And now, the end is near…
And so I face, the final curtain…
As we go screaming into 3rd quarter with our hair on fire, I am going to urge you to take some time to plan for year end. I know, I know. You want to throw a hot brick at my face right now, but hear me out. During the next month you have a little window before the holiday craziness hits and then "Holy crap, its 2022!" If you take the time now to do some prep, your holidays will be more enjoyable and the new year won't bring the same old panic it normally does. Here are some steps to get you started:
Get your business bookkeeping in a good spot. This will ensure that you are prepped for taxes and even more importantly, you know how your business actually doing.
Set up a check in appointment with your CPA. This can be an actual meeting, or just some emails back and forth. Have them look over your books and give you advice on things to do before the tax year closes to help you hold on to more of your hard earned cash. Here's some things they may suggest:
Set aside money to pay your tax bill if you haven't been paying estimated quarterlies or payroll taxes
Adjust your owner payroll/dividend mix in the new year
Start or fund an existing IRA or 401K pretax
Open enrollment to sign up for Health Insurance or change your plan based on your anticipated life changes next year
Start or fund a Health Saving Account if you qualify
Start the discussion to move your filing to an S-Corp
Add your spouse or child to payroll to get additional savings
Make or hold off on large purchases of equipment or real estate
Make improvements on your existing real estate or equipment
Look at personal tax strategies like refinancing, child tax credits, donations or health care costs that you should pull together.
Pull reports from your bookkeeping to see where your year actually is and start to plan for the next year. I recommend a Profit and Loss for the Year to Previous Month by Months. This shows you all of the income and expenses that have gone through your account broken out by months. This is super helpful to analyze where you are making money and how its being spent and the cycles of both throughout your year. It is also good to pull a list of outstanding client invoices that you might want to try and collect or bills that you need to pay before year end, especially larger ones.
Think about what changes you need to make in the new year and get the framework set up now. Here are some examples:
Create or update your client contract to fix some gaps in your client management process. Get ahead of things by having everything in writing.
Update pricing and give everyone ample notice so you can charge what you are worth.
Cull clients that are high maintenance or low paying to make room for your ideal clients.
Look at income growth you have planned and get a game plan for hiring and training help to allow you to keep up.
Work with a financial planner to set up investment accounts and have them ready to fund at the new year
Create a realistic plan to take maternity or paternity leave and still keep your business or organization moving forward.
Assess processes and vendors for efficiency and budget and make a plan to fix the problem areas.
Lay out a marketing and social media calendar for the new year and get help to implement it.
Lay out your priorities in your personal life as well, travel, family, less work, more fun and strategize about how to make them happen.
Take a minute to soak in the kick ass thing you are building and celebrate with your family and friends. Do us a favor and remember this: you are doing amazing things for your community and you should be proud. Write that down to remind yourself whenever you are losing your nerve.
The holidays and new year changes can leave many of us overwhelmed. Do the work now to get ahead of the curve and you can sit back and enjoy the time instead!
CLASS IS IN SESSION
When it comes to the financial functions of your small business are you confused, perplexed, fuzzy? Would you like to have a better grasp of financial terms, bookkeeping basics, tax considerations, and learn about the people you need to be on your team? YOU'RE IN LUCK!
Announcing FINANCIAL FUNDAMENTALS: Roadmap For Getting Your $h!t Together, a 90 minute Zoom course to help you understand the building blocks for running your business. Limited seats are available, so be sure to register early, and hey...bring a lost friend. Early bird registration is $5 off for a limited time, so get 'em while they're hot.
October 20,2021 at 1:00 MST via Zoom
Terrible, thanks for asking!
We love a good podcast, it’s like reading but without all the work. Whether you’re working, doing things around the house, or in the car, podcasts are the perfect way to catch up on your favorite topics without having to slow down. Recently, we discovered, “Terrible, Thanks for Asking!” You know when someone asks how you are, and you say “fine”? This is the opposite of that. It’s sometimes sad, sometimes funny, and often both.
While you’re at it, check out out our Spotify channel for other podcasts we love, as well as the music that keeps us moving!
