3 Things Your Business Must Do Before the End of the Year
By Andrew Patricio
November 09, 2016
Small Business & Entrepreneurship
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The inevitable end of year scramble is here. Getting your accounting, human resources and revenue generating activities in order now will not only comply with regulatory mandates but also help you start the new year off on the right foot. So let’s look at three things your business must do before the end of the year.
Accounting
Year-end is a busy time for your accounting team. Reduce the pain with this simple checklist.
Human Resources
Ensure you have the most relevant information on your employees and contractors by confirming their name, address, etc., before the holidays kick into high gear.
This is also the time to review employee benefits to determine if there is room for improvement. Send notices to employees about any enrollment features, withdrawal provisions and potential changes to their benefits in the coming year.
Sales & Marketing
Using the information gleaned from your accounting assessment, you should have a clear idea of how your business performed in the past year, where you were strong and where you can improve. Use this information to do in-depth accounts and marketing planning for the coming year.
If you’re a Business to Business company, focus on growing your current accounts. In addition, if you don’t have one already, develop a list of dream clients and commit to penetrating a few during the course of 2017.
Business to Consumer companies will want to focus on improving their marketing strategies. Look to improve your biggest sources of revenue and how to further optimize your web traffic, PPC spend and calls to action.
Of course to do all of this, you’ll need to gather your relevant stakeholders now so they can get started and you can go into the end of the year knowing you’re better than where you started.
Accounting
Year-end is a busy time for your accounting team. Reduce the pain with this simple checklist.
- Collect on your outstanding accounts receivable and bring your AP current.
- Review your P&L statements and bank accounts to know how well you did in the past year and how much cash you have on hand. While you’re likely already doing this regularly, this is the time to be more thorough and ask tough questions.
- Expedite your bookkeeping by collecting your relevant bank statements, GST returns, loan and lease agreements, Notices of Assessment along with relevant passwords into one, easy-to-find place. If you have a home office, be sure you know the square footage of your work space along with the total square footage of the house itself.
Human Resources
Ensure you have the most relevant information on your employees and contractors by confirming their name, address, etc., before the holidays kick into high gear.
This is also the time to review employee benefits to determine if there is room for improvement. Send notices to employees about any enrollment features, withdrawal provisions and potential changes to their benefits in the coming year.
Sales & Marketing
Using the information gleaned from your accounting assessment, you should have a clear idea of how your business performed in the past year, where you were strong and where you can improve. Use this information to do in-depth accounts and marketing planning for the coming year.
If you’re a Business to Business company, focus on growing your current accounts. In addition, if you don’t have one already, develop a list of dream clients and commit to penetrating a few during the course of 2017.
Business to Consumer companies will want to focus on improving their marketing strategies. Look to improve your biggest sources of revenue and how to further optimize your web traffic, PPC spend and calls to action.
Of course to do all of this, you’ll need to gather your relevant stakeholders now so they can get started and you can go into the end of the year knowing you’re better than where you started.