10 Tips to End the Year with a Bang

10 Tips to End the Year with a Bang

Kick-Start the Next One!

A year-end without obligations wouldn't really be a year-end, right? Finding gifts for your brother-in-law, filing your tax returns with the registrar, submitting your VAT declaration, settling your employees' holiday balances at the agency... Feeling overwhelmed? OOTI is here to remind you of the essential steps as the new year approaches.

If you're running an architecture agency or handling accounting matters and find yourself confused amidst all the legal obligations, don't worry; it's completely normal!

Tips from Our Accountant 👇

To shed some light on the matter, we consulted Mariam Sbibih from Fox Audit, who not only happens to be a friendly person but also an expert in accounting.

1. What are the legal obligations regarding accounting during this period?

They are both fiscal and accounting obligations. From an accounting perspective, you must prepare annual accounts in the form of a balance sheet and income statement. In certain cases, depending on the thresholds applicable to your status, accounting annexes may also be required.

These documents must then be approved during a General Meeting organized within 6 months following the end of the accounting year. Afterward, all these accounts and the Minutes of the General Meeting are deposited with the registrar.

From a tax perspective, the end of the year marks the deadline for:

• VAT, if your company is subject to it and hasn't opted for monthly payments
• Corporate tax prepayments
• Declaration of Exchange of Goods (DEB)
• European Services Declaration (DES)
• Corporate tax return related to the profit

2. What are the risks associated with missing these deadlines?

Failure to file the mandatory declarations exposes the company to penalties and potential surcharges (VAT, corporate tax returns, registrar filings, etc.).

3. Are there any good practices to adopt?

Absolutely! For example, ensure that your accounting is well-maintained throughout the year, month by month, to avoid a laborious task when preparing the accounts and tax return in the first quarter of the following year.

4. What are the other key moments during the year?

The first half of the year is particularly important as companies have until May to file their corporate tax returns, close their accounts, hold their General Meeting, and submit the documents to the registrar.

5. How do you create a plan of action for the coming year?

Often considered a time-consuming exercise, a well-defined action plan should enable you to achieve the strategic objectives you've set.

To do this, follow these steps:

• Involve your teams from the start: it ensures that everyone shares the strategic vision and the steps to be taken to achieve it.
• Don't hesitate to detail each measure: this allows for clarity in tracking and fine-tuning the workload. Hiring a new employee, improving the agency's website, expanding your prospecting? These great ideas translate operationally into many actions. Jot them down to anticipate them.
• Set a timeline: the year consists of 12 months, sometimes busy, sometimes less so. Line it with cross-cutting projects and set checkpoints. Where do you want to be by the end of the first quarter? Only you can answer that question.
• Allocate resources: Many action plans fail because adequate human and financial resources are not dedicated to implementing the initiatives. Ensure that you allocate enough time, support, training, and budgetary resources.

6. Send New Year's Greetings!

Between tax obligations and crafting the agency's action plan, you might wonder why we recommend this. However, sending New Year's greetings is an excellent way to reconnect with a former client or partner with whom you haven't interacted in a while. There's no need to overthink it: a picture of a beautiful project completed by the agency will do just fine. Platforms like www.canva.com allow you to produce a clean visual in just a few clicks!

OOTI's Tips 💙👇

Tips from our Customer Success Team at OOTI

7. Stay Up-to-Date

With a quick glance at your OOTI dashboard, review your projects. Are the schedules and progress updated? Is your revenue up-to-date?

8. Settle Invoices

OOTI also facilitates invoice settlement. Have any of your invoices been paid since? Update the payments!

9. Prepare Budgets

Before the year-end, prepare your budgets and general expenses, and anticipate your expenses for 2024. Manage your projected turnover on a positive note!

10. Update Time Logs and Leave

Don't forget to manage your teams' time logs and leaves. Give them a final reminder to input their time logs for a serene year-end on project tracking!

In Summary

1. Know your obligations.
2. Know the accounting deadlines.
3. Adopt good practices.
4. Prepare for important dates.
5. Create the action plan for the coming year.
6. Send New Year's greetings!
7. Stay up-to-date.
8. Settle invoices.
9. Prepare budgets.
10. Update time logs and leave.