How to Get Ahead of Year-End: 3 Tips for Your Small Business

Every year, the last quarter brings stress, chaos, and anxiety for business owners and accounting or HR professionals. Wrapping up the financial books and planning for the following year is a time-consuming process with several extra tasks to handle on top of your regular workload.

Follow our three tips to make sure you’re ready for the end of 2021.

1. Wrap Up Your 2021 Books with Confidence

The last quarter of the year is a critical time to manage your financial and tax records. Make sure you stay on top of filing taxes properly, keeping employees informed, and buttoning up your books, all while maintaining compliance. 

Here are some things to keep in mind as you are wrapping up your books -- download our checklist for the whole list!

• Verify Employee Information and File W-2s
• Verify Contractor Information and File 1099s
• Run Year-End Bonuses
• Register with the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS)

2. Create or Update Your Employee Handbook

An Employee Handbook is a tool that keeps you and your team members on the same page with company policies and employee expectations. 

If you’ve never created an Employee Handbook, now is the ideal time so that you can enter 2021 with your procedures and policies stated clearly. And, if you have an employee handbook but have not revisited it during 2020, now is the perfect time to update it per COVID-19 legislation, requirements, and learnings. 

In light of COVID-19, make sure your Employee Handbook has guidelines and policies to cover the following:

• COVID-19 Legislation 
• Work from Home 
• Time Off
• Travel 

Find out more on how to create or update your Employee Handbook here. 

3. Reflect on 2021 and Set Goals for 2022

As tempting as it can be to close the book on the current year and never look back, the final months of the year offer the ideal time to reflect and prepare for next year.

Here are a few thought-starters to consider yourself or discuss with your leadership team:

• What feedback do our employees have for us? (Consider sending out a year-end survey to your team to understand where they are and what concerns they have.)
• How did we pivot and adapt to change this year? What were the highs and lows of adapting to new business approaches? 
• What were the most (and least) effective internal communication tools and methods for communicating with our team? Are there ways that we can standardize and systemize these moving into 2022?
• Did we see growth in any areas this year, no matter how small? How can we learn from this growth and bring the momentum into 2022?
• Let’s assume 2022 will bring just as many challenges and curveballs as the last couple of years. What programs and changes would we begin to implement now based on this knowledge?

Once you’ve taken the time to reflect on and learn from 2021, set some goals for 2022. Remember, a SMART goal is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Based. But, also consider if and how you will modify goals in the event of unforeseen circumstances (as we’ve all learned the hard way).

What are some of the other ways you’re planning to wrap up 2021? Share this article on Facebook or LinkedIn along with your tips to help out fellow businesses!