At the end of each calendar year, there are a few considerations for businesses. The end of the year is more of a psychologically significant time as people reflect on the past year and look forward to the future. It’s a natural time for planning, review budgeting, and forecasting.
Tips for Year-End Preparation
Preparing for year-end payroll can be challenging, here are a few tips to make it easier on your business and managers.
What should companies look at and plan for as a new year approaches?
Among the things companies should do going into a new year is to create a budget for the coming year. Project the costs of any potential purchases, such as equipment and hiring new people, and determine at what point of the year it’s anticipated those will happen.
Budgets
Make budgets measurable so as to not create something that can never be achieved. Do, however, make it a stretch to achieve. And make the budget time-bound. If you’re planning to increase annual revenue, you should map out how much increase the company will need to achieve each quarter to reach that goal. Don’t set goals too high or it will make the budget unrelated.
Prepare for emergencies by creating an emergency fund that’s at least twice normal operating expenses.
Manage Debt
It’s also wise to manage debt. Many companies confuse what they can borrow with what they should borrow. If the debt on a company’s books makes it highly leveraged, plans should be made to eliminate some of that debt. Some of a company’s investments should go toward paying down its debt.
Prepare for the Unexpected
Have a plan in place to prepare for these unexpected events. A good first step is to cross-train associates to protect business operations against an employee who decides to leave and create a safeguard against a fraudulent employee so someone is able to look over his or her shoulder. Also, create a disaster recovery plan to backup critical company data on a daily basis so that if something happens a backup can restore within 24 hours.
Find a Way to Give Back
Find a way to give back to the community. Find a cause that matters to the organization and donate, volunteer, or become a board member. It goes a long way toward making the community a better place to live and do business.
When should planning begin and how should those plans roll out?
The last quarter of the year is the when to budget for the coming year. It’s when the most relevant historical financial information and potential sales commitments are in for the first half of the next year.
Expense-side budgeting is often fairly easy since items such as payroll and operating expenses tend to remain stable from year to year. The hardest task is projecting revenue for the next 12 months. Often the first half of the year’s revenue is clear, but the back half could be a guess. Set a revenue target to grow to and write those numbers down.
Who should be involved in year-end planning?
When planning for the upcoming year, involve the organization’s trusted management team. When the planning meeting is over, everyone has to be on the same page. Goals must be attainable and measurable. Then set out to accomplish them one step at a time so the bigger, annual goal can be achieved.
Be bold when planning. Companies that do the same things they did the previous year aren’t putting themselves in a growth position. Business owners should regularly delegate the tasks they’ve learned, clearing the way for them to take on new responsibilities that position the company for growth. That can be hard for some people to do, but delegating key responsibilities to the management team makes for a stronger organization
Get Help With Year-End Planning
All the tips in the world won't make year-end planning easy, but it can certainly make it more manageable. For more help with preparing for year end, take a look at our year end prep checklist. Or contact us today.
