping and tax compliance.