As the year draws to a close, businesses are gearing up for a period of reflection and forward planning. While many articles around this time delve into the usual year end financial strategies—such as budget reviews and tax considerations—let’s explore some often overlooked but equally crucial aspects of year end financial planning that companies should be aware of.
1. Performance Evaluation Beyond Numbers:
In addition to analyzing financial statements, take a moment to assess the overall performance of your business.
Consider the achievements, challenges, and lessons learned throughout the year. Understanding the qualitative aspects of your company’s performance can provide valuable insights for future decision-making.
2. Employee Development and Recognition:
The end of the year is an opportune time to evaluate employee performance and set goals for professional development in the coming year.
Recognizing and rewarding employees for their hard work can boost morale and contribute to a positive workplace culture.
3. Strategic Alignment Check:
Evaluate your business’s strategic goals and assess whether they align with the current market trends and industry landscape.
Consider making adjustments to your strategic plan to ensure your business remains agile and responsive to changing conditions.
4. Cybersecurity and Data Protection Audit:
With the increasing reliance on digital technologies, it’s crucial to conduct a thorough cybersecurity and data protection audit.
Ensure that your company’s systems are up-to-date, secure, and compliant with relevant regulations to safeguard sensitive information.
5. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Considerations:
Businesses are increasingly being held accountable for their environmental and social impact.
Evaluate your company’s ESG practices and consider ways to enhance your commitment to sustainability, diversity, and ethical business practices.
6. Customer Feedback and Experience Analysis:
Take the time to review customer feedback and analyze your customers’ overall experiences.
Understanding your customers’ needs and expectations can inform product or service improvements and help you tailor your business strategies to meet market demands.
7. Supply Chain Resilience Assessment:
The challenges posed by global events have highlighted the importance of a resilient supply chain.
Evaluate the vulnerabilities in your supply chain and implement measures to enhance its resilience, ensuring a smoother operation in the face of unforeseen disruptions.
8.Innovation and Technology Integration:
Assess how well your business is leveraging technology and explore opportunities for innovation.
Embracing new technologies and processes can enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and position your company as a leader in your industry.
By incorporating these often-overlooked aspects into your year end financial planning, your business can position itself for sustained success in the coming year.
Remember, a holistic approach to year end assessments can uncover opportunities for growth and improvement that go beyond the balance sheet.
If your organization could do with some strategic guidance to help get through this busy time, take a look at the Year End Close resourceswe’ve put together, and reach out to us—we’re here to help!
From everyone at RoseRyan, wishing you and your loved ones a peaceful and joyful holiday!
Want to close more sales? You need to tell good stories!
Most often ascribed to journalist and author Ernest Hemingway in popular lore, here is the “shortest story ever written”: “For sale, Baby shoes, Never worn.”
While almost certainly apocryphal, this apparent urban legend* offers a perfect example of the power of storytelling—one that happens to also include some sales technique to boot—and it’s a great primer for exploring how to use stories as part of your sales repertoire.
Storytelling is ingrained in human nature
Stories have captivated audiences through the ages: from ancient tales to modern marketing strategies, compelling stories have a unique way of conveying messages that stick.
How storytelling can transform your sales game
In the competitive realm of sales where differentiation is key, tapping into our human love for narratives is a sales person’s secret weapon for success. It helps them go beyond facts and figures, and infuses emotion, vulnerability, and sincerity into their sales process to help form deep connections with customers and drive results.
Emotional engagement is the secret sauce of successful sales
By crafting narratives that stir emotions like empathy, excitement, or nostalgia, sales professionals can build trust and rapport with prospects.
People don’t just buy what you sell: they buy why you sell it and who you are
Storytelling allows salespeople to demonstrate vulnerability—a quality often overlooked in traditional sales tactics but crucial for fostering authenticity and building relationships.
Storytelling transforms sales into a journey of discovery and mutual understanding
In a world inundated with polished sales pitches and scripted interactions, vulnerability stands out as a refreshing display of honesty and courage, earning the respect and admiration of customers.
Incorporating storytelling requires a delicate balance of art and strategy
Tailoring narratives to audience needs, interests, and preferences to ensure relevance and resonance—and possessing empathy—are key.
Relationships matter more than transactions: mastering the art of storytelling is not just a skill but a necessity for those seeking to excel in sales. Unleash the power of storytelling in your sales approach and watch as your connections deepen, trust grows, and success follows!
RoseRyan’s gurus are steeped in a culture of authenticity, and are expert at reaching a deep understanding of our clients’ unique needs. Take a look at what makes us tick!
*The (Urban) Legend of Ernest Hemingway’s Six-Word Story: “For sale, Baby shoes, Never worn.”
Grow without the pain! Take this advice to keep your team happy while you scale…
Looking to grow your company without causing burnout and conflict? Keeping your team happy while you scale may seem hard, but it’s definitely doable! Here’s how.
Clear Processes for Everyone: Having clear instructions and steps for tasks helps everyone work together smoothly and efficiently. No more confusion about who does what or what comes next. The key is setting up well-defined processes that provide structure and streamline workflow, fostering finely-tuned collaboration.
Open Communication: Talk to each other! When communication within a team is clear and everyone knows their roles, goals, and what’s expected, things run much smoother.
Finance Functions That Work: Finance functions aren’t one-size-fits-all: there’s no magic formula for success. But there are proven processes that can be applied in this area of your business that can minimize errors and give you accurate, up-to-date information, optimally.
Start Early, Build Well: Setting up good processes early on sets a foundation for well ordered cooperation, and makes everything easier down the line. The result? Think better organization, smoother workflows, and catching problems before they become hard to manage.
Stability = Happy Team: When your team feels secure and things are predictable, they can focus on doing their best work and find synergy working together effectively.
The Magic of Teamwork: The outcome of this type of collective performance? When everyone collaborates and has structure, amazing things happen! Innovation, creativity, and proactive, productive problem-solving become superpowers for your team.
Work Smarter, Not Harder: We’re all about using technology and smart systems to optimize workflows and minimize unnecessary effort. This frees up your team to do what they do best and trust that communication is flowing well and things are running smoothly.
Shared Goals & Accountability: When everyone knows what they’re working towards and feels responsible for their part, it creates a powerful sense of unity and cooperation. Working together like a well-oiled machine – leveraging the strengths of all team members – makes everyone happier.
Expert Help: Bringing in experienced people with a deep understanding of their field to offer your team backup and support can really boost your game. They can quickly suggest improvements, optimizations, and introduce best practices, helping you refine what works and stay ahead of the curve while adhering to industry standards.
Teamwork makes the dream work!
Growing your company doesn’t have to be stressful. A synergistic team promotes job satisfaction, which is vital for growing a company. By focusing on efficient processes, clear communication and positive collaboration, you’ll create a dream team that can achieve amazing things together as you build your business.
And to supplement your team’s capacity and bridge any gaps there might still be, you can access high-level expertise without the overhead costs of developing processes and procedures with limited internal resources.
RoseRyan’s expert on demand, outsourced consultants have the tools and skills to help you chart your journey to success by working within your finance team, right alongside everyone, to get the job done. Connect with us to find out how we can help you and your happy team achieve your dreams!
Lighten up! Making humor at work, work: a ‘How To’ guide…
In the fast-paced and often stressful world of the modern workplace, injecting a dose of humor can be a powerful tool to boost morale, enhance team dynamics, and create a positive working environment. However, using humor in a professional setting requires finesse and sensitivity to ensure it is appropriate and inclusive.
In this article, we will explore the benefits of incorporating humor in the workplace and provide practical tips on how to do so appropriately.
The benefits of workplace humor:
Stress Relief: Work can be demanding, and stress is a common factor. Humor acts as a natural stress reliever, helping employees to unwind and recharge.
Team Building:Shared laughter fosters a sense of camaraderie among team members. It helps break down barriers, strengthen relationships, and improve overall teamwork.
Increased Creativity: A lighthearted atmosphere encourages creative thinking. When people feel comfortable expressing themselves through humor, they are more likely to think outside the box and contribute innovative ideas.
Improved Morale: A workplace with a positive and humorous culture tends to have higher employee morale. This can lead to increased job satisfaction and lower turnover rates.
Guidelines for incorporating humor appropriately at work:
Know Your Audience: Understand the diverse backgrounds, cultures, and preferences of your colleagues.
Read the Room:Avoid humor that may be offensive, discriminatory, or divisive.
Timing is Everything: Be mindful of when and where you inject humor. Meetings, presentations, or serious discussions may not always be the most suitable moments.
Self-Deprecating Humor: Using self-deprecating humor can be a safe bet. It shows humility and relatability, as long as it doesn’t cross into negativity.
Cultural Sensitivity: Be aware of cultural differences to ensure that your humor is inclusive and doesn’t inadvertently offend someone from a different background.
Avoid Controversial Topics: Steer clear of sensitive subjects like politics, religion, or personal issues that may be divisive or trigger discomfort.
Encourage Team Contributions: Foster a culture where team members feel comfortable contributing their own humor. This can promote a collaborative and inclusive environment.
Use Positive Humor:Focus on humor that uplifts and brings joy rather than relying on sarcasm or negative jokes.
In summary, incorporating humor in the workplace is a valuable tool for creating a positive and engaging atmosphere. By following these guidelines, teams can enjoy the benefits of humor while ensuring that it remains appropriate, inclusive, and enhances overall workplace satisfaction. Balancing professionalism with a touch of levity can contribute to a more resilient, connected, and productive work environment.
To find out more about RoseRyan’s workplace philosophy, and how it supports a balanced, inclusive and transparent culture, explore our thought leadership insights, published in a variety of national and local publications.
The future of business is AI. Are you prepared? Here’s what you need to know…
Since advancements in Artificial Intelligence exploded into the public eye in 2023, it seems like AI is being mentioned daily as having a significant effect on our lives.
As a RoseRyan veteran, I have been at ground zero through the Dot-com bubble, the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis, and the Covid pandemic. All of these bumps in the road – and many other significant events in between – have impacted our clients profoundly, especially those in the Technology, Life Science and Service sectors. The repercussions of AI can now be added to the list of major inflection points in their business trajectories.
Our clients usually fit into three main categories that require solutions for disruptive events:
In order to test how AI might be relevant and able to address these areas of concern, I immediately signed up for ChatGPT3.5 and BeautifulAI, and have been using them in my work for the past six months. In particular, I wanted to create better written communications and presentations using AI as a guide.
The impact has been notable: I’ve spent less time on administrative tasks, allowing me to spend more time addressing clients’ problems and helping them solve their accounting and finance talent challenges. This methodology has also helped me think about the impacts of AI for my clients, and for myself personally.
What I discovered about leveraging AI in business What I’ve found through this process is that AI allows organizations and individuals to:
My experiment revealed how important it is for companies to adapt as soon as possible to this major development in our technological progress.
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, and if you didn’t do that then, it is today. With investment in AI of $50B+ in 2023 – and this area of opportunity not expected to slow down in 2024 and 2025 – business leaders and entrepreneurs have to have a plan to address and apply AI to ensure their companies’ success.
It’s critical to have a sound financial plan, an up-to-date strategy, and the right talent to be agile in a rapidly changing global environment.
RoseRyan has been working with clients and at Board and executive levels for 30 years helping scale businesses through both lean and robust times. If you need guidance on how to get your organization up to speed, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team of experts and tap into our Collective Intelligence.
Already ditched your New Year’s resolutions? Don’t quit! Get smart now: stick to the plan with these 10 tips.
People have apparently been trying to keep resolutions to do and be better annually for at least 4,000 years*. But the data is in: on average, most of us tend to stick to our new year’s resolutions for only 17.8 days**.
If you’re one of those well-intentioned goal-setters whose resolve often fails at the early hurdles, don’t feel bad—you’re in the majority.
That doesn’t mean you should give up aspiring to improve your habits. A good dose of pragmatism is always useful though. Research shows that we tend to follow through with our resolutions when they are actionable and achievable: having SMART goals for the new year is smart.
With that in mind, now is a good time to set realistic goals for yourself personally and professionally.
Here are some ideas for resolutions that you realistically may keep:
Personal:
Work:
Now review your own list of aims for 2024, assess if you’ve been overly ambitious, and adjust accordingly.
RoseRyan can’t oversee your personal resolutions. But we can help youwith uplifting your team and knocking things off your to-do list. Make 2024 the best ever!
*The History of New year’s Resolutions
**Forbes: New Year’s Resolutions Statistics 2024
Outsourced Finance & Accounting Services For Business Growth
Unlocking Growth With Outsourced Finance Solutions
Building up or solidifying your company’s finance function is effectively done when you have access to specialized expertise. Our outsourced finance services cover every role in the finance team, including day-to-day accounting, FP&A insights, controller support, and strategic CFO-level guidance. We’ll tailor our expertise to your unique needs.
Empowering Emerging Businesses with Expert Support
With RoseRyan as your trusted partner for finance and accounting outsourcing services, you’ll gain access to skills, expertise, and quality work without the overhead and risk of committing to full-time employees for those roles. Our flexible financial outsourcing solution enables cautious growth, minimizing the risk of overhiring while acquiring valuable resources and guidance that would be otherwise challenging to attain.
Tailored Solutions for Finance and Accounting Expertise
At RoseRyan, we know there is no-one-size-fits-all and that the finance and accounting needs of companies, across all stages of growth, ebb and flow. That’s why we take the time to truly understand your operations, identify areas for improvement, and offer efficient and practical outsourcing solutions. As businesses experience growing pains, we’re here to provide the support and expertise you need, precisely when you need it. Our team is ready to guide your company toward greatness, working seamlessly alongside your finance team to get the job done efficiently and effectively.
Meet the Finance and Accounting Outsourcing Team
As your company pursues a growth milestone, requires interim finance experts, or needs help streamlining accounting systems and processes, you’ll need a finance accounting outsource team that can respond and start the work as soon as possible. RoseRyan’s consultants have steep experiences at accounting firms and corporate finance organizations, at companies of varying sizes and at various growth stages.
Why Choose RoseRyan’s Outsourcing Accounting Solutions?
Struggling to close the books each month? Need to level up the finance function beyond the bookkeeper position? Is a weak financial foundation preventing your company from making informed strategic decisions? We excel at helping companies experiencing fast growth or strategic change with getting a grasp on what’s needed within the finance function to take more informed steps forward. We can introduce proven processes to provide everyone with more current information, and get the entire finance organization on track to become a strategic partner to the leadership team.
Exploring Outsourced Finance Services and Their Benefits
Perhaps more than any other organization, the finance function is ripe for bringing in outsourced finance services. As the backbone of the business, the finance function is responsible for producing and analyzing timely, reliable financial information used for decision-making. As the company expands, this responsibility and the many others that fall under the finance function become more complex and require a variety and depth of skills that are not always present on many full-time teams.
Choosing the Right Outsourced Finance Service Provider
When considering finance and accounting outsourcing services, consider what your company’s needs are today and tomorrow—we’ll help you think this through as we adapt all our solutions to the unique needs of each client.
Are you ready to unlock your business’s growth potential? Talk to our experts today and discover how our outsourced finance and accounting solutions can empower your success.
Unlocking Success with Interim Finance Professionals During a Transitional Time
For a finance organization experiencing a leadership transition or growth, interim finance experts provide knowledge, skills and insights at a critical time, without needing to ramp up and without the company having to risk making a rash hiring choice. Whether you need a part-time, fractional, or interim accounting manager, interim controller, interim CFO—or an entire team to cover your day-to-day accounting needs—interim finance professionals are prepared to fill a skills or capacity gap, or a temporary or sudden level of absence.
Transitions and Growth: When Companies Need Interim Finance Leaders
An unexpected departure, a medical leave, or a fast-growing company that needs more financial discipline, quickly—these are some of the situations that arise for needing someone who can cover a gap on short notice, for however long a company needs. Interim finance professionals can provide stability during periods of transition, mentoring and upskilling for a young team, along with strategic guidance for decision-making. They can help bring the finance team to another level as the company prepares for a strategic change, such as a potential acquisition, merger, or IPO.
What Are Some Examples of Interim Finance Roles?
With the interim finance roles in place, the company gains time for determining what the position should be in the long term, while in the short term they gain access to the level of expertise and skill sets the finance organization needs right now. Proper leadership in the finance organization cannot be understated, particularly as a company is in transition.
Interim finance professionals are available for a variety of positions, such as an interim controller, interim financial planning and analysis (FP&A) experts, interim accounting managers to lead the accounting team, and interim accountants to provide day-to-day accounting coverage.
Benefits of Interim Finance Professionals
By seeking out interim finance professionals who are part of a consulting firm, a company can ensure they will be matched with the right experts for their unique circumstances. This way, the company gets the skill sets it needs at this time, and can also benefit from the knowledge and experience of other professionals at the consulting firm as their needs evolve. The best interim finance pros do not only fill a gap but rather bring best practices to the team and can help take them to another level through coaching and training, when needed.
It’s worth noting that interim finance professionals who have made a career out of being consultants are dedicated to the job at hand—and are committed to becoming a part of the company’s team for however long they are needed.
At the same time, as the company’s needs change, the consulting firm can connect the company with other experts for the finance organization as needed. At smaller companies, for instance, an interim CFO may be tapped for expert advice for a fundraising effort but an interim controller may be more of what the company needs on a week-to-week basis, to streamline the financial operations.
Questions to Ask When Looking for Interim Finance Leadership
Whether your company has a one-time or ongoing need for interim finance management, interim CFO consulting, or a range of interim finance support and expertise for a period of time, you will want to ask a range of questions to help you choose a consulting firm. Here are a few to get you started:
Conclusion: Seek Out Adaptability and Experience for Interim Finance Roles
When your company is dealing with a skills gap or a temporary opening on the finance team, there’s not much time to get the person filling in up to speed. Accustomed to having to adapt quickly, the best interim finance experts become a part of the team on day one, by getting to know the company, the role and its place within the company, and becoming a part of a finance organization. They can lead it for a time or be a supportive expert, for however long you need.
The right finance consulting firm will make the entire process seamless and be ready to help you as your needs change. Know where to turn for interim finance consulting expertise—reach out to the RoseRyan team today to learn more.
The Evolving Role of Internal Audit
Once considered primarily a compliance role, the internal audit function has expanded to provide a unique, and important, perspective that can greatly influence decision-making. Today’s internal audit experts provide a broad view, whether or not the company has a fully outsourced, completely in-house, or “co-sourced” internal audit function. Here is how to think about the internal audit role under today’s expectations and how to make the most of the expertise that can be implemented within the internal audit function.
What Is Internal Auditing?
One way to view the role of internal auditors: They are explorers. They are looking out for issues and opportunities that have been overlooked or not yet considered. Where are the knowledge gaps or blind spots within the company? Internal auditors are trained to have a close understanding not only of the most immediate risks facing the company but also emerging risks and promising opportunities.
They offer a unique ability to do this work because they make a point of gaining a deep understanding of the business—they know the right questions to ask as they meet with the different areas of the business.
What does internal audit do? According to the Institute of Internal Auditors, internal auditing is:
An independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization’s operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes.
While the internal audit process and the function itself has evolved, internal audit experts have continued to have a focus on corporate governance, internal controls, and risk management. What’s changed is the role’s value has been realized at many companies in terms of helping seniors leaders be more aware of key risks and to help them think through issues more thoroughly—while also being able to provide a big-picture view that is relevant.
Companies that have raised the level of the internal audit function have turned it into a strategic business asset—an important aspect of making smart (fully informed) decisions.
Expanding Responsibilities of Internal Auditors
Today’s internal audit function can have a positive influence on decisions that lead to growth. Internal auditors are not solely focused on financial risks, although that is an important responsibility. Their SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis takes a forward-looking approach to bring attention to ways the company can build on its strengths and seek new opportunities, such as a new product line or a geographic expansion. They can help to set the stage for a strategic initiative—by providing an informed view toward the next steps the company could take.
So, in addition to “explorers,” you could also consider internal auditors to be strategic advisors, collaborators and, most definitely, risk experts, in addition to compliance pros. Here is how this function’s responsibilities fall under the labels:
Strategic advisors: The internal audit function can be steered more toward this role, to provide objective critical thinking that leads to actionable insights and better informed strategic moves.
Collaborators: While internal auditors aim to provide an objective view, they can work closely with business leaders to understand their unique challenges and consider the emerging risks and opportunities that are pertinent to them.
Risk experts: Internal auditors look beyond financial risks to broader emerging risks and can help the company prioritize how they address them. These are risks that could have a detrimental effect on the business strategy or perhaps raise an opportunity if the risk could be an issue that’s affecting a competitor.
Compliance pros: Core to the function, the internal audit team pays close attention to the constantly evolving regulatory landscape, and helps the company stay on track with its regulatory obligations.
Defining the Internal Audit Function at Your Company
Rarely does an internal audit function evolve organically without some support. Outside experts can help to build, transform, or enhance the internal audit team to provide consistently critical thinking and actionable insights that can aid the company on its forward trajectory. This is how the internal audit function can become a strategic partner for new initiatives, whether the company is pursuing an M&A opportunity, a new system implementation, or the addition of a product in its portfolio. The internal audit function offers a unique perspective that can be noticeably beneficial to the future decisions of the business.
Looking to develop your company’s internal audit function or address a skills gap? Learn about RoseRyan’s Internal Audit Solution.
The Controller Vs. The CFO: What’s The Difference?
Holding different perspectives, the skillsets of a CFO and controller vary. Read on as we unpack the roles and responsibilities of the CFO vs the controller.
As your emerging growth company takes on more business and more employees, a central question may arise: Should you bring in a controller or CFO, or both? Should these roles be on a part-time, fractional, or as-needed basis? Knowing the differences between these two positions and the knowledge and expertise each role can provide your growing company can help with the decision, which will likely lead toward a bit of both (perhaps not on a completely full-time/in-house level just yet).
What Is the Difference Between a Controller and a CFO?
The skills and knowledge of a controller vs. CFO can be quite diverse, depending on the person’s past experience and whether the role is responsible for overseeing one division in a company or the entire company. Generally speaking, a controller tends to be more technical in nature while a CFO is more strategic.
Controller vs. CFO Duties
Whether they are working on an interim basis or are a round-the-clock fixture in the leadership team, controllers and CFOs are usually experts in accounting and financial leadership: They can lead the finance organization through new processes and procedures, new accounting rules, questions from the senior leadership team and board, and then relay back information in a language that the recipient can understand and appreciate.
In this way, a CFO and a controller can help to bridge gaps that can prevent some companies from moving forward on decisions; they can communicate complex issues and make connections between why they matter to the business today and in terms of its business plan and goals.
Tactical vs. Strategic/Technical vs. Soft Skills
A controller could be the leader of a young company’s finance organization, and the company may not yet have a CFO on the payroll. Ideally, this person brings both technical and soft skills to the role, so they can relay what the facts and figures mean to those outside the finance department. They help to build bridges between what the finance organization is tracking and processing and analyzing, and the other critical roles around the company, from IT and procurement to distribution and manufacturing. They’re usually the ones hiring and keeping the finance talent engaged and updated on their skills.
The CFO, on the other hand, usually offers a wider perspective beyond the finance organization and will be more likely to communicate directly with the CEO, depending on the size of the company, and the board, and potential investors. CFOs often become one of the critical voices and representatives of the company, to exude confidence and transparency to what’s happening at the company and explaining in clear terms any financial matters that the outside world wants to know and is privy to.
Ideally, both the controller and CFO at a company are forward-thinking—at some companies the controller is mostly focused on the here and now while the CFO takes a more big-picture, forward-looking approach. For companies that are still new to the roles of CFO vs. controller, interim consultants can help to define these roles depending on the company’s unique situation.
When to Hire a Financial Controller and When to Hire a CFO
The availability and expertise of interim controllers and interim CFOs mean your emerging growth company does not need to rush bringing in these roles if it is not ready yet. Many of the responsibilities can be met by consultants who are prepared to become a part of the finance organization—and even lead it for a time—to help your company get through a transitional period, scale to systems and processes that better fit for the company size you are now, and more.
In many cases, companies need more strategic and analytical expertise in their finance teams—and an interim controller or interim CFO can help to broaden the thinking and outlook—and get the company closer to realizing its latest goals. RoseRyan can help you think through the level of finance leadership expertise your company needs now—reach out to us today to learn more.
Are you overlooking these key financial year end factors? Get strategic now with this guide…
As the year draws to a close, businesses are gearing up for a period of reflection and forward planning. While many articles around this time delve into the usual year end financial strategies—such as budget reviews and tax considerations—let’s explore some often overlooked but equally crucial aspects of year end financial planning that companies should be aware of.
1. Performance Evaluation Beyond Numbers:
In addition to analyzing financial statements, take a moment to assess the overall performance of your business.
Consider the achievements, challenges, and lessons learned throughout the year. Understanding the qualitative aspects of your company’s performance can provide valuable insights for future decision-making.
2. Employee Development and Recognition:
The end of the year is an opportune time to evaluate employee performance and set goals for professional development in the coming year.
Recognizing and rewarding employees for their hard work can boost morale and contribute to a positive workplace culture.
3. Strategic Alignment Check:
Evaluate your business’s strategic goals and assess whether they align with the current market trends and industry landscape.
Consider making adjustments to your strategic plan to ensure your business remains agile and responsive to changing conditions.
4. Cybersecurity and Data Protection Audit:
With the increasing reliance on digital technologies, it’s crucial to conduct a thorough cybersecurity and data protection audit.
Ensure that your company’s systems are up-to-date, secure, and compliant with relevant regulations to safeguard sensitive information.
5. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Considerations:
Businesses are increasingly being held accountable for their environmental and social impact.
Evaluate your company’s ESG practices and consider ways to enhance your commitment to sustainability, diversity, and ethical business practices.
6. Customer Feedback and Experience Analysis:
Take the time to review customer feedback and analyze your customers’ overall experiences.
Understanding your customers’ needs and expectations can inform product or service improvements and help you tailor your business strategies to meet market demands.
7. Supply Chain Resilience Assessment:
The challenges posed by global events have highlighted the importance of a resilient supply chain.
Evaluate the vulnerabilities in your supply chain and implement measures to enhance its resilience, ensuring a smoother operation in the face of unforeseen disruptions.
8.Innovation and Technology Integration:
Assess how well your business is leveraging technology and explore opportunities for innovation.
Embracing new technologies and processes can enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and position your company as a leader in your industry.
By incorporating these often-overlooked aspects into your year end financial planning, your business can position itself for sustained success in the coming year.
Remember, a holistic approach to year end assessments can uncover opportunities for growth and improvement that go beyond the balance sheet.
If your organization could do with some strategic guidance to help get through this busy time, take a look at the Year End Close resourceswe’ve put together, and reach out to us—we’re here to help!
From everyone at RoseRyan, wishing you and your loved ones a peaceful and joyful holiday!