BUSINESS MATTERS
Follow Up on Unpaid Invoices
If customers or clients owe your business money, now is the time to follow up. Review your accounts receivable and identify overdue invoices.
A professional reminder may be all that is needed to receive payment. Allowing unpaid invoices to remain unresolved can create cash-flow problems, particularly as you enter the holiday season and year-end expenses begin to increase.
Evaluate Your Marketing
Take a look at how you marketed your business during the first three quarters of 2026. What worked? What did not?
Review your website, social media pages, advertisements, brochures, business cards, email campaigns, and other promotional materials. Make sure your contact information, prices, services, photographs, hours, and descriptions are accurate.
Fall is also a good time to begin planning holiday promotions, year-end specials, fundraising campaigns, customer appreciation activities, and your 2027 marketing strategy.
Check on Your Customers
Sometimes businesses become so focused on attracting new customers that they forget about the people who have already supported them.
Reach out to your existing customers and clients. Thank them for their business. Ask for feedback. Let them know about upcoming services, products, programs, or events. Maintaining relationships can be just as important as creating new ones.
licenses, permits, insurance policies, contracts, and other important documents.
If your address, telephone number, officers, registered agent, or other information has changed, determine whether those changes need to be reported to the appropriate agency. Nonprofit organizations should also review their corporate and tax-related responsibilities and make sure required records and filings are being maintained.
Put important renewal and filing dates on your calendar. Missing a deadline can sometimes result in penalties, unnecessary expenses, or problems with your business standing.
Review Your Budget
Your 2026 budget may have looked great in January, but things can change during the year. Fall is an excellent time to compare what you planned to spend with what you actually spent.
Where did you go over budget? Where did you save money? Which expenses produced results, and which ones did not? This information can help you make better decisions during the final months of 2026 and begin developing a realistic budget for 2027.