At this point, you’re in holiday and giving season and preparing for 2023. You may have bought your gifts and made some travel plans, but a big question remains: Is your business ready for 2023? And more specifically: Are you regularly interacting with your budget and forecast to ensure you sustain positive momentum into the new year?

You may be thinking that it’s too late to design a budget and/or three-year plan? There are two times to start a budget and long-term financial plan — three months ago and today. So who’s ready to start some long-term business plans?!?!

Here’s a little quiz to identify what you should be thinking about for your business:

Do you plan on increasing your revenue and/or net income for 2023? Write 1 for YES, 0 for NO.

Do you have 5-10 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that you use to track your business performance against? Write 0 for YES ,1 for NO.

Do you have a Chief Financial Officer on your payroll that you fully trust? Write 0 for YES, 1 for NO.

Do you have a staff that is providing you with the financial information for your business that is timely, accurate, and pertinent?? Write 0 for YES, 1 for NO

Is there another person in your organization that can do your job better than you while you are focusing your energy on accounting and finance? Write 0 for YES, 1 for NO.

Do you have software that will enable you to track your budget in an automated system? Write 0 for YES, 1 for NO, or ½ if NOT SURE

Do you have the proper internal controls and procedures in place to support your business growth plans? Write 0 for YES, 1 for NO, or ½ if NOT SURE

Can you take a vacation and know that when you return your financial statements will be up to date and ready to review? Write 0 for YES, 1 for NO, or ½ if NOT SURE.

Scoring:

If you scored 3 or less: Hey, this is great! You have a plan and are well positioned to start 2023 and be highly successful.

If you scored 4-7: You might want to consider reevaluating where you stand for this coming year and figure out if you want to have a more fully prepared 2023 budget in place.

If you scored 7 or higher: Good news and bad news. Bad news is, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Good news is that it’s not too late to get your forecast together. It’s better to have something in place than not at all.

This is a light-hearted way to reflect on your organization and figure out if there is room for improvement in your finance structure. As we head into the holiday season, it’s good to know that you’ve planned as much as possible and are poised to start the new year from the best possible point.

Takeaway: If you’re not prepared for 2023 and want a trusted partner to take you through a world-class budget/forecast process, reach out to Scott and Brian at info@acceleratingcfo.com.

Brian Califano