Say Goodbye to Surprise Tax Bills Empowering Forward Planning in Accounting

31 Jul 2023 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:33

In this segment, Robin Waite argues that accounting should shift from a retrospective approach to a proactive, forward‑looking strategy. He emphasizes the importance of regularly (monthly and quarterly) estimating tax liabilities—VAT, corporation tax, and personal income tax—and setting aside cash in dedicated buckets. By doing so, businesses can avoid unexpected tax bills when year‑end accounts are finalized. Waite frames this forward‑planning as essential financial management and hints at controversy surrounding the adoption of such proactive practices.

Chapters

Accounting shouldn't be backward looking. It should be about forward planning, making sure that every month, every quarter, you're very clear on how much tax you owe and you've got the money set aside in those tax, those buckets, so that at the end of the year when the accountant does his calculations and formalizes your books, you've already got the cash there to pay for those bills. Okay, no more surprise VAT bills, no more surprise corporation tax bills, no more surprise personal income tax bills which you've got to pay. So this is about being forward thinking. This is where we start to get into the controversy. Okay. No.