YEAR END con't. next column
Custom water feature of Star Ridge Aquatics.
YEAR END continued
THE GIFT con't from FRONT PAGE YEAR END con't from FRONT PAGE
This small business year end checklist will
help you get your income taxes in order and get
your business planning off to a good start.
1) Get your financial books in order. For
some businesses tidying up the books can
be very difficult while for others it is a breeze.
Whether you are a solo entrepreneur with a
glovebox full of receipts that haven’t even been
entered yet or a small business person who has
a bookkeeper on your payroll, you must get this
step done before you can do anything else. Get
the help you need. Hire a bookkeeper and/or
accountant if you need to and don’t wait until
year end to finalize this step.
2) Determine your position. The next step
on your small business year end checklist is to
figure out where your business is now. There are
three areas you need to examine:
Finances - Examine your financial
documents and analyze ratios. First, you need to
prepare (or have prepared for you) the standard
three business financial documents that will be
the basis of your decisions.
The Balance Sheet is a summary of how your
business is doing financially at a point in time.
It shows all your business’s assets, liabilities and
equity. This explanation of how a balance sheet
works includes a balance sheet template that
you can use if you like.
The Income Statement lets you see at a
glance whether your business is profitable at
a point in time by itemizing your revenue and
expenses, resulting in a profit or loss.
The Cash Flow Statement reconciles your
opening cash with your closing cash for a period,
showing you where the money has gone. To
prepare a simple cash flow statement, for a time
(such as the year just past), list and summarize
your business’s cash flow inflows and outflows
for each of these three areas—Cash flow from
operating activities—such as revenues and
expenses. • Cash flow from investing activities
such as assets purchased, and assets sold. • Cash
flow from financial activities—such as loans and
loan repayments
This will show you the net increase or
decrease in your business’s cash flow over the
period you’re looking at and show you at a
glance where the money went.
Once you’ve examined your balance sheet,
income statement and cash flow statement,
dig a little deeper by checking your business’s
current ratio, total debt ratio and profit margin.
It won’t take long with your balance sheet in
front of you.
Goals. Evaluate your goals from last year. Now
that you know where your business is, it’s time
to review how it got here. Pull out your business
plan and any other planning documents such as
last year’s action plan and review last year’s goals.
Did your business accomplish what you
set out to do? Why or why not? Make some
notes on your thoughts about your successful
accomplishment of your goals (or lack of it).
These will be handy when you do your business
planning for the current year (step 3 of this small
business plan checklist).
Taxes. Evaluate your current tax strategies.
Investigate different tax strategies that you
haven’t used, such as changing your business
structure to a corporation. Talk to a professional
such as an accountant and/or tax lawyer to get
advice about which tax strategies would be best
for your personal and business circumstances.
3) Plan for the coming year. All right. You’ve
done all the groundwork and you’re ready to do
some business planning. That means that you
are going to—Set next year’s goals. • Prepare an
action plan or plans. • Start implementing your
action plans.
4) Get your tax documents prepared. You
can turn over the required documents to an
accountant or prepare your income tax yourself.
That’s It! You’re Done!
You know the cliché; businesses that fail to
plan plan to fail. We all know how important
business planning is, but it’s easy to put off in
the press of daily events. Hopefully this year end
checklist has inspired you to get to it and made
your business planning easier.
Linda Parsons,
Moore County
Chamber
of
Commerce.
calm, swimming fish and the excitement of the
birds who will come to drink and bathe.
All year long, through every season, the
water feature is attractive and alive. In spring,
nature wakes as the frogs begin to sing, the
fish awaken from their winter slumber, and the
plants begin to emerge. As temperatures rise
and the day light gets longer, the water lilies and
lotus begin to bloom. The waterfall attracts birds
and butterflies, and the sound brings relaxation.
When the heat of summer arrives, the
water feature provides critical hydration to the
wildlife and offers a refreshing bath to the birds.
The cooling effects of the sound of water are
appreciated during these hot times as well.
As the days shorten, the leaves change color,
and the temperatures begin to cool, the water
feature transforms once again. Plants begin to
go dormant, the fish become more active with
the cooler water, and the birds stop by to drink
up for their migration.
Once winter arrives, the plants are sleeping
and the fish are hibernating, but the water feature
is still going. The waterfall runs to announce, “I
am still here!” The winter birds appreciate the
bathing spot to stop and drink. As temperatures
dip below freezing, the waterfall becomes a
beautiful, living, moving and changing ice
sculpture. It is a beautiful sight, especially at
night when uplighted by the underwater lights.
So as you can see, a gift of a water feature
can and will bring joy to many more than just
the one to whom you give it. A water feature is
truly the gift that lasts the whole year.
For more info see ad. p. 35.
Contact Joe Granato for a free consultation.
910-947-5333
p.8 The Pinehurst Gazette, Inc. No. 132
/www.autowerksnc.com