A 2025 Mid-Year Checklist that EVERY Business Should Review

We’re more than halfway through 2025, and now is the perfect time for businesses to get their bookkeeping in order and prepare for this year’s taxes!

Taking action today ensures you put yourself in the best possible position to reduce your tax liability and take advantage of all tax savings opportunities. And don’t forget—your business tax choices directly shape your personal financial future.

To assist you we have a comprehensive checklist of items every business should complete prior to year-end in preparation for taxes. We’ve also noted the services we provide to help you get all of this done more efficiently and accurately! We think your time is better spent focusing on growing your business – not in the bookkeeping weeds.

• Post your 2024 adjusting journal entries.
  • Our team of expert, certified bookkeepers can help to ensure accuracy!
• Review your trial balance to ensure that it matches your 2024 tax return.
  • It is important that your trial balance and retained earnings match your prior year tax return before the end of 2025. Why? This is required as the starting point of next year’s tax return, and it is also a great way to ensure a smooth and cost-efficient start to tax preparation.
• Review your fixed asset listing and remove any old assets that are no longer in service. Ensuring your asset listing is up to date can reduce time and expense during tax preparation.
  • We regularly assist clients with journal entries to properly record asset clean-up.
• Accounting clean-up. Make sure your reconciliation and account balances are up to date and accurate.
  • Our experts can provide account-specific observations and suggest changes for the balance sheet and profit & loss, general best practices, and enhancement suggestions.
  • Recommendations can also focus on capitalization threshold policies, fixed asset additions, accruals and prepaids, and management of accounts receivable and accounts payable.

Don’t use QuickBooks or need a full QuickBooks Clean Up? No problem! Simply choose which services will benefit your business needs. Some common areas of accounting assistance to consider prior to year-end:

• Setting up accrual and prepaid schedules.
• Tracking meals and entertainment expenses in line with IRS treatment.
• Consultation on application integration with QuickBooks Online.
• Bank and credit card reconciliations.
• Do you have employees, sales or assets in any new states? We can help you determine filing requirements prior to tax time.
• Posting adjusting journal entries.
• Do you anticipate needing to file 1099s for 2025? We can take this off your plate by providing the information required to file on your own, or we can complete the filing for you.
• Develop and review business performance through KPI reports or dashboard to have a clear picture of your business’s performance and financial strength. If you do not have a developed KPI report, we can assist with this as well. Click here for more information about how accurate financial reporting can spell success for your small business.

Please reach out to us if you need assistance with any of these checklist items. Our proactive approach makes us more than an accounting firm – we counsel you on a wide range of financial and management issues, resulting in better decision-making and more confidence in your success. Click here to contact us today and find out how we can help you strategize and develop your business plan for success!

Recipients should not act on the information presented without seeking prior professional advice. Check with your tax advisor about your specific situation or click here to reach out to our firm for additional guidance.

By Donna London, CPA, Tax Manager, Davis & Hodgdon CPAs