SMALL BUSINESS FINANCIAL CHECKLIST

PULSE

Owning a small business

is amazing, but running a

small business can be

overwhelming.

Over the past seven

years as a management

accountant focusing on

small businesses, I have

seen far too many

businesses fail because

they lack adequate

money management

skills.

What?!?

This guide can help you to stay on top of your small business

financial tasks, reduce stress, and help you to take control of

your business and your life.

Business money management happens all year long, not just

at tax time!

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Small Business Financial

Checklist

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❑ Check your mail and your email. Sounds simple enough, but your

mailbox and your inbox are ground zero for communications from your

business partners, including your customers.

➢ Don’t get hit with a fine or a late fee because you missed a critical piece

of correspondence.

❑ Keep an eye on your cash. You should know what cash is going in and

out of your bank account, so to make it easier, connect your bank accounts

to your accounting software.

➢ Once your account is connected to your software, your transactions will

be downloaded daily, allowing you to catch any unexpected

transactions.

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❑ Enter your expenses. Most small businesses, 90% of your expenses will

be paid via a card, either debit or credit, and keeping track can be

overwhelming. Use technology to make entering your expenses easier!

➢ Most accounting software packages have a companion mobile app that

will allow you to snap a photo of your receipt and record the expense.

❑ Enter payments received. Fewer and fewer small businesses receive

checks or cash from clients to pay invoices, but if you do, make sure you

are posting those payments as soon as they are received.

➢ If your accounting software can send paid receipts to clients, do it! Your

clients will appreciate the peace of mind associated with knowing that

their payment has been received and posted.

“It is not enough to be busy… The question is: what are we

busy about?” – Henry David Thoreau

Small Business Financial

Checklist

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❑ Pay your bills. Business

expenses that are not

automatically debited from your

account or billed to your card will

need to be paid on a set

schedule.

➢ If you have vendors or

subcontractors that you pay,

set a schedule and stick to it.

❑ Review accounts receivable. There is nothing worse than doing

work and not being paid for it! If you invoice clients on terms (Net

10, Net 30, etc.), you will need to have a procedure in place for

collecting what is owed to you.

➢ If your accounting system has an automatic reminder system

for past due invoices, use it!

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❑ Invoice your clients. I was

always shocked by how many

small business owners “forget”

to bill their clients until I did it

myself! Never again!

➢ Use recurring transactions

so recurring invoices go out

automatically!

“Embrace Technology”

Small Business Financial

Checklist

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❑ Reconcile bank and credit card statements. Reconciling your

statements involve more that just looking at your statements, you need

to “reconcile” your accounts in your accounting software using the

reconcile function.

❑ Review financial reports. Review the Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet

reports that can be produced from your accounting software monthly. If

you want even more insight, compare this years’ report to last years’ or

this months’ report to last month.

➢ If you have a business budget in your accounting software, compare

your Profit and Loss report to your budget for the same period.

“Those who don’t manage their money will always work for those

who do.”

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These MAY Apply to You!

❑ Pay sales taxes (if applicable). If your business collects sales taxes

from clients you will need to pay sales taxes monthly, or quarterly,

depending on your sales volume and your state tax requirements.

❑ Pay payroll taxes (if applicable). Businesses with employees must

remit payroll taxes monthly, or on the schedule required by your state.

➢ Most payroll software companies will remit payroll taxes on your

behalf, but double check!

❑ Review your inventory (if applicable). If your business sells physical

items, review your inventory levels at least monthly to ensure that you

have what you need to meet customer expectations.

Small Business Financial

Checklist

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The end of the quarter signals that tax payments are due!

❑ Pay quarterly estimated tax payments. Calculate and pay your

quarterly estimated taxes to prevent underpayment penalties from the

IRS.

❑ Pay quarterly payroll taxes and file quarterly payroll reports (if

applicable). Again, most payroll software companies will remit payroll

taxes on your behalf, but double check!

“Make sure you pay your taxes; otherwise you can get into

a lot of trouble.” – Richard Nixon

Small Business Financial

Checklist

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❑ Send and file 1099 forms (if applicable). Businesses who pay

vendors (other than S-corps and C-corps) more than $600 in a calendar

year need to provide those vendors with a Form 1099 by January 31st.

➢ Vendor best practice: Require a W-9 from ALL new vendors and do

not issue payments until the form has been received.

❑ Review fixed assets. Look at your major purchases for the year, such

as vehicles and equipment to see if any should be categorized as fixed

assets and depreciated.

➢ Consult with your tax preparer for guidance.

Close out the year right!

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❑ Take a physical inventory, if applicable. If your business has

inventory you will need to do a physical count at year ed to compare

your accounting system inventory levels.

➢ If there is a discrepancy, an accounting adjustment will be

necessary.

❑ Review yearly financial reports. Run your end of year profit and loss

and balance sheet reports to see how your business did for the year.

➢ Don’t forget to run comparison reports to see how your business is

doing this year compared to previous years.

Final steps…

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About C2 Accounting and Carleen Lamay

C2 Accounting & Business Support, LLC

was founded in 2011 as an accounting

firm focusing on entrepreneurs and

small business owners. Since that

time, C2 Accounting has helped many

businesses grow by providing

management accounting and money

coaching services, webinars, and live

speaking events to owners.

Carleen Lamay, CEO has worked in a

variety of financial roles, and

accounting positions, and is passionate

about small businesses and small

business.

I contacted Carleen after waiting alittle too long to get some help withour QuickBooks for our new business.She help to put measures in placeand clean up QBs so our office was

Client Testimony

efficient and compliant. I am so thankful for all her help,she is so knowledgeable, professional, and helpful, andallowed me to do the things I love in my business!

- Dr. Jessica Thompson, DC

C 2 A c c o u n t i n g &

B u s i n e s s S u p p o r t , L L C

w w w . C 2 - A c c t g . c o m

'How to Manage Your Small Business Finances Like a CEO'

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