Your Summer Shutdown Cash Flow Checklist: Sort It in October, Relax in January
Your summer shutdown cash flow checklist
Every year it's the same story. December flies by in a blur of end-of-year drinks and last-minute jobs. You close the doors, head to the beach, and switch off properly for the first time in months.
Then mid-January arrives. The inbox is quiet, the bank balance is lighter than you'd like, and GST and provisional tax are both due on the 15th.
None of that is a surprise. It happens every single year. Which is exactly why you can plan for it - and October is the time to do it.
Why October, specifically?
October is far enough out that you still have real options. You can bring invoicing forward, chase what's owed, and set money aside while there's still steady cash coming in. Leave it until December and you're not planning anymore, you're just hoping.
The summer squeeze, in plain terms
Three things tend to collide over the break:
Money in slows down. Clients get busy, go on holiday, or quietly push your invoice to "after Christmas."
Money out doesn't. Wages, holiday pay, rent, subscriptions and suppliers all keep ticking along.
Tax lands early. For most businesses, GST and a provisional tax instalment are both due on 15 January, right when things are at their quietest.
On their own, each one is manageable. Together, they're the reason January feels harder than it should.
Your checklist
Work through these before the end of October:
Lock in your shutdown dates. Decide when you're closing and reopening, and let your team and clients know. If you're asking staff to take annual leave over a closedown, they need at least 14 days' notice.
Work out your holiday pay. Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day and 2 January all fall in the break, plus any annual leave. Know the total before it comes out of the account.
Map your cash flow 12 weeks out. Use the Short-Term Cash Flow tool in Xero (or Cash Flow Forecast in MYOB). Mark your shutdown, holiday pay and 15 January tax payments, and see where it gets tight.
Bring invoicing forward. Anything you can bill in November, bill in November. Consider deposits or progress payments for work that runs into the new year.
Chase what's owed now. A friendly reminder in October gets paid. The same reminder on 20 December gets read in February.
Ring-fence your tax. Move your GST and provisional tax amounts into a separate account as you go, so the 15 January payment is already sitting there waiting.
Check your buffer. Ideally you want enough cash to cover the quiet weeks plus your tax, without needing that first January invoice to land.
If the numbers don't add up
That's useful to know now, not in January. You've still got options: adjusting payment terms, talking to suppliers, arranging a tax payment plan early, or simply spreading costs differently. The earlier you spot a gap, the more choices you have.
The bit where we say the obvious thing
A cash flow plan is only as good as the numbers behind it. If your books are behind or you're not sure what's actually coming in and going out, that's the first thing to sort.
That's what we're here for: clean numbers, straight answers, and a team who'll help you map out your summer so the break actually feels like one.