Year-End Checks Every Business Owner Should Be Doing Right Now

The end of the financial year has a way of arriving before you feel ready for it. Whether you run a sole trader operation or manage a team of fifty, the weeks around 5 April tend to expose anything you have been quietly meaning to sort out since last spring. Here is a practical run through of the key areas to address, starting with the employment and payroll changes that will have the most immediate impact in April 2026.

For small business owners, the end of the tax year is always a busy time. But this April is different. Alongside the usual payroll jobs, a wave of new employment laws take effect, the national minimum wage increases and a new government enforcement body launches. All at once.

Get your payroll right before and after year-end

Payroll is where the most errors tend to cluster at this time of year, and where the consequences of getting things wrong are most immediate.

Before 5 April, confirm that all your PAYE submissions are up to date and that your Real Time Information filings match your payroll records. Discrepancies are more involved to correct after year-end and attract more scrutiny. Once the year closes, your final Full Payment Submission must be marked as the last for the tax year. P60s must be issued to all employees on your payroll as of 5 April no later than 31 May, and if you provide employee benefits, P11D and P11D(b) submissions are due by 6 July. Check the tax codes you are carrying into the new year, as HMRC issues P9 notices ahead of April and updates for employees whose circumstances have changed are easy to miss.

Auto-enrolment is worth reviewing too. Confirm that any employees who passed the age or earnings threshold during the year have been enrolled correctly and that pension contributions are being calculated on the right qualifying earnings figure.

If you use an umbrella company or engage workers through a third party, the year-end carries additional significance this time around. From 6 April 2026, joint and several liability for PAYE and National Insurance moves up the supply chain. Where an umbrella company is involved, liability sits with the umbrella and the end client, or with the umbrella and the agency where a UK agency is in the chain. 

BoostPay offers complete, independently audited transparency on all payments to HMRC in real-time providing you with complete comfort. If you cannot get clear answers about how workers on your assignments are being engaged, paid and taxed, that is a compliance risk sitting directly on your balance sheet. 

Download our free year-end checklist to make sure you're covered.

Take stock of your team costs in light of employment law changes

April 2026 brings one of the most significant rounds of employment law reform in recent memory, driven by the Employment Rights Act 2025. The changes are being phased in, but several take effect immediately and will have a direct impact on how SMEs manage their people and their payroll.

From 1 April 2026, the National Living Wage rises to £12.71 per hour for workers aged 21 and over, up from £12.21. The rate for 18 to 20 year olds increases to £10.85, and the 16 to 17 year old rate moves to £8.00. If any of your staff are paid at or close to these rates, your payroll needs to be updated before the first pay run in April.

From 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay becomes payable from day one of any period of sickness absence, and the lower earnings limit is removed, meaning more employees will qualify. The weekly SSP rate increases to £123.25, or 80% of normal weekly earnings if that is lower. For businesses that previously relied on a three-day waiting period to manage short-term absence, this is a meaningful change to both policy and cost.

Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave both become day-one rights from 6 April. Employees will no longer need to have completed 26 weeks or a year of service respectively before qualifying. If you have taken on staff recently, they may now have rights you would not previously have needed to consider. Review your contracts and policies to make sure they reflect the new position.

A new Fair Work Agency will be established on 7 April 2026, consolidating existing enforcement functions and taking on new powers including enforcement of holiday pay. The message for SMEs is straightforward: record-keeping and compliance on pay and working time will receive more scrutiny. The maximum protective award for failure to collectively consult on redundancies also doubles from 90 to 180 days' pay per employee from 6 April. If you are considering any restructuring this year, take proper advice on your consultation obligations before you act.

The changes coming in January 2027, including the reduction of the unfair dismissal qualifying period to six months, are not far behind. Now is a sensible time to review your employment contracts and staff handbook as a whole rather than making piecemeal updates each time a new provision lands.

Get your books in order before the deadline

Make sure your accounts are accurate and up to date before your accountant needs them. For directors, check that dividends taken during the year are properly documented with board minutes and sit within available profits. For sole traders, make sure your self-assessment records reflect reality rather than estimates. It is also worth looking at your debtor book honestly. Bad debts formally written off before year-end can reduce your tax liability, and outstanding supplier invoices need to be accounted for in the right period.

Plan your cash flow for the year ahead

The new financial year is a natural moment to map out the next twelve months. When are your biggest costs likely to fall? Are there months where income traditionally dips? If you are carrying short-term pressure on cash, explore your options before the problem arrives. 

BoostPay Flex allows businesses to pay suppliers using major business credit cards including Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and Capital on Tap, extending payment terms by up to 54 days while earning rewards points on spend, with zero Benefit in Kind liability confirmed by HMRC. It is exactly the kind of tool worth knowing about before the squeeze arrives.

Is your mortgage still working for you?

If your income is drawn through a combination of salary and dividends, or if you are self-employed, your borrowing options can look quite different from those available to someone in conventional employment. The picture your accounts paint at year-end matters to a lender, which makes the period just after filing a natural time to review what you could access. 

BoostPay Mortgages works with business owners who need a broker that understands how their income is actually structured rather than one applying a standard affordability calculator. Whether you are looking at a remortgage, a new property, or simply reviewing your options, it is worth a conversation.

Start the new year with a clearer head

Most of what is covered here is not complicated in principle. The difficulty is finding the time while the business is still running around you. The SME owners who feel most in control at this time of year are usually the ones who set aside a specific block of time in March rather than waiting to see how the year ended up.

Download our free checklist to make sure you're covered.