Xero Year-End Processes

At the time of writing, we are approaching the year end for many clients. I have therefore listed below the key areas to check before sending us your data, along with a list of the more general information that we require.

Although tailored to Xero, the main points will be applicable to all year-end processes.

1. Bank reconciliations – please ensure that all bank transactions are reconciled for the year and the balance shown in your software agrees with the statement balance. In Xero, go to Bank account > Vertical ellipsis>Reconciliation report > change date to ‘last financial year’. The Statement balance (calculated) at the bottom should agree with your bank statement.
2. VAT return – please ensure that you have submitted your VAT return for the period covering your year-end and, if additional workings are used, please provide these.
3. Mis-postings & duplicates – please check for any mis-postings or duplicated invoices by running an ‘accounttransactions’ report in Xero. Accounting > Reports >Account transactions > select your accounting period indate range. Mis-postings can be corrected by clickinginto the transaction and amending or using the ‘find andrecode’ function.
4. Debtors (amounts owed to you) – please check theseare correct by running the ‘Aged Receivables Detailed’report under Accounting> Reports. Ensure you haveselected the date as your year-end date. The reportshould show outstanding sales invoices that are withinyour year-end but not received until after your year-end.
5. Creditors (amounts you owe to suppliers) – pleasecheck these are correct by running the ‘Aged PayablesDetailed’ report under Accounting> Reports. Ensureyou have selected the date as your year-end date. The report should show outstanding bills that are within your year-end but not paid until after your year-end.

We also require the following where applicable:

• Bank statements and loan statements showing the balance at the year end
• Details of livestock and deadstock held on farm at the year end
• HP agreements for any new agreements taken out in the year
• Notes – please do provide additional notes to highlight any significant changes from last year or anything else that you feel would be useful for us to know
• Personal tax return information – where possible we aim to prepare yourpersonal tax returns alongsidethe accounts so, please alsoinclude this information.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but I hope it helps provide some structure to the year-end process and the information we require.