It is hard to believe we are nearly halfway through the year. That is why now is the perfect time to perform a mid-year bookkeeping checkup for your growing business.
Avoid Costly Fixes
Ask yourself these five questions to avoid costly fixes in the long run. Your answers can help you identify trouble spots, make mid-year corrections, and ensure you are still on the path to success.
- Are your bookkeeping processes up to date? If too much effort is spent on manual bookkeeping processes and paperwork, it is time to save time and money by automating and integrating your back-office operations.
- Are your books closed on a regular and timely basis? Closing your books regularly, say monthly, gives you an accurate and complete set of financial statements that reflect your company’s health. If you have difficulty accomplishing this task monthly or are unsure how, contact us.
- Is your company in good financial standing? If you are not creating and reviewing financial reports regularly, it may be time to get some help. Speak with your accountant or bookkeeper monthly or quarterly to gain clarity on where your business stands financially.
- How is your accounting system working for you? If you are in a high-growth mode, is your system scaling to meet your business needs? It may be time to upgrade your system if it is difficult or too time-consuming to access real-time data in a secure and user-friendly way.
- Do you have the right staff to take your business to the next level? If you are spending too much time in the back-office, day-to-day weeds it may be time to hire some help. Now is a great time to assess your staffing structure and decide whether to hire outside experts to handle the core competencies you need.
7 Other Tips to Consider
Download our Mid-Year Bookkeeping Checkup to help keep you on track at this time of year.
- Check Your Withholdings: While it’s the middle of the tax year, it’s essential to make sure you’re correctly paying taxes as you go to avoid significant penalties when you fill out your return.
- Review Your Quarterly Estimated Tax Payments: Late or insufficient payments may lead to fines, and calculating the right amount for your quarterly payments depends on accurately predicting your income for the rest of the year.
- Review Your Entity Structure: The entity you choose for your business will shape its tax process and the paperwork you have to complete. Ensure your paperwork is in order so you don’t get any unpleasant surprises later in the year.
- Evaluate Your Bookkeeping: An efficient and cost-effective tax process requires good bookkeeping. If you’re not keeping track of cash flow throughout the year, you won’t be able to find that data when you need it for tax season. Take time to find your weak spots and identify issues now while you have time to improve your records before you need them.
- Update Income and Expense Records: If you update them as you go, you won’t be overwhelmed or behind when you face tax season.
- Look Ahead to Year-End Tax Planning: Now is the time to think ahead and lay the foundations for your year-end tax planning. What are you missing, or what issues do you expect to encounter this year?
- Get Help from an Expert: Working with us can be a great way to assess how new legislation might affect your business. It also gives us time to work through issues in the off-season while you have time before the tax crunch.
Bonus Tip
“Review your expenses to see if there are opportunities to curb spending,” suggests Jennifer Scott, HireEffect’s founder, and CEO.
For example, look for subscriptions you no longer use or services you could pay less for, like internet, phone, and insurance. Maybe it’s also time to renegotiate office supply pricing or other vendor contracts.
Want more tips?
Follow our social media accounts for bookkeeping and business tips you can use. Or, give us a call if you need help managing your company’s books and human resources needs.