A business budget is one of the essential tools in managing your finances and actively building your business. A budget shows what you plan to do with your cash over the next year. For a complete picture of your business health, you need to review the profit and loss statement, the balance sheet, the cash flow forecast and the budget. Taken together, these reports allow you to make informed business decisions and monitor performance. Why have a Budget? Forecast sales and expenses according to monthly or quarterly variations. Evaluate performance over time, including changes or patterns. Get really familiar with where your money goes and where it comes from. Clarify targets and goals and use the budget to help you focus and achieve those goals. Comparing actual figures to budgeted figures allows you to see potential problems early and plan for unexpected costs. A budget will help you to see the big picture and stay motivated over the long term. Where to start A basic budget takes known income and expenses, then makes certain assumptions about the timing of income and planned expenditure. The basic budget is based on cash in and out of the business. Over time, as you start to see the benefits of using a budget, your budget should evolve into a more sophisticated version that includes non-cash elements such as provisions and depreciation. Most businesses will start with one budget but soon move to having three budgets: Business as usual – the next year’s budget is based on current year income and expenses, with perhaps a small adjustment for consumer price index increases. Worst case – budget is based on a pessimistic view of next year’s performance. Best case – budget is based on an optimistic view of performance over the next year. A budget is usually for a financial year, but you can also set up budgets for two to five years. Once you have one budget (or more) set up, you can then run your current financial reports against the budget to see how you are tracking. This allows you to make rational business decisions in real time to adjust accordingly. Your can run your financial reports monthly and adjust your budget as needed. What Next? Now is a great time to put a budget into place for the coming financial year. Book a time with us to help you create a meaningful budget in your accounting software so that you can use it as a proactive part of your business management, strategy and your success.

When it comes to your financial data, you can never be too cautious! While Xero is a cloud-based platform with strong security measures, it’s always a good idea to back up your financial data regularly for peace of mind. Regular exports of important reports and transactions can serve as a safeguard against any unforeseen issues. Although Xero doesn't have a built-in backup feature, you can manually export your data to store it on your local device or secure cloud storage. Alternatively, you can use third-party apps to back up your Xero data, such as: Coupler.io: This app automatically exports data from Xero to spreadsheets, data warehouses, and BI tools. You can set the refresh interval to daily, monthly, every hour, every 30 minutes, or every 15 minutes. Xportmydata: This app automatically backs up your Xero data on a weekly basis. You can also use Xportmydata to export your Xero data to Excel, download attachments, and create CSV import files. Both of these apps are available for download from the Xero App Marketplace. Manual Exporting: If you prefer to export your data manually, Xero doesn’t have a feature to copy all your school's data at once. However, you can export data from specific sections and generate reports individually. Your ability to export data depends on your user role in Xero. If you have the adviser role, you can run and export most reports. However, to export payroll reports, you need payroll admin access. To learn more about how to export your data manually, visit: https://central.xero.com/s/article/Export-data-out-of-Xero

With household living costs soaring and no sign of a slowdown, it's more important than ever to take control of your finances. We've put together 12 practical tips to help you manage the rising cost of living — including ways to earn more, spend less, and invest in your future. Read the full blog here: https://www.aafl.nz/coping-with-the-skyrocketing-cost-of... Worried about money? Talk to us at 04 970 1182. We have years of experience navigating economic ups and downs — including previous periods of high inflation — and we’re always here to help.

Uncertainty can be a major threat to your financial planning strategy. Being unsure of what lies around the corner makes it difficult to make those important financial decisions around operational budgets, investment and growth funding.But by using forecasting and scenario-planning, you make it easier to manage your finances and reduce some of the financial uncertainty. Looking to the future with your financials Analysing your cashflow statements, profit and loss reports and quarterly management accounts gives you an indication of where you’ve been as a business. But these reports don’t tell you much about where you’re going, and what your financial future may look like. By looking forward, rather than backward, you can start to get a better idea of the landscape that lies ahead – including future cashflow, revenue, profits and operational budgets. Five key techniques you can use to reduce your financial uncertainty Cashflow forecasts: Cash is king, so having a detailed overview of your cashflow trajectory is vital. With cashflow forecasting apps, like Fathom, you can predict your cash availability and spot potential cash shortfalls – while there’s still time to plug the hole. By cutting expenses or seeking short-term funding, you can keep the business in a positive cashflow position. It’s this forecasting and foresight that keeps you trading, despite the uncertainty in the market. Revenue forecasts: Knowing the future patterns in your sales and revenue data helps you keep your income stable. Revenue forecasting apps, like Clari analyse your sales data, revenue trends and market shifts to anticipate fluctuations in your revenue. Armed with this future view of your potential revenue, you can adapt your pricing, invest in more marketing and make your income more consistent. Scenario-planning: There’s always more than one potential outcome of any business situation. Having a plan B (or C, D and E) allows you to understand the multiple potential possibilities – and plan for them. An app like Modana helps you model potential ‘what-if’ scenarios, so you can see the possible outcomes of an economic downturn or disruption to your supply chain disruptions. This kind of scenario-planning makes it easier to make contingency plans and mitigate the potential risks. Profit projections: Being a profitable enterprise is important for a number of reasons. It shows lenders you’re a low-risk borrower, allows you to invest in the business and drives your dividend payments. A tool like Teamwork helps you track your performance and estimate future profitability, factoring in variable costs, sales and market changes. This helps you determine your price point, drive cost-cutting measures or make investment decisions that keep the profits rolling in. Budget forecasts: Tracking and forecasting your budget performance keeps your expenses in check. Budgeting apps, like Jirav, help you build dynamic budgets and remain on budget to achieve your financial goals. Budget forecasts help you track your performance, control your expenses and cut any unnecessary spending, keeping you on track with your agreed budget. Making your financial future clearer and easier to navigate With so many ups and down in economic conditions and the costs of raw materials and labour, getting serious about financial forecasting really is a must. Come and talk to us about the key areas of financial uncertainty in your business – and find out how we can guide you through these uncertain times and out the other side.

Are your contacts in Xero getting a little out of control? If the answer is yes it might be time for some Xero housekeeping! Duplicate contacts can easily be merged. All the financial data is merged into a single contact, and the duplicate is then archived. This allows you to keep all contact information and related transactions together, instead of across multiple records for the same contact. When you merge duplicate contact records, no transactions are deleted (this includes invoices, bills, and other financial transactions). The transaction details are added to the activity details of the contact you keep. To merge two or more contacts: 1. In the Contacts menu, select All contacts . 2. In the search field, start typing the name of the contact you want to merge. 3. Once you are satisfied the contacts are associated with the same company, select the checkbox for each contact you want to merge. Do not select the contact you want to retain . Ensure that the contact you keep has the correct bank account details. 4. Click Merge , then click Confirm merge . The merged contacts will be archived and all associated transactions will be merged into the activity details of the contact you keep. Note: You can restore a merged contact if necessary by going to the Archived section (highlighted in the image below in the top toolbar). In this section, simply click on the contact and then click the Restore button located on the right-hand side of the page.

View our April 2025 General Ledger: - Happy Easter & AAF Out-Of-Office Dates - 2025 Annual Accounts Questionnaires - Reducing the Uncertainty: Financial Forecasting and Planning - Xero Tip of the Month: How to Merge Duplicate Contact Records - Welcome to the Team: Chrissy Williams - Tax Question of the Month: Withholding Tax Deduction on Payments Made to a Contract Painter - IRD Upcoming Tax Payment Dates https://public2.bomamarketing.com/email/jXba

Whether it’s refilling your petrol tank or paying at the supermarket checkout, the higher cost of living is hitting every household hard. Across the world, everyday essentials have surged in price across the OECD. What can you do to try to keep up with the increasing cost of living? Here are our 12 top tips: Look for ways to earn more: Grow your business’s profitability (talk to us about improving your profits) or ask for a pay rise. Take in a boarder or flatmate. Sell your unwanted items online. Cut back where you can: Prepare more meals at home and spend less at cafés and restaurants. Create a budget and keep your spending under control. Reduce the amount of meat you buy. Find ways to use your car less. Cancel your credit cards and your buy now pay later accounts. Review all your ongoing expenses like utilities, insurance and subscriptions – cancel, switch providers or get better deals. Invest in your future: Think about investing in ways that are likely to outperform inflation – both shares and the property market have historically provided returns higher than inflation. Start a new business, launch a new product or service, or try a side hustle. Teach yourself about money and finances using free tools online and books from the library. Better money management helps you make the most of what you’ve got. While inflation has slowed, it is still estimated to be in the 2 - 3% range this year on top of the recent increases. By increasing your income by 4%, and making up additional through savings, while also investing for the future, you can come out on top of inflation. Worried about money? Talk to us. We have years of experience through many economic cycles, including previous periods of high inflation – and we’re always here to help.

We Did It! Hello, New Financial Year! Congratulations on making it through another EOFY (1 April 2024 – 31 March 2025)! Now is the perfect time to reset, refocus, and step into the 2025/26 financial year with confidence and clarity. A new financial year brings fresh opportunities to elevate your financial strategy. Whether you're looking to grow your business, streamline operations, or optimise tax efficiency, All Accounted For is here to support you every step of the way. Now is the ideal time to set your financial goals for the year ahead. Contact us today at 04 970 1182, and let’s work together to make this your most successful financial year yet!