With Better Accounting, 2018 Could Be Your Best Year Yet

When we ring in the New Year, our toasts are often paired with resolutions. Making those resolutions a reality takes real commitment — especially in business.

Building on Success

Start by reviewing your company’s performance. Determine your biggest successes and assess whether you achieved last year’s goals. An honest assessment of where you fell short will help you to face your biggest challenges in the coming year. Before those New Year’s resolutions fade, commit to making this year your most successful ever.

Start early and ask yourself these important questions:

• Which goals did your company achieve?
• Where did your company fall short?
• Did you have some great ideas that you didn’t find time for — that are still worth pursuing?
• What were the biggest challenges you faced?

Budgeting for Results

After reflecting on last year’s results, take a hard look at your budget. Make sure you involve all the key team members to ensure that your company is working toward the same goals.

These five critical questions will help establish a budget that will ensure your company reaches its goals:

• Based on your lessons from the previous year, what would you do differently this year?
• Do you clearly understand the key drivers affecting your company’s results?
• What systems would you implement, or change, to help you achieve your goals?
• How will you monitor your performance against your goals during the year to ensure success?
• How committed are you and your team to achieving your goals?

Staying on track can be tough — especially for small and medium-sized companies. Resolutions are fantastic. But making them add up to a toast-worthy year requires a realistic assessment of last year, concrete planning for the coming year, and diligence.

Have a happy and successful New Year.