Why year-end catches businesses off guard
Year-end accounting is rarely the work itself — it is everything that should have been done throughout the year but wasn't. Incomplete records, unreconciled bank statements and missing receipts compress into a panicked sprint that costs accountant time and can delay your tax filing.
This checklist covers the key tasks for businesses operating in the UK, France and Germany, in the order to tackle them.
Step 1: Reconcile all bank accounts
Before anything else, reconcile every account to its statement. Every transaction in your books should match a bank line, and vice versa.
Check: - All accounts including foreign-currency accounts and savings - Intercompany transfers between entities - Outstanding payments that straddled the year-end date
Unreconciled items are the single most common cause of incorrect year-end figures.
Step 2: Review debtors and creditors
- Debtors — identify invoices more than 90 days overdue. Write off genuinely irrecoverable debts before year-end so your P&L reflects reality
- Creditors — confirm all supplier invoices have been posted. A missing supplier invoice understates costs and overstates profit
Step 3: Fixed assets and depreciation
Run your depreciation schedule for the full year. Check:
- New assets are on the register with the correct cost, useful life and method
- Disposals have been removed and gains or losses recorded
- UK — Annual Investment Allowance and Writing Down Allowance applied correctly
- France — amortissement linear or dégressif applied per asset class
- Germany — AfA (Absetzung für Abnutzung) table rates applied per asset class
Step 4: VAT reconciliation
Before filing your final return for the year, reconcile the VAT control account:
| Country | What to reconcile |
|---|---|
| UK | VAT control account vs. sum of all MTD returns submitted |
| France | CA12 annual declaration vs. sum of monthly/quarterly CA3 returns |
| Germany | Umsatzsteuerjahreserklärung vs. sum of monthly UStVA returns |
Any difference requires investigation before the annual return is filed. A mismatch typically traces to an omitted credit note or a period where the wrong VAT rate was applied.
Step 5: Payroll year-end
| Country | Key task | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| UK | Issue P60s to all employees | 31 May (tax year ends 5 April) |
| UK | File P11D for benefits in kind | 6 July |
| France | Submit annual DSN summary | 31 January |
| Germany | Lohnsteuerbescheinigung to Finanzamt | 28 February |
Step 6: Prepare for your accountant
Package the following before your first meeting:
- 1Reconciled trial balance with all accounts closed to the correct period
- 2Fixed asset register with depreciation run for the year
- 3Year-end bank statements for all accounts
- 4Loan agreements or lease agreements signed during the year
- 5UK — directors' loan account balance
- 6France — compte courant d'associé balance
The cleaner the file you hand over, the lower your accountant bill.
Key filing deadlines
| Country | Return | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| UK (small company) | Corporation Tax CT600 | 12 months after year-end |
| UK | CT payment | 9 months and 1 day after year-end |
| France | Liasse fiscale (IS) | 3 months + 15 days after year-end |
| Germany | Körperschaftsteuererklärung | 31 July of the following year (with Steuerberater) |
Finovo generates an export-ready trial balance and fixed asset summary at any point in the year — so your accountant can start reviewing without waiting for a manual pack to be assembled. See the UK tax deadline calendar for every filing date, and start a free trial to keep your books year-end-ready.