Goodbye 2020 and facemask

Tidy Up Your Business Year

The end of a financial year is strategic for every business and its owner. Beyond the statutory demands, attention is focused on issues of finance and accounting, information technology, general operations and administrative tasks to critically close out the year on a good note and to start off the following year in the right perspective.

Applying some parts of the following on your business might be necessary:

Accounting

Devote more time to accounting this period to re-order your business. Managing your financial records is important throughout the year, but more this time. 

Run Your Financial Statement

Prepare your financial statements to get the balance sheets for your assets, liabilities and equity, income statements for your revenues, expenses and profits/losses, cash flow statements for cash inflows and outflows that occurred, statements of shareholders’ equity for changes in equity, if any and income statement report (profit and loss report). It tells where your business stands financially, possible outlook next year and your profit this year. 

Season’s Greetings Message to Suppliers and Customers

Send season’s greetings messages to your suppliers via bulk SMS or their social media handles. Hampers or quality gifts to major customers or clients, if funds permit, is also pleasanta great gesture also.

Reconcile your Accounts Receivable

Run a list of unpaid invoices or indebted clients for completed work. Where possible, chase the outstanding bills and collect them before the year fully winds down to further aid cash flow and a clean start in the New Year.

Information Technology (IT)

Back up and secure all files, including accounting, client files, creative briefs and emails. Do the same for your employees. Provide them with external hard drives or access to a cloud-based system to ensure data safety. 

Budget/Forecast

Draw up a budget for your business to drive your income and expenditure. Budgets keep you focused on your money goals and guide against spending unnecessarily on items and services that do not contribute anything to your financial objectives.

Staff

Take an inventory of your current staff to determine if there would be need for more in the coming year and budget for it.  How about recognising outstanding performers? It’s a great time of the year to do it.

General Business/Operations

Do Carry out an inventory count if you keep products or materials in a warehouse or on-site to make corrections to current records. If significant discrepancies are noticed, investigate and be sure that you keep accurate records and no internal loss from fraud.

With your financial statements, customer feedback and inputs from your team, assess your goals for the previous year and determine how well you did. Did you achieve what you set out to do? Or did you find yourself taking an unexpected path to a different kind of success?

Set goals for the coming year from reports of the previous year. Financial goals are a priority, so also are professional and client goals. Closing out the end of the year is herculean, but it’s practicable with a checklist.

Feautured image by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash

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