It’s never too early to start preparing your finances for year-end. A head start now will set you up for a smooth closing process down the road.
As you begin preparing for year-end, there are a few things to keep in mind.
You’ll want to make a plan, reconcile your accounts, run and review your reports, check in on your taxes, and meet with an experienced accountant.
Trust us, you’ll thank yourself later for taking these extra steps now. Here’s how to do it:
Preparing Your Finances Starts By Making a Plan
Your year-end closing process will go much smoother with a plan. Do your research (if necessary) and write down everything you can think of that needs to be done. Knowing this now will give you ample opportunity to find a time to do it when the time comes.
To help you with the planning process, consider (or turn to) automation. It ensures you are hitting your deadlines and running the right reports, eliminating the chance for human error. It will also eliminate time-consuming back-office tasks and maximize efficiencies, so you can spend more time focusing on the more important areas of your finances.
With the help of automation, you’ll have everything you need for the year-end closing process at your fingertips.
Reconcile Your Accounts
Preparing your finances includes making sure your books are up to date and everything makes sense. If you haven’t been doing this throughout the year, now is the time to start. Reconciling can be time-consuming and it’s important you get it right, so take the time to work out the discrepancies now, so you don’t have to rush to get it all done closer to year-end.
As an extra tip: Reconcile your accounts throughout the year. This helps you avoid the time crunch at year-end.
It’s also a good idea to time expenses and profits, so to accelerate expenditures and defer income. One way you could do this would be by paying for expenses in advance that way you know you will have later in the year. As you see areas you can prepay, you may also save money by purchasing in bulk or yearly rather than monthly. Giving yourself a general overview of what’s coming the remainder of the year is a great way to set up success in the last couple of months.
The end of the year can quickly be a red line time for business owners, which is why you want to get into those Black Friday sales and savings here as well. Stock up on office supplies and paper products, as well as computer technology, software, and video production equipment like cameras, etc. If you still have room to spend, now is a great time to start making these purchases because you’ll still have time to reconcile your accounts.
Run and Review Your Reports
Before the final months of the year, run and review your reports. Because reports are a mandatory part of any business plan and can be required for a variety of financial reasons, reviewing now will rid you of surprises down the road.
Look for areas you are off-track in your financial portfolio. Find where you need to make adjustments to meet your goals before year-end. Again, doing this now helps make the year-end closing process much easier and less stressful.
As you go into the new year, having these reports will help you create new goals and benchmarks for your business. They will serve as a guide for creating your next financial plan/strategy.
Preparing Your Finances Means Checking-In on Your Taxes
To get the most for your business, you need to set aside the most accurate amount of money to cover your tax expenses when the season comes around. For most businesses, this starts in the new year and takes up a big chunk of time throughout the spring season as the April 15th tax deadline approaches.
You want to beat that rush by having the financial reports necessary for filing and money set aside to help with tax payments. If you are filing quarterly, you will want to find out what kind of tax payment you are expected to have on a quarterly basis, or every three months. Start by seeing if your tax projections are still on track. If you haven’t been saving now, is the best time to create a plan to lessen the burden.
Meet With an Experienced Accountant
Sitting down with an experienced accounting partner, like Pasquesi Partners, and start preparing your finances for the year-end! They’ll help you accomplish your financial goals, reconcile your accounts, and ensure you run and review the right reports. If any adjustments are needed, one of our experienced accountants at Pasquesi Partners will determine where and how you can make the right changes for your business. From there, they’ll help you create the best tax plan to prepare you for year-end.
Choose Pasquesi Partners to help you and your business cover the books and find the best adjustments to help you accelerate growth with best financial practices. Contact our office today and get started with accounting services to ensure the best return on your investments by the new year.