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Checklist for your year-end financials

As we approach the end of 2023 and look forward to 2024, I know many of us will be celebrating with family and friends. If you’re a small business owner or solo entrepreneur who does your own bookkeeping, you will also be busy closing out your books for one year and preparing for the next! 

I thought I’d make the task easier by creating this checklist of year-end items you need to make sure to complete to get ready for the new year! 

To close out this year, here is what you need to do: 

General bookkeeping

It may sound obvious, but get your general bookkeeping tasks as updated as possible. 

This means you need to: 

  • Get as many transactions as possible entered into your accounting software or spreadsheets, whichever you use, 

  • Reconcile all bank and credit card accounts through November, and

  • Look up loan and line of credit balances at your bank.

Payroll

If you have W-2 payroll for you or your employees, you must complete several tasks. 

  • Verify all employee addresses (you would not believe how many people move in a year!),

  • Calculate any year-end bonuses and

  • Get ready to send the W-2s to your employees (Remember that your employees can only receive their W-2's electronically if they opt in for that. Otherwise, you have to mail them a printed form. Your payroll software should have a way for you to receive their consent.)

Contractors

  • If you pay independent contractors or other workers in your business, but they are not on the W-2 payroll, make sure you have a W-9 for each person. You will need that information to issue them a 1099-NEC in January.

Now, let’s consider what you must do to prepare for next year. Here are some items your business needs to have ready to go in January:

New year preparations

  • Updated W-4 for each employee,

  • State Unemployment Insurance (UI) rate - If you run W-2 payroll, your business probably pays state unemployment insurance. The contribution rate is usually mailed to you in December and needs to be updated before the first payroll in the new year,

  • Choose a tax preparer if you don't already have one, 

  • Make an appointment with your tax preparer if you do

This list looks long, but it’s not as complicated as it might look! If you have questions or need help getting your records organized, be sure to email me! 

Wendy Kane