Mid-November is a great time to start preparing for the year-end, which is the best time to get a full picture of your business’ overall health. It’s easier if you break this down into manageable steps:
- Get your financial books in order. This includes preparing, or having someone prepare, the three standard reports:
- Balance Sheet – This shows what your business owns, what it owes, and how much equity the company has.
- Income Statement – Itemize your revenue and expenses, which will show you if your business is profitable at this point in time.
- Cash Flow Statement - Reconciles your opening cash with your closing cash for a particular period, showing you where the money has gone.
- Take Inventory. Getting this done early will allow you to solve any discrepancies and make necessary adjustments.
- Review your insurance coverage, policies, and rates. Talk to your agent to see if they have any recommendations, and perhaps contact other companies for price quotes.
- Get ready for tax-time. Contact your accountant (or tax preparer) to find out which documents they need, get your receipts organized, look at your quarterly estimated tax payments to determine what your year-end cost might be, and determine if you need to file for an extension.
- Review your vendor and client lists to make sure they are accurate. (This is also a great time to send customers an email to thank them for their business.)
- Back-up your data. Experts recommend keeping back up files in at least two separate digital locations, as well as one hard copy in a separate location. You can use external hard drives or cloud-based services for storage.
- Examine your current-year goals and make goals for next year. Have you met the goals you set for this year? Why, or why not? What would you do differently? What changes do you want to make? Make your action plans and act accordingly.
Don’t forget, our Relationship Managers are here to help. They have years of business experience, knowledge, and contacts that can help you reach your financial goals.
The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Citizens State Bank and its affiliates, and Citizens State Bank is not responsible for and does not verify the accuracy of any information contained in this article or items hyperlinked within. This is for informational purposes and is no way intended to provide legal advice.