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"Mind Your Business", by Sheila McCumby. December, 2023
It’s the evening of December 24, you’re driving home from the shop, exhausted but excited for some family time, munching on Christmas goodies, and a taking much-needed break. While singing along with the holiday tunes playing on the radio you realize... taxes... end of the year... inventory... more taxes... yuck! Sugar plums dancing in your head have now been replaced by ill-tempered tax auditors, and now you have something really scary to worry about.
The good news is that you can relax, sip some eggnog, and breathe easy. FrameReady has great tools that can help reduce your “end of the year tax-season anxiety,” and set you up for success in the coming year.
Your accountant, tax advisor, attorney, insurance agent, etc. NOW. These professionals get busy at the beginning of the new year. Beat the rush, and learn what reports and data they need from you to accurately do your taxes. You may also want to schedule an appointment with your attorney.
Do you need to update your shareholders, bylaws, or corporation classification? Should you make or update an estate plan? Who would take over your business if you died or were suddenly incapacitated? Do you need to re-evaluate your insurance coverage? Have you added any new capital this year? Save yourself some stress and set up these appointments asap. Your future self will be relieved and grateful.
We preach this all the time, but please, back up your data. It is always a good idea to back up your data regularly, and copy it to an external USB stick or external hard-drive. It’s smart to keep an external device with your backup data off-site in case of a fire or other natural disaster. In the U.S. you have to keep business records for at least seven years. If you use your cell phone for business calls and/or storing customer info, you may want to back that up as well.
Take an inventory. If you have been a little lax in keeping up on your inventory in the past, the new year is a great place to start fresh. Managing inventory effectively is key to running a successful business. Without an accurate inventory, it is impossible to calculate accurate financial reports. If you don’t know what you have in inventory, you don’t know your business, and I guarantee you are losing money. Purge or deeply discount dead and discontinued stock, you’re better off to getting rid of those clunkers taking up room in your warehouse, even at a loss. Take whatever cash you can get from an albatross and reinvest that money into something that sells.
Run your financial reports. FrameReady makes it easy to run the numbers your accountant will likely need in order to generate your profit and loss statement for year’s end. For the past fiscal year, your accountant should be able to generate at least three reports that will be helpful when analyzing your annual profits. If you’re planning to grow your business, apply for financial aid, or a loan, you will need to have these reports up to date.
If you can afford it, I highly recommend employing an accountant, especially for tax preparation. It’s worth every penny. I also recognize this extra expense isn’t always feasible, especially if you have an at-home business. If you don’t use an accountant, there are tools and templates in Excel and QuickBooks to generate these reports by yourself. I encourage you to create and review these reports monthly. They are vital to tracking the overall health of your business, and can help you spot trouble right away.
A Profit and Loss Statement
This statement lists your business's total revenue, expenses, gains, and losses. You will be able to use those numbers to analyze your net income and determine ways to increase revenue. You can take a hard look at operating costs and see if there is any fat to be trimmed, and set goals to increase your sales in the coming year.
A Balance Sheet
This differs a bit from a P&L statement. The balance sheet is a statement of the assets, liabilities, and capital of your business; it details the balance of income and expenses for the preceding year. You may want to confer with your accountant and review your list of capital (mat cutters, computers, tools, and any equipment you own.) Some of the depreciation on certain types of equipment may be tax deductible.
Cash Flow Statement
This report tracks the cash your business has received from your customers, “inflow;” and the cash spent paying vendors and other operational expenses, “outflow.” How much cash do you have in your checking account, and is it enough to cover your upcoming expenses?
Write Off Bad Debt
If you have old past due invoices that are not likely to ever be paid, or may need to be sent to collection, you can use the bad debt feature in FrameReady to write them off as a loss. Confer with your accountant as to what would be the best way to handle ancient past due invoices tax-wise.
Update your Sales Rep’s email addresses, web links and phone numbers. Verify shipping charges and minimum order requirements to save heartache in the future. Run the “moulding usage by supplier report”. This report will help you determine who your top suppliers are, and if your purchases have increased significantly, you may be able to use those numbers to negotiate a larger discount in the coming year.
On the flipside, what vendors have you not been purchasing from this past year? Is it worth it keeping them on your sample wall? Is their aesthetic unattractive to your customer base? Are their moulding prices outside what your customers are willing to pay? You may want to replace them with something that will sell better. Delete vendors you don't use anymore from your vendor update list.
Go through your moulding and matboard samples and delete discontinued items and poor sellers. Did you know you can keep track of your frame samples in FrameReady? It makes it easier to pull discontinued moulding and matboard samples throughout the year.
Update their Information
Make sure you have current mailing addresses, emergency contacts, email, phone numbers etc. for sending them their tax documents. You can use the “notes” section in the timecards to keep track of their personal info.
Good Framers are Hard to Find
Consider bonuses or other incentives to retain your employees and thank them for their hard work. You can easily track employee’s sales performance and reward them accordingly.
Analyze Your Staff Needs
Can you afford the staff you have? Is it time to bring on some new members to the team? Set up your employee vacation calendar so that you can ensure there’s no overlap and you will be adequately staffed throughout the coming year.
Are they looking tired and neglected? Click every link and make sure it works. Check your contact info, is it up to date? Check your listing on Google. Is the information correct? Make plans and set goals to improve your online presence.
On the Main Menu, under “Set Up Data,” go to the “Fiscal” tab and reset your fiscal year. This will make your quarterly reports more accurate. Some framers also like to reset their Work Order serial numbers to start with a new letter at the beginning of the year. You may also want to update the “rank” of your customers, and update the customer notes of your top 10 or 20 customers, classifying them as a VIP or TOP CUSTOMER.
Congratulations! You made it through the year and you’re still open! Over 50% of small businesses fail in the first five years. Keeping your doors open during these uncertain times is a huge accomplishment. Make a list of improvements and gains you made this year. Be sure to share this list of “wins” with your employees, and recognize their contributions to your success.
The new year is a great time to reflect on your past and plan for the future. Set goals for the upcoming year, and have a plan as to how you want to flourish in the next five years. If you’re planning to retire, what is your exit strategy? Are you expanding? Keep searching for the perfect location.
I hope these tips help alleviate some of your holiday stress. Your FrameReady team wishes all of you a wonderful, productive and profitable holiday season! It’s been a pleasure serving you this past year and we hope that 2024 will be your most successful year ever! We wish all of you the happiest of holidays and a prosperous New Year!
-- Sheila McCumby, December 2023.
"Mind Your Business", by Sheila McCumby, December, 2023
