Today's Tip
Now is a good time to review your financial documents and maximize year-end profits.
With the end of the year approaching, now is a good time to review your financial documents so you can make any adjustments you need to maximize year-end profits. Consider these four tips to assess where your business stands:
1. Analyze your performance.
Review your company's year-to-date financials with your CPA or CFO. If your revenue and/or profits are below goals, what can you do to increase them? Can you boost sales through increased promotions, or cut expenses to boost profits? If you are above your revenue or profit goal, can you plow those funds into promotions to further boost sales, or invest in expansion to set the stage for further growth in 2011?
2. Make tax-wise decisions.
Ask your CPA or CFO what you can do now to manage your tax burden. Do you need to increase or decrease estimated tax payments? Can you take advantage of any economic stimulus opportunities?
3. Schedule regular budget meetings.
If you don't already, meet with key staff members frequently to discuss sales forecasts, actual sales and the budget so you can manage sales, order fulfillment and expenses as effectively as possible.
4. Plan for 2011.
What are your goals for next year? How will you accomplish them? What team do you need in place to achieve your goals? Even though it is always tempting to focus on the sales opportunity or customer crisis of the moment, be sure to take the time to plan for next year. This doesn't need to be a formal business plan – just a few pages will do – but the process of blocking out your financial, operational, personnel, and marketing goals can be invaluable to the success of your business.
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
- Putting Together a Business Loan Package
- Knowing how to apply for a loan can increase your odds of success.
- Q&A: How Banks Evaluate Loan Requests
- Discover what underwriters care about when evaluating your application.