Getting Our House In Order
Getting Our House In Order
By Dee Taylor-Jolley
It's 12:45am and I'm still at my desk, sorting through emails. Fiscal year end information from my CPA is in the stack to my left and our unfinished Christmas card list is to the right. Our Christmas tree has lights but no bulbs or garland. And we've gone to three holiday parties so far this week.
But while we're in the midst of this Christmas season, I believe this is the prefect time to start preparing for 2014! Yes! Make the time!
Remove yourself from the holiday activity. Create an hour a day, early in the morning or late at night (like me) and plan! We're already dealing with year-end financials, so lets just go a step further with the information we have and complete our business planning for next year. And even get our personal house in order along the way.
Here's my checklist. Use it as a guide to review your current progress or get your planning off to a smart start.
1. Organize your financials.
Whether you're a solo proprietor or a small businessperson with a bookkeeper and/or CPA, you need to track all your expenses and monies earned. Get that information together. Ask for professional help. It's cheaper than having the IRS figure it out for you!
2. Study your financials.
With your balance sheet - a summary of how your business is doing, i.e. assets, liabilities and equity;
Your income statement – itemizing your revenue and expenses to determine if your business is profitable at a particular point in time and
Your cash flow statement - reconciling your opening and closing cash for a particular period which shows where the money has gone for the year, we determine where our business is right now! So, what's the profit margin for this year?
3. Gather and Review.
Find last year's business plan, the goals, action plans and accomplishments along with the financials from above. With all of this information in hand, we can answer the question, how did we get to our bottom line (hopefully) profit margin. Did our business accomplish what it set out to do? Why or why not? What must we change for 2014?
4. Plan Tax Strategy.
Sit with your CPA to determine your best tax approach for 2014 based on your 2013 review and projected revenue. Should you pay estimated taxes?
5. Plan for 2014.
With the review of our current financials, last year's goals, action plans and accomplishments, we are ready to plan for 2014. Here we go...
- Write down your top five (5) goals.
- List who is ultimately accountable for the achievement of the goal.
- Set the deadline for each goal.
- Prepare an action plan for each goal. Several action plans and a variety of resources may be required to achieve each goal!
6. On the Personal Front.
Fund your IRA or Roth IRA to the max.
Increase your 401K contributions to the max.
Track your social security contributions online.
Save 10% (at least) of every dollar!
Hopefully my year-end checklist has inspired you to get going! You determine your own destiny by what you do right now!
Dee Taylor-Jolley, MEd, COO, Willie Jolley Worldwide
Dee Taylor-Jolley is the President of The Jolley Institute, the learning division of Willie Jolley Worldwide, which focuses on presentation skills, leadership development and customer service.
She holds a Masters Degree in Curriculum Design from The Catholic University of America.
