Master Your Year-End Planning

Believe it or not, it’s time to add year-end planning to your to-do list! It’s finally time to start preparing for the year ahead so you can position your business for success.

At New Economy, we’ve also started this process, here’s a look at what it looks like for us.

As year-end approaches, we think about three things:

First, we look back. We reflect on how we did against our plan from last year. Did we achieve our goals? Did we hit our budget? What did we learn? This information gives us a great starting point.

Second, we pick our heads up. We try to think big picture about:

Where the team is at, how our culture is doing and new seats we need to fill
What processes need to be improved or evolved
Where the industry is at and general market conditions

Are there any opportunities or risks? What is impacting the business?

Lastly, we look forward. We apply all of the information we have learned and with it, we think about the year ahead. We start to create visions and goals for the new year ahead.

Mastering year-end planning means pulling these three thoughts together. At New Economy, we do this by following a few key processes and then implementing these same steps into our client’s planning processes based on our reflection.

Let’s take a closer look.

Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is one of the best ways to ensure the upcoming year goes smoothly. Because we can’t plan down to detail what the year is going to look like, it’s important we do what we can now to have a strong idea of what’s to come.

It works by us hosting a series of strategic planning meetings with the goal of setting a plan for the new year. As we build our one-year plan, here are some things we will consider:

What issues and problems do we have and how do we solve them?
What opportunities are in front of us?
What are the top three to five goals we want to accomplish as a company?
What are the top three priorities for Quarter One?

At New Economy, we like to build this one-year plan by keeping an eye on our three-year plan. Doing this ensures that what we are working towards now, aligns with what we hope to achieve later down the road.

Budget Planning

Along with our strategic plan, we also need to put together a budget.

You likely already understand the importance of building a budget, but you also need to recognize that your budget and strategic plan go together hand in hand. In fact, your budget actually supports your strategic plan and ensures your spending reflects the goals of your company.

As we build our 12-month budget, we will cover the following:

What is our hiring plan by month?
- We’ll ensure our hiring plan also supports our growth plan.
Where do we need to invest in the business?
- Whether it’s marketing, training, or technology, we’ll be sure to include these investments in our budget.
What is our client onboarding plan/process in the new year?
- We’ll ensure this lines up with our current capacity and hiring plan.

We ask all of these questions (and more) in an effort to prepare a detailed monthly budget for the next 12 months that supports the strategy of the company.

Year-End Tax Planning

Another area we focus on at year-end is tax planning. At this point in the year, we have a pretty good sense of where the numbers will land.

To the extent there is profit, it’s important we spend some time minimizing the taxes we pay, because after all, who doesn’t love saving a bit of money?

To do this, we will focus on these areas:

Are there any investments such as equipment or technology needed in the business?
- If so, we will factor these expenditures in because they can reduce taxable income.
Are we maximizing the benefits of a retirement plan?
- The Company can make a match on behalf of employees which is a deductible expense.
Are we rewarding employees appropriately based on the financial results of the business?
- Paying a year-end bonus is a deductible expense and great for culture, especially during the holiday season.

Again, answering these questions (and more) will help guide our tax planning for the remainder of this year and the year ahead.

Partner With New Economy to Master Your Year-End Planning

As you can see, at New Economy, we’ve built a solid year-end planning process that focuses on crafting a strategic plan, building a budget that supports that strategic plan, and pulling together a tax plan that drives savings.

Each of these processes helps us to gain control of our finances to make smart decisions to build and grow our business.

Since this year-end planning strategy has worked so well for us, we also apply the same processes to our client’s companies in an effort to help them reach their business goals as well. Reach out to us today to learn how we can help unleash your full potential!