Your Tax Bill Should Never Be a Surprise
It never fails to amaze me how many businesses I meet who’ve never had a single tax planning conversation.
Not even a simple one like this:
“We’re in month 9 of your financial year. Let’s look at your performance so far, project the next 3 months, and estimate your tax bill.”
That one conversation, held before the year-end, can make a world of difference.
Instead, too many MDs / Business Owners / CEOs only hear about their tax bill 9 months after the year has ended — when the return is due and it’s too late to do anything about it.
Yes, estimates aren’t 100% perfect. But they give you a clear idea of what’s coming and crucially the chance to make smart, tax-efficient decisions in time.
And that single shift avoids the dreaded surprise tax bill that wrecks cash flow, spikes stress levels, and is, frankly, almost always avoidable.
3 Practical Steps to Take the Shock Out of Tax
Get visibility earlier
Ask your accountant for a “month 9 review” — an estimated tax projection before year-end. This way, you know roughly what’s coming and have time to prepare.
Build it into your rhythm
Don’t stop at once a year. A simple monthly planning process means you’re constantly setting aside money for tax. No big shocks, just steady, predictable preparation.
Invest in bookkeeping
Your tax projections are only as good as your numbers. If your bookkeeping is poor or under-resourced, your estimates will be too. This is one of the most underrated finance tasks in business — if you’re cutting corners here, it’s costing you more than you think.
From “Oh no” to “Already sorted”
With a little forward planning, tax stops being a nasty surprise and becomes just another line item you’ve already prepared for.
If you’d like to get visible when it comes to tax, let’s book a review and put a simple plan in place.
