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 establish a solid financial foundation. Good accounting practices aren’t just about compliance; they empower you to make informed decisions and set yourself up for success. From automating your accounting 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 see and evaluate 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 from the prior year is posted and your bank/credit card accounts are reconciled. Finalizing the prior year in a timely manner 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 in your system so that you do not touch the prior year data once tax prep has started or you’ve started to work on the new year activity.
Review your prior year financials and be sure they are correct and complete.
If you have old balances hanging out on your balance sheet that you continue to see over the years that you know are not real balances, or negative balances that shouldn’t be negative, give JCCS a call to help with a clean-up of your books. Old or incorrect balances on your financials can skew the financial data when it comes to making informed decisions. It’s good practice to keep your financials clean and accurate, year after year.
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 no longer need to track. Your chart of accounts should give you enough data to make decisions without being overly complex. The beginning of the year is a great time to make the updates you need to your accounts and utilize them throughout the year to give you the financial reporting you need to run your business.
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 the progress of your business? Call JCCS and we can make this happen.
By Alanna Weibert, Director of Client Advisory Services (CAS) at JCCS
