Getting your records ready for your accountant: a monthly routine

Most accountants in Cyprus will tell you the same thing: the hardest part of their job is not the tax, it is waiting for the paperwork. When records arrive complete and on time, your VAT returns are quicker, your year-end is cheaper, and you get advice while it can still change something.

Here is a routine that takes about half an hour a month.

Week by week: record as you go

The routine only works if the basics happen during the month:

• Invoices: issue them from your invoicing software as you do the work, so each one is numbered and recorded the moment it exists.
• Payments: when money arrives, record it against the right invoice straight away, with the bank reference.
• Expenses: record each one with its category, the amount before VAT and the VAT rate, and attach the receipt. A photo taken the same day beats a faded receipt found in a car door three months later.

Once a month: the 30-minute check

On the first working day of the month, go through the previous month:

1. Invoices: are all the jobs you did invoiced? Look for work delivered but never billed.
2. Payments: compare the payments recorded with your bank statement. Anything in the bank that is not recorded? Anything recorded that never arrived?
3. Expenses: compare your card and bank statement with the expenses recorded. Every business payment should have an expense and a receipt behind it.
4. Unpaid invoices: look at what is overdue and chase it.
5. Questions: write down anything unusual (a big purchase, a loan, a new type of income) to ask your accountant.

At the end of each quarter

After the monthly check for the last month of the quarter, send your accountant:

• the sales and tax summary reports for the quarter,
• the expenses report with the receipts attached,
• your list of questions.

Do it in the first week after the quarter ends and your accountant has the whole month before the VAT deadline to work with. See VAT registration and returns for the dates.

Make it easy to share

The simplest arrangement is to give your accountant their own login with read access to invoices, payments, expenses and reports. They look up what they need when they need it, and you stop exporting spreadsheets. In ToLogistiko you can add your accountant as a staff user with exactly the permissions you choose; see inviting your team.

In short

Record invoices, payments and expenses as they happen, spend 30 minutes a month checking them against the bank, and send the quarter's reports in the first week after it ends. Your accountant will thank you, and your fees will reflect it.