It’s Time to Review Your Year-End Checklist

The end of the year is quickly approaching. If you haven’t already, it’s time to refer to your year-end checklist. Every business should have their own year-end checklist that helps them wrap a nice, neat bow on the prior 365 days. The checklist heavily applies to your finances and bookkeeping, but can also hit other areas of your business. You can adapt your checklist overtime to fit your business to a T. 

Your year-end checklist will include many of the same tasks you complete at month’s end on your bookkeeping. This includes a final inventory check, reconciling accounts, sending reminders for unpaid invoices, then closing out your Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable, and accruing them. Ideally, each task on your checklist should have a “date to be completed by” so you won’t miss any year-end reporting or processing deadlines. 

Although this is the same as your monthly reconciliation checklist, this is the most important checklist of the year. Not only does it help wrap up your finances for the year, but you can use this data to compare it to past years in business so you can better forecast for the future. 

Year-end reconciliation can seem daunting, but if you have been keeping up with your books and monthly reconciliation, your year-end closing will be much easier. Rather than hunting for missing receipts or fixing data entry issues, you can direct your focus to running and reviewing reports, setting a budget for the next year, and determining business goals for the next twelve months to come. 

Beyond wrapping a bow on the year, your year-end checklist is vital for preparing for tax season. If you have your books and business in order by the time we ring in the New Year, it will make tax time that much easier for you. Instead of stressing over missing information and finding forms, you’ll already have things in-line and ready to go (for the most part). 

We recommend creating your own year-end checklist for your business, including tasks, deadlines, and the individual(s) responsible for completing each task. Use this as a guide for all the moving pieces so that nothing will slip through the cracks. We wish you luck!