We made it! It’s well and truly time for a little Christmas-in-July ham. It goes without saying July 2020 to June 2021 was one of the craziest financial years in memory, at least here in the Cafe Bookkeepers office.

While the end of the financial year is often a good time to spend leftover budgets (fun) or slightly panic if you haven’t tracked your receipts well (not fun), it is most definitely a time for all hospitality businesses to look both backwards and forwards, to review, plan and improve.

To help get you in the best EOFY frame of mind, we’ve got five questions you should  ask yourself. Much like the aftermath of a big Christmas and/or NYE, the lead up to the EOFY is the best time to plan some changes for the year ahead and GET IN SHAPE.

1. How do you do you FEEL about this year?

We care about feelings! Yes, we’re accountants, but even in our opinion, not everything is about money. How has your year been, honestly? Has it been manageable from a stress and work life balance perspective? Are you enjoying owning and running your business? Do you feel in control of it, a little like you’re flailing or somewhere in between? Do you need systems and processes to check in or for it to run better when you're not there? The answers to these questions should 100% dictate the decisions you make for the coming 12 months. Get out a pen and paper and jot down your thoughts, or even just open up a new note on your phone. 

2. How has the year been finance wise? 

So... has the year been profitable? If so, how much and how can next year’s bottom line be improved? Are you ahead of June 30 in terms of tax planning? What will your personal tax position be if you declared a dividend or drawings through payroll? Do you even know what those questions mean? We can provide much-needed clarity if you’re unsure. 

3. How’s the team holding up?

The last 12 months have affected everyone – every single person in one way or another. Hopefully you’ve been able to keep your staff together, even bring some new people into the fold but what did you do well for your team? Was a healthy, efficient work culture established? Are your wages in line with the award and inflation? If not, why not? They definitely should be, so good to look at this closely.

4. Are you working as smart as you could be? 

With every year that passes, new innovations emerge to change the industry for the better. From smartphone menus to rostering and recruitment apps, these days there’s pretty much an electronic/faster way to do everything. Have you moved to paperless invoices? And how’s your digital marketing? If you get left behind, unfortunately it’s increasingly hard to keep up. 

5. What does the future hold for you? 

While it’s vital and educational to reflect on the past, taking those learnings into the future is non-negotiable. Trading patterns are changing, as is tourism, temporary visa holder numbers in Australia have lowered and new lockdowns can never be forecasted. All these very real variables aside, many of our clients have managed to expand – for every business struggling, others are doing well. The key to expanding in a pandemic? Find a formula that’s able to be replicated, and with interest rates low, you may have a quasi-chain on your hands. 

Has your pre-EOFY inner chat got you a little concerned? Perhaps you’re right on track but could benefit from a little support with your payroll or set-up of a new business? At Cafe Bookkeepers we offer accounting, bookkeeping and payroll, new-business set-up and all-in-once hospitality-specific financial services.

Head here to get in touch about how we can help.