If you decide to reward your employees with bonuses, don’t forget about tax. Bonuses are subject to income tax withholding, FICA and FUTA taxes – just like regular pay. See the SBA website for details.

For vendors this is straightforward. For contractors, you may have to submit a W-9 form – check with your accountant. You will also need to give each contractor a 1099-MISC form by 31 January.

With well-designed payroll software, this should be easy to achieve. Ask your bookkeeper or accountant if you have any issues. Make sure you comply with all payroll regulations – including any recent changes.

Your assets, liabilities and equities will give you an idea of how well your business performed this year. Use your accounting software to generate visual balance sheet and Profit & Loss reports. Then identify where your business did well, and where there’s room for improvement next year.

Your income statement will list each revenue-generating item, along with your tax-deductible expenses. It’s a useful way to see your profit and loss for the year.

Businesses live or die by their cash flow – it’s one of the biggest issues for small organizations. So use your accounting software to generate your cash flow statement. It’s a vital document.

Most small business owners pay quarterly estimated tax payments throughout the year. Keep track of what you’ve paid, as it will help you estimate what you’ll have to pay after year end.

Make sure your payroll is fully up-to-date and contains only current employees. It’s vital that past employees don’t have access to company systems, so check that too. Ensure that everyone’s personal information is correct.

Talk to your insurance company to see if they have any recommendations. Talk to other insurers too, in case you could get a better deal. Be sure you have all statutory and recommended insurance cover.

Take a look at lists of tax dates online and subscribe to the IRS SMB calendar.

Each of these will have work to do for your business at year end. Talk to them, and make lists of tasks that they need to carry out. This will help them focus on your business at this busy time of year.

Too many business owners fail to accurately estimate their tax payments. Be sure to cover state and federal taxes. Keep this money safe and separate. By starting now you should have time to put the right amount of money aside.

The IRS will help you here. Talk to them and check out their website for information about how to apply. Do this as early as you can, because there are penalties for late payment.

You can kill two birds with one stone here. Go through your contacts database and make sure everybody’s details are correct. While you’re doing this, send them an email thanking them for their business this year. They’ll remember you.

Did you achieve everything you intended to last year? If so, great. If not, try to find out why. Making goals for the coming year can help keep you motivated as your business grows. Review them regularly to stay on track.