Keeping a business running involves several important duties. Some of them need to be done weekly or monthly. But the really important things are done once a year. They are the equivalent of tuning up the engine for a car, making it perform better, and cleaning out all the dirt.
Here are some of the essential business tasks that you should do at the end of every year:
Cleaning Up The Financial Records
One priority that all companies should have is their financial records. At the end of the year, a company should check and audit all its receipts and account books to have a solid idea of where the business is financially. With the review, management should be able to tell if the finances are in the black. Every year, there should be a target revenue number as a benchmark. If a company is not performing better than the previous year, there is likely a problem causing the lack of growth. The financial review can also help with tax filing for the next year so it saves a lot of work.
Employee And Project Assessments
At the end of every year, a business should take a long and hard look at it its employees from top to bottom. Employee reviews look at the performance and productivity of each person in your company. Knowing whether someone is an asset or a liability can help with what approach to take with them. The company can reward high performers while helping out those who are not doing so well. Their health should also be a priority.
The end of the year is also the time to check on company projects. For example, if a product is under development, then the project manager should be reporting on the progress. This allows for the company to change strategies and to help with the fulfillment of the project.
Security Evaluation
Security is an important part of many businesses. This is especially in the digital realm, where hackers can steal data that could be beneficial to the company. Yearly security evaluation looks at the defenses you have and can be actual attempts against your security. For example, yearly network penetration testing is an attempt by friendly hackers to break into and hack your data to see how strong your security system is. Using the latest techniques, it can reveal whether modern hackers can break into your system and how to prevent it from happening. With proper security evaluations, a company would know if it is vulnerable.
Check the Inventory
Physical theft is also a very real possibility. This makes a check on the company’s inventory important. Every business has an inventory of its essential supplies and product. A check on whether everything is still there can reveal whether there has been a theft of supplies. It can also show whether anything is missing or running out. This can allow the company to resupply and to catch anyone responsible for thefts.
Review Achievements
The end of the year is also the time for a company to look at all the things it has achieved. Various milestones should be celebrated. For example, if a company earned its first million dollars that year, then that is worth remembering. It is not just the big victories that should be remembered. The company likely faced its fair share of problems. Thinking back to how they were handled can be a good way to ensure that similar issues in the future will be handled promptly. The company should reward and recognize all the people who contributed to achieving these milestones and defeating these problems.
Look to the Next Year
The company should also start making plans for the next year. With all the other tasks done, management should now have enough information to make decisions on the direction that the business should go in the coming year. For example, a year of growth and success can mean that it is the ideal time for the company to expand. The discussion would be about what parts of the company to grow and which markets to enter. However, a bad year might mean that the business has to restructure and regroup so that it can perform better next year.
Annual procedures should take high priority. They can help prevent a lot of the problems a company faces from financial issues to security. Skipping on some of these necessary tasks may not seem directly important but they have long-term effects if not done. As part of any end-of-the-year plans, a business should be scheduling all of these tasks to ensures that they aren’t skipped.