"As we reach the fourth quarter of an extraordinary year, many small businesses are consumed with the challenges of executing, ensuring inventory is in place, fulfilling orders, or driving demand through advertising and promotions. However, the early fourth quarter is also an ideal time for some quick checks to ensure your business ends the year strongly and is well-positioned to hit the ground running as we move into 2026. Here's my advice on how to take full advantage of this window of opportunity."
"Start by doing a bit of "Fall Clean-Up" of your Q1 through Q3 books using these suggestions from Quickbooks. You can ask your bookkeeper to do this to get clean results month by month, quarter by quarter, and year-to-date, with comparisons to the same period last year and ratios against sales revenue for COGS, marketing costs, shipping, etc. Closing the books on a quarterly basis keeps your records clean, improving your ability to manage growth and cash flows,"
Conduct a fall clean-up of Q1–Q3 books and close the books quarterly to maintain accurate records and comparable period analyses. Review ratios against sales for COGS, marketing, shipping, and other costs to identify efficiency and investment opportunities. Assess which marketing channels deliver the needed ROI and request candid performance reviews from any agencies. Probe senior team members on operational and performance issues, and address inventory, supply-chain, and fulfillment challenges to ensure Q4 order completion and to position the business to start 2026 with momentum.
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