Some of those time-sensitive matters could ultimately impact on the amount of tax to be paid to Inland Revenue.
Bad debts
To obtain a tax deduction for any bad debts, the debt needed to be written off and evidence provided to show it was bad before balance date.
Businesses needed to review all accounts receivable and take appropriate action before the balance date, he said.
The debt needed to be written off from the debtors ledger and not just provided for in a provision for doubtful debts.
''There needs to be some support to show a prudential business person would consider the debt to be unlikely to be recovered.''
Writing off the debt in the debtors ledger did not affect the legal rights to pursue the debtor for payment, he said.
Cash handling
Businesses needed to decide whether all banking would be deposited by March 31 and whether there systems in place to record the amount of cash on hand for the accountant.
For businesses operating around the clock, business owners needed to decide when trading would be closed off and whether the accounting system supported what they wanted to do, Mr Stevenson said.
For example, did the point-of-sales system record sales based on the exact time of the transaction and feed into the accounting system or could it be closed off following the end of the night shift?Inland Revenue paid particular attention to cut-off issues in tax audits, particularly where large transactions occurred close to balance date or where there was inconsistent treatment applied from year to year in different parts of the business, he said.
Stock take
A physical stock take should be completed as close as possible to balance date, Mr Stevenson said.
The stock take should capture goods sold that were in transit - where the title had not yet passed under the terms of trade - and purchases made where title had passed.
''If the market value of the stock has decreased below cost and you want to use this method of valuing stock, your accountant needs supporting information for the market value at balance date,'' he said.
Income recognition
Checks needed to be conducted on whether any credit notes should be issued before the end of the year or if there any disputed sales transactions that could allow income to be deferred into the next tax year.
