Year-end can be a stressful time for studio owners, as many of you may be preparing for holiday or competition shows, as well as gearing up for costume orders and the like. It can be busy on the performance side, but equally or even more busy on the business side. 

There’s a lot to wrap up, especially if you’ve neglected your books or fallen behind. Even if that's not the case, there are still tasks that require attention and completion. You'll need to gather forms and meet deadlines. Additionally, there are common mistakes that you can easily avoid during this process.

The first mistake you want to avoid is procrastination. For some people, they’ve put off facing their books entirely. This is a real danger come year end! The most important piece to closing out the year well is accurate books. 

Having Inaccurate or incomplete books can mean over or understating your revenue, and in turn, serious tax implications. If you’re not entering things right, you can potentially double, or triple your sales. 

With our bookkeeping services, we will go into whatever system you’re using and pull your sales receipts for you. If you’re not paying a merchant fee out of your bank account and it's coming off of sales, you’re already overstating your revenue.

It’s easy to push your books aside, but it will cost you in the long run. Oftentimes you think you have enough time, but then find yourself scrambling to gather information, or track down the proper forms from an employee. To keep this from happening, we recommend having a W-9 on file, even if you think your employee won’t hit the $600 dollar threshold. 

The next mistake you want to avoid is lack of communication between your CPA and bookkeeper. End of year is the best time to ask questions, because we want to have everything in your account reconciled by the end of December. (loan balances, credit cards, etc.) 

To make sure that your reports are as accurate as possible, we have to make sure everything is classified into an account before we can complete the final check. When it’s not in an account, we call it suspense. 

What’s even better is with HarQuin, the owner Lindsey Roberts, will personally go into each client's file, before giving us the stamp of approval, and do a final check. So we get everything done, double checked, and then sent over to you! CPA’s may ask for certain reports, and all you have to do is ask us for them. 

A lot of people don't realize they can communicate with their bookkeeper or CPA before tax time. Here at HarQuin, if you want to look at things, you can meet directly with your bookkeeper via zoom, text or call! We have many different options, including consulting, to help you get that knowledge and to understand your books. 

The next mistake you can easily avoid is operating in fear and overwhelm. This affects your mind, which in turn affects your decisions. We mentioned procrastinating and lack of communication earlier, but those are two of the biggest catalysts for fear and overwhelm.

If you’re thinking you didn’t track something or report it correctly, you can start to become afraid and avoid it. It’s easier said than done, but this is why we’re big advocates for outsourcing. This can change your approach to year end, fill in the missing pieces, and help you strategize. 

We don’t expect that because you own a business that you have all the answers. This is why we host a free reports training once a month. We want to make sure the numbers aren’t just numbers, and you have a full understanding of what they mean. 

The last mistake to avoid is over or understating your revenue, like we mentioned before. This is accomplished by diligently reconciling all of your accounts at year end and making sure everything is categorized correctly. Again, this is where suspense falls into place, and making sure everything is going to the correct account.  

All of these mistakes are not only easily avoidable, but they’re interconnected. If you’re not avoiding, you’re not procrastinating, you’re doing things in a timely manner, and you, or your bookkeeping team, is making sure everything is correct, most of these problems will go away. 

This is why we created a year-end checklist! It includes income tax, sales tax, inventory, bookkeeping, and more. It’s a great tool for keeping you on track. This checklist will help make the year-end smooth! 

If one of your goals for the new year is outsourcing, go for it! Bookkeeping, payroll, or sales tax, you don’t have to navigate it alone. We have an amazing team that would love to become an asset for your business. 

Remember: rates are going to be changing in 2025, so if you want to start a service with us and lock in the 2024 rate, fill out an estimate form by December 26th, so you can be fully onboarded by January 1st. 

Once you're a client, your rate never changes. It is 100% inflation proof, for the entirety of your relationship with us! 

Download the checklist here: https://dancebookkeeping.co/yearend-checklist