Is Your Business Ready for Christmas?
Christmas is truely the most wonderful time of the year and it is a great time to stop and relax with family and friends. So, here is some quick tips on how to make sure your business is ready for the Christmas closure period.
1. Do you have a payroll during the closure period?
It is vital to ensure a smooth payroll processing over the Christmas break. Many employees will take annual leave over the time so it is important to process your payroll correctly and legally over the time.
Tip is, where possible, to process the pay run prior to the closure period and then set a payment date for the pay run in your internet banking.
If your payroll is more complex, you should try and complete a lot of the checks and balances prior to the closure period and even consider an outsourced payroll solution to ensure continuity of service no matter the time of the year.
Make sure you also consider all the public holidays and penalty rates over this period.
Speak to us about our Outsourced Payroll Solution
2. Have you communicated the closure period to your customers?
Most of your customers will probably be close during the Christmas and New Year period but making sure you tell them is important.
Communication is key, so best to send out an email about what dates you are closing or letting them know the cut of times for orders so they can plan accordingly.
3. Have you arranged payment of bills during the closure period?
Making sure you have arranged the correct payment dates for your bills will prevent any emails and calls from creditors over the Christmas break. We recommend you set payment dates for any of your bills that need to be paid over the period.
You should communicate to your creditors any cut of time for them to send bills through and also let them know if there will be a delay in payments.
Speak to us about our Expense Management Solution
4. Set your auto reply on your emails and voice message.
To ensure you have a smooth return to work in the new year, we recommend having an email auto reply. This should detail the period of time that you are away and when you will return.
If you receive a large volume of emails you can mention that emails will not be checked and that the sender should re-send the email upon your return.
Example:
"Hi, thank you for your email. [Business Name] is closed for the Christmas and New Year period between 24 December 2022 and 8 January 2023. During this time I will not be monitoring my email. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Regards, [Name]"