Start the New Year Right: Smart Accounting Tips to Keep Your Business on Track
A new year brings fresh opportunities and for business owners, it’s the perfect time to set a solid financial foundation. Good accounting practices aren’t just about compliance; they empower you to make informed decisions and plan for growth. From automating your bookkeeping to reviewing last year’s financials and creating a forward-looking budget, these practical tips will help you start 2026 with clarity and confidence.
Develop an automated way that helps you to track your business activity.
Collecting your receipts in a shoebox does not allow you to see where your financials stand or to make real-time decisions for your business. Using an accounting system, like QuickBooks Online, allows you to use the system to work for you with automatic coding of transactions, vendor tracking, paying bills, etc. By utilizing the system, you can use financial data to make the decisions you need to run your business. Call JCCS if you need help setting up QBO for your business or need a training course on how to utilize the system most efficiently.
Finalize your 2025 data early.
For businesses already set up in an accounting system, make sure to finalize your prior year data early in January. This includes ensuring all activity is posted and your accounts are reconciled. This allows for 1099s to be filed by the end of the month and can provide for earlier tax preparation. Once the year is finished, add a closing password to your system so that you do not touch the prior year once tax prep has started.
Review your prior year financials and be sure they are correct and complete.
If you have balances hanging out on your financials that you recognize from many prior years, or negative balances where you know they should not be negative, give JCCS a call to help with a clean-up of your books.
Review your chart of accounts.
Give your chart of accounts a review and be sure the accounts make sense and are being fully utilized. Sometimes, we forget about an account we wanted to be tracking this time last year or see some accounts that we do not need to spend time tracking. Your chart of accounts should give you enough data to make decisions without being overly complex.
Did you create a budget last year?
If not, consider creating one for this year. Now is a good time to think through your goals for the business for this next year, the next three years, and the next five. Many times, a budget can help you stay on-course to meet those goals.
Who is supporting you?
When thinking through your goals for the business, also consider who is supporting you on the journey. Do you have a current accountant in the business who can help decipher the financial data to make decisions to bring you closer to your goals? Do you anticipate growth over the next year and need someone to help scale your financials? Are you meeting with someone on a routine basis, quarterly or monthly, to track progress of your business? Call JCCS and we can make this happen.
By Alanna Weibert, Director of Client Advisory Services (CAS) at JCCS
