7 End of Year Planning Tips for Your Small Business

As the year comes to a close, many people are planning for the holidays and the coming year, but there’s so much more to do for business owners. Focusing on year-end tasks helps you learn and reflect on that last year and adapt what you’ve learned to your business model. It could be ways to become more efficient, see where you are in your business goals, and much more. Below are seven end-of-year planning tips for your small business.

 

 

Analyze Cash Flow Statements

When you put together a cash flow statement, along with a balance sheet and profit and loss statement, you can see where your money went and decide if you’re meeting your business goals. Look where you’re falling short and learn why it happened. It might be a seasonal shortage that occurs again in the future, or it might be something that grows into a more significant problem. Looking over your statements, you can find patterns that help you plan for the upcoming year.

 

Backup Computers and Devices

It’s a good idea to routinely back up all your data, even if you use cloud-based software. If you use a cloud-based service, you should never rely on only one backup method and have everything on at least three digital platforms in separate locations. That way, you can always access the data you need if one place is unaccessible due to outages or some other calamity.

 

Change Business Structure

Once you know your financial situation, it gives you a better idea of how you can change your business structure, if at all. The change in structure might be a simple change in how you do things, in your policies, or even changing from a sole proprietorship to an LLC or corporation. However, you can’t change your structure unless you have everything in place, which includes your taxes and having a good financial situation.

 

Plan For Taxes

Most people don’t want to think about their taxes, and they only have to do them yearly. As a business owner, you have to think about your taxes every quarter, which can become complicated. However, the good news is that you don’t have to do it alone because the experts at Taurus CPA solutions are here to help.

 

Update Vendor Lists

The end of the year is a good time to do general housekeeping, such as updating your vendor lists. Examples of this housekeeping include deleting vendors you no longer use, and updating addresses, names, and phone numbers. If you’ve added more vendors to your contacts, confirm that you have all their information. This helps make things easier when you need to reach out to a vendor, and you don’t spend time contacting a vendor that’s no longer in business or you have the wrong contact information for.

 

Update Website and Social Media

Your website and social media profiles also need some housekeeping and you can’t ignore either of them. When you visit your own site, click every link to see that it still works. You can also change the layout to give it a fresh look, the same with your social media profiles. If you don’t have time, there are professionals who can update your website for you.

 

Don’t forget to celebrate your business successes at the end of the year; you worked hard to achieve them. If you have questions about expanding or restructuring your business, or require any of our other services, don’t hesitate to reach out to us by filling out our online form, emailing us at info@tauruscpas.com, or calling us at 410-465-4600.