Your Q4 Year End Checklist
Close out the year on a high and well positioned for 2027.
That feeling of accomplishment on Dec 31 starts today.
Every new year there’s a wave of optimism and hope. Anything can happen. THIS could be the breakout year. With that opportunity often comes a little bit of frustration.
Here you are, new year, enthusiasm at an 11, motivation spooled up looking for a target… but you’re hung up on things you should’ve handled weeks ago.
Quarter 4 is deceptive. You have the summer which for a lot of businesses is the slow season. Then everyone charges back in the fall and a whirlwind ensues. Suddenly you’re a couple weeks from the holidays and you are just trying to hold on. It’s one of the busiest quarters and realistically is half as long. Even if you don’t celebrate these holidays or take a lot of time off, your vendors, staff, clients, and partners probably do.
Which is why anything you want to be done and dusted by January, you need to be working on RIGHT. NOW.
Because come the new year, you will wish someone had stopped you in October and said, ok, it’s about to get crazy, so take care of these things now so that you’re not scrambling come December or worse January.
So here we are.
Stop. Take a second.
And let’s handle those year end tasks now.
Here’s your Q4 checklist to make sure you go into 2027 with intention.
Books Sorted
You’ve had this on the list for a while now and just haven’t opened that messy closet yet. But think about how good it will feel to go into a new year with clean, organized books and some financial clarity. And if that’s not enough, you’re really going to want to for the upcoming tax filings. Here’s what “good” looks like:
A better chart of accounts
Products entered and assigned revenue accounts
Expenses caught up and categorized
Accounts all connected and reconciled
Receivables collected
Invoicing caught up
Bills all entered
Payroll is running and connected to books
A P&L and Balance Sheet showing a clear picture of the business
Ready for Tax Season
“Next year I’ll be better” is a phrase we know all too well. We don’t want to say it again come late March. So that means getting on top of things now.
We already mentioned the books above but we’re saying it again. It’s important.
Make sure you have W9’s and all of the payroll details are up to date so you’re ready for sending out 1099’s and W-2’s.
Identify Q4 saving and/or spending plans for your tax liability - another good reason to have your books sorted and a clear idea of what profitability (and your tax liability) will look like.
Plan any 1/1/27 legal restructuring - setting up an LLC, hold co, personal s-corp, whatever it might be, everything is easier if done at year end and ready to become official 1/1.
Put all the dates and deadlines in your calendar for Q4 and all of 2027 - estimated payment deadlines, filing deadlines, 1099’s, W-2’s, all of it.
If you are cash basis be thinking about what you’ll want to recognize or not at the end of the year. For example, avoid taking large deposits for future work in December and consider pre-paying for 2027 expenses.
Get set up with your tax preparer now. The good ones book up early and you want to be in their queue so you’re getting refunds as early as possible.
A Year of Big Plans
The mistake often made is doing year end reflections and planning around New Years. But you want to be relaxing that week between Christmas and New Years and ready for January 2 to hit the ground running. You want the team in place, the goals set, the systems onboarded. While everyone else is staggering back from the holidays, you are mid-stride.
Review the year’s financials and Q4 estimates. P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement and balances.
Review your pricing, terms, product/location/project sales and profitability, customers, and acquisition channels.
Forecast cash needs for the end of the year so you know what you have to work with for investment and/or distributions.
Review operational needs - staffing, software, contractors or agencies - to achieve objectives. Most of these have lead times.
Use all of these to prepare a 2027 Budget with sales and revenue targets, staffing projections, and cost expectations. Again, MUCH easier if you got those books in order.
House Keeping
If you’re knocking things out and want to really put a bow on the year, get all of that operational documentation sorted. In 2026 most of the “big years” we saw clients have involved to a higher degree both AI utilization and delegation. They removed themselves as a bottleneck in at least a few areas and then used their time in more productive areas to get things done.
Document processes and map workflows
Organize passwords and access
Clarify team goals - staff, contractors, agencies, etc.
Inevitably you’ll still come across things you wish you had done earlier. But if you roll through this list you’ll have done more than most and feel good about where you ended.
Just imagine that last week of the year. Kicking back, knowing you’ve done everything you can and the job right now is just to rest up, relax, and be ready to go in January.
COMING UP
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