Reflecting on your financial year

Reflecting on your financial year: What needs to change for 2025?

How has your year been, financially?

Perhaps business has been booming, and you’ve had a record year. Maybe your figures have looked less than ideal, but you’ve encountered a few challenges in the last 12 months that have made it difficult to achieve the goals you set for yourself at the start of 2024.

Either way, you should be proud of everything you’ve achieved. It takes guts and a great deal of effort to stay trading, especially in today’s difficult economy, so give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back!

That said, now is the time to look to the future and work out what you need to do to set yourself on course for a successful and profitable New Year.

Financial planning and tax considerations

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail – so when it comes to your financial obligations, you need to get organised.

Here are the vital dates you need to be aware of in 2025. Not all of them will apply to you, and you’ll already know about some of them – but it never hurts to double check that you and your finance team are working to the right schedule!

  • The next tax year starts on 6th April 2025 and ends on 5th April 2026.
  • If you are self-employed and need to submit a self-assessment for the 2023/24 tax year, you’ll need to file it and pay your first instalment by 31st January 2025. (If you are told to pay a second instalment, this will be due by 31st July 2025.)
  • Sole traders and partnerships will also need to submit payment for capital gains tax accrued in the previous tax year by 31st
  • If you are registered for VAT, these charges are due quarterly, 1 month and 7 days after the accounting period.
  • If you are not yet registered for VAT but think you might surpass the VAT threshold soon, you’ve got 30 days to sign up.
  • PAYE remittance to HMRC in paper form is due on the 19th of each month. Online remittance is due on the 22nd of each month.
  • P11D forms for employee benefits need to be submitted to HMRC before 6th July 2025.
  • Your corporation tax payment deadline is 9 months and 1 day after the accounting period. The corporation tax return deadline is 12 months after the accounting period.
  • If you need to make CIS deductions, you need to calculate the payments that need to be made to your contractors between the 6th and 5th of every month, and they must be filed and paid to HMRC by the 19th of each month.

What’s changing in 2025?

Largely due to the recent change in government, a ton of new legislation will be coming into play throughout 2025. Here are the two main developments that are set to affect employers:

New National Living Wage rates will be applicable from 1st April 2025. Take a look at the table below for the full breakdown. These additional costs will need to be factored into your wage bill.

Rate from April 2025 Increase in £ Increase in %
21 years old and over
£12.21
£0.77
6.7
18-20 year old rate
£10.00
£1.40
16.3
16-17 year old rate
£7.55
£1.15
18
Apprentice rate
£7.55
£1.15
18
Accommodation offset
£10.66
£0.67
6.7

From the same date, National Insurance (NI) employer contributions will be going up from 13.8% to 15%. On top of this, the threshold at which you will be expected to pay NI will be lowered from £9,100 to £5,000. This could increase your payroll costs quite significantly, depending on how many people you employ.

Additional reads to help you overhaul your accounting processes

I’ve put together a great range of articles in the last couple of years that are packed full of advice for SMEs on how to better manage their bookkeeping and accounting tasks. Keeping on top of these responsibilities will not only help you meet your obligations – it also makes sure your figures are completely up to date, so you can view accurate insights into how your business is performing at any given time.

Check out some of the links below, or contact me if you’re convinced 2025 is the year you need to bring in professional bookkeeping support!

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