As the year winds down, it is time not only to get ready for the holiday season and sales, but it is time to wrap up your finances and reflect on the last year as a small business owner. This is the time to make last-minute decisions that will impact your taxes and reflect on your financial success.

#1 Purchase Needed Equipment

If you want to maximize your business deductions, this is a great time to review what needs your business has. Do you need to purchase office supplies? Do you need to upgrade some equipment? This is your last chance to purchase equipment and supplies for your business and deduct them from your overall profit to come up with your net income for the year. Make sure that you leave yourself enough time to make smart purchases as the year wraps up that will help increase your deductions.

#2 Check Value Of Your Inventory

Do an inventory check, and find out what the current value of your business inventory stands at. If for any reason the value of your inventory has dropped, you may qualify for some additional deductions when you do your taxes. This is something that you are going to want to run by your account, but if there has been staggering changes in your industry that have caused the value of your inventory to drop, this is a smart move to make.

#3 Make Your Last Charitable Contributions

Businesses can make charitable contributions just like individuals can. During the holiday season, there is a lot of need for charitable contributions to help people celebrate the holiday season and make it through the winter. Check and see if there are any organizations that you want to partner your business with. You can donate money, or you can donate goods, services or even your time. Make sure that you get a receipt for any donations and be sure to claim their fair market value; don't over value or under value your contributions.

#4 Look At Your Finances

Finally, this is a good time of year to look at your books for the year and plan for the new year ahead. Do you have areas of your business that struggled? Areas where your business did really well? Try and figure out where your business did well, where it struggled, and what you can do to improve your business relations in the coming year. Make sure that you build in time to reflect on your business's finances at the end of the year so you can make smart business decisions moving forward into 2018. 

Contact local small business bookkeeping services for more information and assistance.