Your fiscal year is half over. If you haven't looked at your numbers since January — or worse, since last tax season — June is the time to fix that. Not because some accounting rule says so, but because the decisions you make in the next 30 days are based on whether you actually know where your business stands financially.
Here are five things worth reviewing before July hits.
1. Your Profit & Loss statement — year-to-date.
Pull it up. Does revenue match what you expected six months in? Are expenses trending higher than planned? This is where surprises live, and surprises in December are a lot more expensive than surprises in June.
2. Your cash flow pattern.
Revenue is not the same as cash in your account. Look at when money actually comes in versus when it goes out. If you're consistently covering gaps with a line of credit or personal funds, that's a pattern worth addressing now — not in Q4.
3. Outstanding receivables.
Who owes you money, and how long have they owed it? Anything over 60 days is worth a follow-up. Anything over 90 days needs a plan. Money you've earned but haven't collected is one of the most common cash flow drains for small businesses.
4. Tax estimates.
If you pay quarterly estimated taxes, your Q2 payment was due in June. If you didn't pay it — or guessed at the amount — now's the time to reconcile. Underpaying estimates leads to penalties. Overpaying ties up cash you could be using.
5. Your bookkeeping itself.
Are your books current? Categorized correctly? Reconciled? If your last reconciliation was in March, you have a three-month gap that's growing more expensive to fix every week. A mid-year cleanup is significantly easier than a year-end scramble.
If even one of these made you pause, that's a sign your books could use some attention.
Use our free Mid-Year Money Check checklist to walk through each of these five areas — with specific action items for each one.
Ready to look at your numbers together? Schedule a free consultation and we'll walk through where your books stand — and what to do about it.