With spring having sprung and a new tax year nearly upon us, it's an ideal time for small businesses to clean out their finance cobwebs, improve administrative procedures and streamline for the year ahead.

SmallBusiness.co.uk and Bibby Financial Services have developed the following checklist to help companies get themselves in ship-shape condition for a successful 2007 and beyond:

Review the clutter - Pull out your paperwork, look over invoices, bank statements and receipts. It will look worse before it looks better, but unnecessary and untended paperwork will slow your business down in the long run. Don't panic if you find yourself confronted with a mountain of old documents, knowing where you stand is half the battle. Then it’s time to throw out what you no longer need.

Divide and conquer - Separate your remaining paperwork into manageable piles and try to organise it logically. Work through any overburdened files until you have a clean slate and clear view of your book-keeping. Time spent organising now is time saved later.

Get your business plan out of storage - With your day-to-day administrative work organised, you will have the opportunity to look at your long-term plan. Revisit your business plan and review it, adding changes where necessary. Is there anything that can be improved?

Be efficient - By taking a few moments to record all your ongoing projects it will be easier to raise an accurate invoice and will save you time in the long run. Raise the invoice immediately after the job has finished and be very clear about your payment terms to avoid late payment.

Reassess your suppliers - When was the last time you negotiated prices with your suppliers? Many companies get familiar with suppliers and forget to push them for bulk or loyalty discounts. Think what effect a five or ten per cent reduction in costs could have on your profits. Take another look at the market place and discover what new suppliers are charging to see if you are getting a fair price.

Sort out your cash flow - Is your business funding slowing down your firm's growth plans? If so, consider more innovative funding solutions. A bank overdraft that is repayable on demand may destroy any momentum you have built up heading into the new financial year. Consider invoice finance as a short-term solution; it could free up your cash flow by releasing up to 85 per cent of the value of your outstanding invoices as soon as you raise them. The invoice financier then chases payment for you - freeing up your time.

David Robertson, CEO at Bibby, says: ‘Managing a small business can be a daunting task. Many simply don't have the resources to deal with day-to-day administrative tasks required to survive. By taking the time out to organise your office and investing in efficient solutions, you can minimise your future administrative burden and refocus your efforts on business basics and long term goals.’