Happy (almost) New Year! 2024 is nearly over and 2025 is just around the corner. As you celebrate the holidays and the end of another (hopefully awesome!) year, take some time to prepare your business for the coming year.

Evaluate the past year for your business

Ask yourself: What went well? What didn’t? What changes do you want to make in the new year, and what things do you want to keep the same? Write down your ideas and plans so you can reference them throughout the year. 

Reconcile accounts and close books

Go through your accounting software and do reconciliations for all of your accounts (if you’re not sure what that means, check out our blog post on reconciliations). This will help you make sure that the transactions you have recorded in your system match the transactions on your bank statements, so that there are no duplicates or errors. That way, your end of year reports will be accurate. 

Review your income and expenses

In addition to reviewing the big picture items, get down to details. Look over your income and expenses for the year. If you’re a Quickbooks user, you can go to Reports and download a copy of your 2023 Profit and Loss statement. Where did most of your income come from? Is that what you expected? What are you spending the most on? Consider canceling any subscriptions or services that are no longer helping your business. 

Take a photo of your odometer reading

If you track business mileage, you also need to track the total annual mileage on your vehicle. Take a photo of your car’s odometer on December 31st every year and then you’ll know total mileage driven year after year.

Start preparing for tax season

Tax season will be here before you know it. But don’t let that stress you out! You can prepare by gathering all of your tax documents and saving them together in a folder. This includes things like W2s, 1099s (received or issued), K1s, investment account statements, donation receipts, health insurance statements, and property tax receipts. If you’re not sure exactly what forms you might need, check your previous year tax return to see what income and expenses you included. You’ll also want to contact a tax preparer before they’re swamped with tax returns and deadlines. Psst… we can help! You can learn more about our tax processes here or book a discovery call to get on our client roster.

Make plans and projections for the new year

Now that you’ve evaluated what worked and what didn’t, it’s time to make plans for the new year! Here are a few questions to consider:

• What are your financial goals for the upcoming year?
• Is your work schedule going to change at all? If so, how will that impact your business?
• Are your current offers aligned with your current goals or do you need to make adjustments?
• Are there investments or expenses that are no longer serving you?
• When was the last time you increased your pricing? Is it time to do that again?
• Will your business need additional help from team members in the near future? Or perhaps it needs less support?
• Do you intend to have a budget? If so, what is it?
• What known expenses are approaching? Have you saved for these investments?
• Are your debt and savings accounts in a place that you are comfortable with or do you need to funnel more money into these accounts?
• Based on current finances and projected finances, do you expect to hit your target profits or do you need to make adjustments?

If you took the time to read this article, we already know you’re going to have a killer 2025. Half of your success is in your mindset! So GO YOU for having a desire to learn, grow, expand, and change based on the needs of your company. 

As you reflect on what will make next year your best year yet, remember that sometimes that includes delegating. You want to make the most of your money and we want to help! So if hiring out for bookkeeping or taxes is one of the changes you plan to make this year, we know some people that can help! Surprise! It’s us 🥳 We aren’t one size fits all here. There are various packages we offer to fit your business’s needs and goals. Check them out here!