5 things to do before the end of the year

Send out all your invoices.

Make sure you send out all the invoices and past due invoices you have now so your customers have time to pay you before the new year. (OK these should have been sent out by now). Your customers want to be able to clear you off their books before the new year so they can claim you on their taxes. You will have happier customers if they see you are looking out for their interests.  Plus you will have more funds for the rest of this list.

Buy new equipment.

Now is the time to invest in your business.  Do you need a new computer? Printer? Or some other tool you need in your job? Buy it now, take advantage of these pre and post Christmas sales.  Anything you buy for your business (that you will use for work, not personal, so no you can’t buy yourself a new TV for the living room and claim it as a business expense) can be claimed as a business expense. You can’t claim the whole amount, you can only claim half of it if you bought it in the last six months of the year, but it will help you for this year and next year. You can even buy used items to save more money, and still claim them.

Donate now.

Depending on your business you may be able to count donations, for me, I donated and claim it on my personal taxes.  My business isn’t donating, I am. I make sure to do this before December 31st because I want it to count for this year.  A few years ago I started adding into my donation what I might spend on Holiday cards and the postage, I add that amount to an amount I would normally donate and skip the cards. Some people at first were not pleased that I didn’t send cards (my grandmother) but most people I talk to like the idea and have scaled back their own consumption of dead trees and stamps. In truth the idea came to me from my mother, back when I was at the age that cards became expected of me I remembered how she bought cards from a charity that were made by the developmentally disabled community and it was a fundraiser for them. Many charities sell cards as a fund raiser, I liked the idea but thought the charity could do much more with the full amount of money. So thanks Mom!

Make an extra contribution to your retirement.

If you’re like me then you are solely responsible for your retirement fund, you don’t have a company matching any contributions you make.  Make sure you top it up at the end of the year. I never get close to the maximum amount I can invest, but I’m sure some people do. Make sure you don’t go over that.

Renew subscriptions (early).

Many organizations have subscriptions, many of these you need for your business. Website domains, hosting plans, software, unions, professional organizations, get those paid for in this year. Again, it’s just easier to organize if you pay for everything in one year, this will help with your claims.  Just remember that while paying for multiyear subscriptions may be cheaper, they may not be able to be claimed in the full amount, so check your state, province, and federal tax rules.

Bonus: If you have employees, now’s the time to give them bonuses for the hard work they have done and you know how much you can afford because it’s the end of the year.

What do you make sure you do before the end of the year? What did I miss? Tell me in the comments.