7 end-of-year accounting reminders for your small business clients

Organize year-end receipts

Many small business owners fail to keep receipts for all their expenses, assuming they can rely on bank and credit card statements if Uncle Sam ever comes knocking. Unfortunately, while bank and credit card statements are one way to document expenses, they might not be enough.

According to the IRS, supporting documents must include a description of the item purchased or service received to prove the amount was actually for a business expense. So, while a credit card statement might show that the business owner spent $400 at an office supply store — without a detailed receipt — auditors won’t be able to tell whether it’s office supplies for the business or a new laptop for their daughter who’s heading off to college.

As the end of the year draws near, it’s a good idea to remind clients that they should review all business expenses and make sure they’re being properly documented. Most modern accounting software makes saving digital copies of receipts easy. Clients can scan or snap a copy of the receipt with their phone, then attach it to the transaction. If that’s not an option, try encouraging customers to save digital copies of receipts in a designated folder on Google Drive — which they can sign up for at no cost — or another cloud-based document management system.

Schedule a year-end inventory count

For small businesses with inventory, work with them to plan out a year-end inventory count. The goal is to identify exactly how much available stock they have on hand, accurately calculate their cost of goods sold, detect shrinkage, and forecast how much inventory they might need to purchase in the year ahead. Furthermore, a well-run audit can reduce the risk of employee theft and prevent unnecessary spending on new products and goods.

To avoid customer or vendor distractions, ideally, the inventory count should take place on a day when the business is closed to the general public. It’s a good idea to have them close out all shipping, receiving, and transactions before the count begins, and schedule two people or teams to perform separate counts to help ensure accuracy.

Prepare to file 1099s

For businesses that hire independent contractors, January is often a mad dash of figuring out who needs to get Form 1099-NEC and ensuring they have the correct Social Security Number (SSN) or Employer Identification Number (EIN) and mailing address. However, a little bit of preparation can go a long way towards preventing it from becoming a stressful situation.

Encourage your clients to get a jump on this process as the year wraps up. It’ll help them avoid a last-minute scramble for any documents — and the data that needs to be listed on them — ahead of the January 31 deadline. Make sure they have a current Form W-9 on file for any independent contractor or vendor who has received (or will receive) at least $600 in rents, prizes and awards, attorney fees, or other payments.

And if they’re not already using payroll software that can handle 1099 filings for them, it might be time to consider switching to one that can.

Collect outstanding invoices

Another important task is to review the client’s accounts receivable aging report, paying special attention to clients with past-due and seriously delinquent invoices. Work with them on a plan to collect those payments before the end of the year, which will help them start the new year with a boost in cash flow.

And if you notice a large number of delinquent invoices, it might be time for your client to take a different approach to credit sales. It can be a good opportunity to schedule an in-person meeting to discuss their options, such as:

• Requiring deposits from problem customers ahead of time
• Automating payment reminders and sending them more frequently
• Providing a small discount to customers who pay quickly (or on time)
• Offering more convenient and/or additional payment options

Catch up on bank and credit card reconciliations

Unfortunately, small business owners can be easy targets for fraudsters and scammers and their schemes. Bank and credit card reconciliations are an essential way to prevent and detect fraud and identify accounting and bank errors.

If your clients haven’t been reconciling statements monthly, set aside some time to help them get caught up before January 1. This might also be a good opportunity to talk to your clients about outsourcing some or all of their accounting services to you so they don’t fall behind next year.

Assess this year’s budget and finalize one for next year

Year end is also a good time to look at a business’s budget-to-actual results for the current year. Were any revenue or expense categories significantly higher or lower than expected? Clients can use this analysis to inform next year’s budget. For example, do they need to allocate more of the budget to certain areas and scale back on others?

Even if the business doesn’t stick to the budget entirely, this process is valuable as it helps set expectations and measure performance.

Review and update the strategic plan

If you’ve been looking for a way to offer advisory services to your clients, strategic planning is a great place to start. Accountants are uniquely qualified to help clients with strategic planning because they usually have a deep understanding of the client’s business and a knack for numbers.

Schedule time with your clients to review their business and personal wealth-building goals for the current year and ask the following questions:

• Did you achieve your goals? Why or why not?
• Did you exceed your goals? If so, how?
• What are your next steps? For example, if their profits were higher than anticipated, will they use them to expand or pay off debt?

Next, work on designing the company’s (and the business owner’s) strategic objectives for the year ahead. For each goal in the plan, identify:

• How they’ll measure progress/success
• The specific steps needed to achieve it
• Who will be responsible for each task and the date they’ll have it done by?

Then, schedule quarterly meetings with your clients to check in on their progress and hold them accountable. Not only does it provide valuable facetime with your customer, it shows you have a stake — and interest — in the success of their business.