We know that the end of the year is always hectic so we created 20 items to help small businesses close out 2021 and prepare for the new year.
Accounting
1. Close out and review 2021 books – Take a close look at all your income and expenses to make sure they are categorized correctly.
2. Prepare and report all 1099s – Make sure you have collected W9s from your vendors. I use Track1099.com software to file all my client’s 1099s. It’s super easy to use and all the forms are emailed to the vendors and to the IRS.
3. Prepay Expenses – are there any expenses that you can prepay in 2021 to help off set taxes?
4. Review your large purchases during the year and make any changes to your fixed asset count by recording adjustments.
5. Review Accounts Receivable – are there any balances that need to be written off?
6. Confirm that the split of principal and interest for your loan balances match year end and the 1099.
7. Review current and long-term liabilities.
8. Review financial statements – analyze current year trends and make adjustments to future forecasts.
9. Compare budget vs actuals – review variances between actual and budgeted numbers.
10. Conduct a year-end physical inventory count and record adjustments based on variances.
11. Review open purchase orders
Human Resources
12. Review employee handbook and company policies
13. Review PTO policies
14. Review bonus structure and commissions
15. Update any employee and payroll information
IT Department
15. Review open purchase orders
16. Generate necessary backup files
17. Clean up and archive files
Sales and Marketing
18. Review marketing spend to evaluate what work and what didn’t
19. Review marketing expenses to eliminate that aren’t providing a positive return on your investment
20. Review current sales processes