Where each conversation fits in the client year

Your compliance calendar puts you in front of each client at fixed points in the year. Each point suits a different financial planning conversation.

5 April

the end of the tax year, a fixed deadline for pension contributions and allowances.

Assumes the personal tax year to 5 April

Using the calendar you already have

Use the meetings the compliance calendar already puts in the diary. The client expects to talk about money and the numbers are in front of both of you.

What follows assumes the personal tax year to 5 April and a spread of company year-ends. Adjust for your own client list.

January and February: The 31 January self assessment deadline has just passed and you have been through every client’s personal position. Things to look for:
Dividend income that has grown for several years with no corresponding change in the client’s plans.
A deposit interest figure that has grown, which points to cash with no stated use.
A first year of higher rate or additional rate liability, or income over £100,000, where the personal allowance is reduced by £1 for every £2 of income and is gone at £125,140 (gov.uk, Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances).
March and early April: The end of the tax year on 5 April is a fixed deadline for pension contributions and allowances.
Annual allowance and carry forward, where the oldest of the three unused years drops out on 6 April.
Employer pension contributions raised alongside the remuneration discussion, with the amount left to the Equity & General financial adviser.
Clients who said last year they would sort something out and have not.
May to July: Between the filing peaks is the time to look at the client list as a whole.
Run Client Watch in your portal on the client list you have imported, and work from the shortlist it ranks.
Check which clients have a company year-end in the autumn, so the conversation can be prepared.
Book the hour with the partnership manager for the client managers, or have them work through the training lessons in the portal, so it is fresh when the autumn meetings start.
The company year-end meeting: Whenever it falls, this is the main meeting for this purpose. The accounts are in front of you and the balance sheet shows what there is to discuss.
Surplus cash with no stated purpose.
New borrowing, and whether anything sits behind the personal guarantee.
Profit rising while drawings stay flat.
A shareholding that has grown in value with no agreement about what happens to it.
September to December: The autumn run of company year-end meetings.
The year-end meetings, which is where the balance-sheet conversations happen.
Clients who want something settled before the calendar year turns.
The point at which anybody planning a sale for the following year needs to have started.

Whenever a filing changes

Some moments do not sit in the calendar. A charge registered, a director appointed, a change in company status or a confirmation statement showing a new shareholder each say something has happened. Client Watch in your portal shows these from the Companies House record, so they can be raised without waiting for the next scheduled meeting.

Keeping it going

The question gets missed if it depends on somebody remembering it in a busy meeting. Three things keep it going.

One standing line on the year-end meeting agenda and one question in the personal tax review, so the question gets asked whether or not anybody remembered to think about it.

A note on each client’s record saying whether the conversation has happened, so a partner can see the gaps.

Client Watch in your portal, which reads the imported client list against Companies House and lists the clients with a reason for a conversation.

Financial planning for your clients, alongside the accounts and tax work

Equity & General is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. There is no charge to your firm, and we do everything to set it up for you.