Well, summer has arrived, which means vacations and downtime for your employees will soon be here. For many small business owners summer season usually means a slowdown in business and in revenues, although for a handful of businesses it means business will be booming. The summer season offers business owners varied challenges that require you to prepare for well in advance. With that said, the team here at Tax Alternatives wants to share some tips to help you ensure that your business stays ahead of the challenges regardless of what the summer season may taunt you with.
TIPS TO PREPARE FOR THE SUMMER
- Obtain all employee vacation requests now – Now that summer is here, your employees will be making plans to take quality time off for summer fun and adventures. Whether they are using PTO time or are taking time off without pay, it is important you have all your employees submit their vacation time off requests at the start of the season to allow you to plan accordingly. You want to be sure your business continues to operate efficiently and smoothly even when your team is enjoying their summer time off. Collecting vacation data early on also allows for your payroll team to accommodate for vacation pays without having to impact your business cash flow.
- Determine staffing needs – With employees taking earned summer vacation time, there may be a need for additional staffing. You may find it necessary to add to your staff during the long summer months in order to keep things flowing smoothly and on time. If your business typically experiences a spike in activity during the summer months, then rest assured you are going to want to add some staff to accommodate your customer needs and demands. Summer hiring should be planned well enough in advance to ensure a steady flow of business.
- Keep an eye on your cash flow – Summer can be a challenging time of year for many small business owners and for your cash flow as well. It is critical that you have a cash flow plan in place so you can stay ahead of the game, especially if you typically experience a reduction in sales and production in the summer months. Having a cash flow backup plan, such as a line of credit, is essential to the smooth and efficient flow of business during the challenging summer months.
- Time to declutter, go paperless – Summer is the ideal time of year to clean out your workplace and declutter as much as you can. One of the best ways to declutter is to go paperless. From invoices, correspondence and vendor billings you can save a whole lot of space and money by going paperless while being more efficient and even feeling a bit more secure. You may also want to take steps at this time to ensure that all your important data is properly backed up and that any service agreements that need renewing are properly tended to.
- Outsourcing your accounting tasks – Summer may be the ideal time of year to look into and rely upon outsourcing of some of your small business tasks. When you choose to engage in outsourcing you can enjoy peace of mind. When you have access to highly skilled accounting professionals who can optimize your bookkeeping and accounting system you are able to create and rely upon a wide range of financial reports. When you rely on the pros here at Tax Alternatives for your accounting needs, you can then focus on running your business strategy as well as your advertising and marketing needs in your efforts to grow your business.
TRUST THE TEAM HERE AT TAX ALTERNATIVES
Summer is here and the team here at Tax Alternatives stands ready to help with all your bookkeeping and accounting needs. When you put your trust in our highly skilled professionals rest assured you are putting your trust in some of the industry’s absolute best. For more information about our top-rated outsourcing services for your small business, and to take proper steps to prepare for the summer season ahead, reach out to one of our staff today!
