It’s the end of the year and finance folks are likely closing the books on 2010 right about now. That also means paying attention to your accounting software so all the important chores are completed by the end of December.

Curtis Cochran, customer service manager for the accounting software maker Sage Peachtree, offers these tips for small business at year-end:

• Complete all transactions for the year including Payroll, A/P, and A/R,  as well as any General Journal entries that are required. If you have Fixed Assets, run depreciation and post to the G/L.
• Reconcile necessary G/L accounts against bank statements to ensure accuracy before closing the year. In many cases, once the year is closed, businesses are unable to make adjustments.
• Print any year-end reports needed for historical purposes. Additionally, back up your data and store in a secure location.
• Review year-end reports and make any adjusting entries needed prior to closing the year. This is often done with the assistance of a CPA or accounting professional.
• Complete the final payroll run of the year and create 4th quarter reporting and filings.
• Run year-end reporting and prepare W2’s, 940’s, 1099’s and other filings required by federal and state governments.
• If there are changes to tax rates or limits that need to be adjusted, either update software or manually adjust rates or limits that may be changing for the coming year.
• Because many companies provide vacation and sick time at the beginning of each year, this is an optimal time to make adjustments or changes to businesses setup prior to the first payroll run of the year.
• It is always a good idea to do database maintenance at year-end. Purge old data and run diagnostics to ensure the data is in good working order before beginning the new year, and
• Many companies prefer to make software and computer upgrades at year-end once they have finalized everything. It is advisable to perform these types of activities when business activity is at its lowest to reduce downtime.

Tags: accounting, Curtis Cochran, Sage Peachtree, Software, tips, year end