The month of July has finally passed, the year 2016 is buried behind us, with the presentation of the Corporate Tax and the deposit of the annual accounts. Once the month of August begins, the accountant who is not already on vacation will probably be counting the days or hours until the well-deserved summer break.
In these last hours, the problems of work are mixed with those of vacation logistics, so it may be inevitable that between the accounting of seats, we are thinking about the best route to reach the destination, the departure time, or how to get around.
Choosing the dates for the well-deserved rest is not a trivial matter, since since the month of August is a business month for filing tax returns, those responsible for accounting and taxes at large companies find it more difficult to find a space to enjoy their vacation, forcing them to file taxes from their vacation destination, or to fit their vacation between tax settlements.
What should an accountant do before going on vacation?
Although there are obviously big differences between the accounting work of large companies, SMEs and consultancies, there are a series of guidelines that can be followed, which are common to all those who work in accounting and the presentation of tax settlements, Which are the following:
- Leave tidy and clear workplace. It is advisable to leave everything that can be archived and everything in its place archived. It is also convenient to leave the table free of papers, which in addition to facilitating cleaning tasks, will prevent the loss of papers and prevent curious eyes from landing on papers that they do not have to look at.
- Organize and plan the work of the people who replace you. If you are part of an administration team and you are lucky enough that in your absence other people will be in charge of carrying out your work, you must indicate to them the pending tasks, train them in what they need and leave them organized the work to be done during your absence. In this case, you will also have to organize yourself better during the vacation periods of the colleagues you must replace on vacation.
- If you are one of those accountants who also takes care of the company's treasury, you must make sure bank accounts will have liquidity to attend to the charges, or leave instructions on which accounts money should be deposited into. It can make your superiors feel very bad if shortly after you leave, your boss receives a call from a bank saying that there is no money to meet the bills, while in other banks there is excess liquidity.
- Leave the work per day, is one of the most important things you should try to do, not only for the company, but for yourself, since when you return it is likely that the work from the days you were absent from the office has accumulated.
- Communicate it to colleagues with whom you interact in the office, for work reasons, banking employees, consultancies, etc...
- Anticipate or postpone bad news. If we have some bad news to give in relation to the company's situation, it is advisable to anticipate it or postpone it until you return from vacation, since it is very bad to communicate a serious problem to your bosses or colleagues on the day you leave. You can imagine the boss's face if the accountant tells him that he is going on vacation and that same day he tells him that not all of the company's payments will be able to be met.
- Leave a response message in the email indicating the period during which you will be on vacation, so that all those who send us an email know that the matter will have to wait. For urgent cases, you can provide the email or phone number of a colleague.
- Notify the Tax Agency of the courtesy days in which you do not wish to receive communications from the Tax Agency. There is nothing that can ruin an accountant's vacation more than the notification of a Treasury inspection while they are on vacation.
- Be reachable and with Internet access in case an emergency arises, but only for emergencies, since efforts must be made to respect the rest period of the workers as much as possible.
Fountain: Sage Blog
