Welcome to January! Time to get ahead of your planning and preparation for the year ahead, particularly, to get ready for significant employment and tax changes. We’ve collated a list of nine essential tasks that you should tackle this month. Read on to learn more and let us know if we can help!

1. Add it to your diary

Start planning by adding events and critical actions to your diary. The Hour Hands team highly recommend colour coding activities so you can see at a glance whether the activity is a customer meeting, team event or a critical activity with HMRC or legal implications. We’re thinking about the Self Assessment deadline on 31st January for online returns covering the 2024-25 tax year, for example. If you’re VAT-registered, ensure your quarterly return dates are marked up. With increasing late payment interest rates and penalties, staying on top of deadlines has never been more important.

If this sounds like an onerous task, why not ask us to help? We can manage your inbox too, ensuring that actions are transferred into your diary.

2. Review your bookkeeping

Before the financial year-end approaches in April, ensure your bookkeeping is up-to-date. Reconcile your bank accounts, chase outstanding invoices, and check that all expenses are properly recorded and categorised. This groundwork will make your year-end accounts far less stressful and help you spot any financial issues early. If you’ve fallen behind, maybe our experienced bookkeepers can help?

3. Prepare for April’s Employer NI changes

Firstly, ensure that your team’s payroll codes are updated as per notifications from HMRC. Secondly, be aware that from 6 April 2025, employer National Insurance contributions will rise from 13.8% to 15%, whilst the earnings threshold drops from £9,100 to £5,000 annually. This means you’ll start paying NI on employee earnings much earlier. The good news? Employment Allowance is increasing from £5,000 to £10,500, and the £100,000 threshold restriction has been removed, meaning many small businesses will pay no employer NI at all. Take the time now to calculate how these changes will affect your payroll costs and adjust your cash flow forecasts accordingly. Need help? Call us!

4. Recruit help for your big admin tasks

January often means the start of a substantial project – be this defining a new product or service, investigating new accountancy or CRM software, establishing the framework for a new project or campaign, creating an employee or customer recognition programme – this list goes on. All this takes time to schedule meetings, undertake the research, and investigate what your competitors are doing! This is where the Hour Hands team excels – our experienced PAs can manage all these tasks and more, giving you the data you need to make decisions or managing the project management side of the task so you can concentrate on the actual work. If you have a large project planned – or smaller, regular admin tasks, then give us a call!

5. Budget for National Minimum Wage increases

The National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over rises to £12.21 per hour on 1st April (up from £11.44). Those aged 18-20 will see their minimum wage jump to £10 per hour, whilst apprentice rates increase to £7.55. Review your payroll to identify affected employees and budget for these increases and consider whether your pay structure needs adjusting. Our experienced bookkeepers can help.

6. Research and attend networking events

New year equals potential new clients and new opportunities. We all know that ‘people buy people’, so put yourself and your team out into the marketplace by attending networking events. You may need to attend a few to find the type of event and location that suits your business but we promise that you will find many ways to promote your business. Can we help you investigate options and suggest networking events that may work well for you?

7. Prepare for the implementation of the Employment Rights Bill

The Employment Rights Bill received royal assent in December 2025 bringing in changes to employment law that include:
● Reducing the unfair dismissal qualifying period from two years to six months
● Enhanced protections against dismissal and re-engagement (fire and rehire)
● New rights for zero-hours contract workers
Use January to audit your current contracts, dismissal procedures, and HR policies so you can understand the Bill’s impact on your business.

8. Review employee benefits and P11D reporting

Review any benefits in kind you’ve provided to employees during the 2025-2026 financial year as you’ll need to report these on P11D forms by 6 July 2026. Getting organised now will prevent a July scramble. Note: for the 2026-2027 tax year, you’ll need to report benefits via payroll so this could be the last time you complete a P11D. How can our bookkeepers help you with this task?

9. Complete your admin housekeeping

Start the year with a thorough admin review. Update your company records at Companies House if there have been changes to directors or registered addresses. Review your business insurance policies, are they still adequate for your needs? Check that contracts with suppliers and key customers are current. Ensure your data protection practices comply with GDPR, particularly if you’ve introduced new systems or ways of collecting customer information. Our professional PAs can support you with this task.

Do you need an extra pair of hands to help?

Preparation in January will pay dividends throughout the year and it’s definitely worthwhile to spend the time getting on top of various administration and bookkeeping tasks now.

If any of these tasks feel overwhelming, consider whether it’s time to invest in professional support. The cost of expert help now could save you considerably more in penalties, errors, or missed opportunities later in the year and we can pretty much guarantee that it will reduce your stress levels. Give Hour Hands a call and we’ll be happy to help.