While strong, dependable financial practices remain a predominant key to the current and future success of your business, too many businesses fail to implement them. Despite recognizing that poor and inconsistent financial management excels in causing weak business performance and growth, most business owners still fail to carry out the necessary financial tasks to keep things running smoothly and successfully. Here are some ways to help implement these practices.
Begin by creating a month-end close process with your accountant. This procedure supports businesses by preventing lost revenue, poor tax planning and missed financial opportunities. Beware: delaying the close out until the end of the year is often an overwhelming process. With early year events past the point of basic remedy, trying to evaluate an entire year’s worth of transactions promotes an extremely tedious process that could have been prevented.
Try these tips for a streamlined month end close:
• Create a detailed closing schedule. Regularly refer to this schedule to keep yourself on task.
• Create a closing procedure with checklists- this will keep you from missing important steps.
• Conduct a pre and post close meeting focusing on the status of any open items from the last close, any open items that need address from the current close- and create a plan to complete these tasks.
• Analyze data from month to month focusing on any item out of the ordinary and use this as an opportunity to discuss with your accountant instead of waiting until year-end tax preparation.
If you would like to create a process like this for your business, reach out as I would be more than happy to help. Most folks are amazed at just how much following a monthly process can benefit their business and it’s performance, while managing and ensuring sustainable growth. With years of experience assisting even the most complex businesses in creating their own tried and true processes, we can outpace and out preform any alternatives. Our success with the firms we work with demonstrate the value we can provide to your own. Take action and cure the headache of financial overwhelm by contacting us today!