Whether you’re a sports fan or not, we all understand the value of keeping score and tracking player statistics for performance.
The Sports Connection
Imagine coaching an AFL team, but there are no scores or statistics tracked during the games. Every game is played without breaks, and at the end of the season, you’re handed a report by the AFL boss (your accountant) showing you how many games you lost without guidance on where things went wrong.
Frustrating, right? The same thing happens when businesses don’t regularly check their performance. Without real-time data, you can’t make adjustments throughout the year. By the end of the financial year, your business might face issues like cash flow problems or missed tax opportunities.
The Power of Strategic Play
Coaches and their assistants track player stats during every game, and umpires pass data to the scorers. At the end of each quarter, coaches can spot weaknesses and identify areas that need adjustment to improve the outcome before the game ends.
How often do we see teams getting thrashed at quarter-time or even 3/4-time, only for the coaches to make a few strategic changes and pull off a miraculous win?
Applying It To Business
In business, a review and strategy adjustment after the 3rd quarter can have a dramatic outcome and help you achieve a far greater result when the end-of-year financial statements are prepared. Unfortunately, many business owners don’t track their numbers regularly and fail to understand how much benefit minor adjustments or structure changes can have in profits in the coming year.
You wouldn’t coach footy blind, so why run a business blind?
The Value of Proactive Accountants
Most accountants provide quarterly reports, but a proactive business and tax adviser goes further, offering insights on performance and actions that can be implemented to impact your numbers.
This is the difference between a compliance-only accountant and a proactive adviser who understands how to drive change through informed decisions. As Sphere owner Neil Copp puts it, “The right coach doesn’t just tell you how you are going —they guide you on how you can improve.”
If you’re not treating your accountant as your business advisor, you’re missing out on the chance to adjust your “game plan” before the end of the financial year. Without strategies like tax minimisation, you could let profits slip through your fingers, missing opportunities that could cost you a win.
Securing a Win
Year-end tax strategies are a large part of the quarterly business improvement strategies. Think of it as the 3rd quarter of the game, and you have one last chance to make major changes that can influence the outcome at the end of the game.
If you knew you could increase profits by analysing the last three quarters and making strategic adjustments before June, you’d grab that chance, wouldn’t you?
And if you could ensure you’re not paying more tax than necessary, wouldn’t you take action? Would you seize the opportunity to secure a win?
