Master Your Financial Future: Strategic Planning for 2025!

Part two with CPA, Brian Werner. We go quarter by quarter to structure your year for maximum success. This podcast episode focuses on the critical aspects of budget planning for business success. We discuss setting up a budget, assessing it throughout the year, evaluating investments, and year-end tax strategies.

• Importance of establishing a budget in the first quarter
• Reassessing and adjusting the budget in the second quarter
• Evaluating investment performance in the third quarter
• Year-end planning including consultations with CPAs
• Strategies for maximizing tax write-offs and retirement contributions

For expert financial advice, contact Brian at 719-358-2360 or email [e-mail].

We welcome your questions! If you would like to learn more about us or connect for a conversation, please visit www.pasleycommercialinteriors.com.

Episode Transcript

Brian Werner (00:00):
All right Okay.

Randi Lynn (00:01):
We're back with Brian Werner.
If you missed the previousepisode, go back and listen.
It'll be really easy to find.
It's the one right before thisone.
That's so easy.
Yeah, because we're talkingabout all kinds of important
things to know for taxwrite-offs and business expenses
etc.
Not going to rehash it, just gore-listen.
But it's January and, as such,people are thinking to set up

(00:26):
the year.
Usually you think kind of thatlast quarter, oh, I've got to
buy things to bring the incomedown.
You know they're thinking aheadtypically, but we have you now
and so let's talk about if we're, if we were going to set up our
year, what are good things todo?
Maybe just each quarter, belike hey, think about this plan

(00:47):
for this, whatever.
Can you hit us with it?

Brian Werner (00:49):
Definitely so.
I would say number one the mostcrucial planning tool that any
company can have that a lot ofthem don't is a budget.
Oh, is it budget.

Randi Lynn (01:00):
Yeah.

Brian Werner (01:00):
And it's because it's your probably your best
kind of guesstimate projectionof what 2025 is going to look
like for you, right?
So I usually tell people I'mlike, don't spend a ton of time
in that, because you know,obviously there's a lot of
unknowns that can happen overthe next 12 months, but at least

(01:21):
hopefully, you have a decentamount of pulse on it and you
can kind of say, okay, this iswhat I project 2025 to look like
.
Um, it helps you kind of plan,like where are you going to
invest certain dollars when itcomes to, like, interior design,
or like, maybe your marketingand your branding and such Um,
do you have the ability to growyour company?
Is that your plan?

(01:42):
Do you need to add more people?
Do you need to add more, youknow, office equipment,
furniture and such right?
So these are things thatcompanies need to plan for, and
if you don't have a plan, you'reusually just kind of, you know,
running blind.

Randi Lynn (01:56):
Yeah, and if they don't have a plan, can they come
to you?

Brian Werner (01:59):
Can you?

Randi Lynn (01:59):
help them with their budget.

Brian Werner (02:00):
Definitely Great.
I geek out on that, I love that?

Randi Lynn (02:04):
Did they start by just taking all of their
categories from the year beforeand build from that?

Brian Werner (02:09):
Oh, totally yes, and actually there are some
accounting softwares that prettymuch allow you to like copy
last year and then start fromthere, so you're not having to
recreate the wheel.

Randi Lynn (02:19):
Okay, all right, so start of the year, we're going
to set our budget.
Yeah, what should we do?
Quarter two Quarter two.

Brian Werner (02:26):
I would say at that point, you know, that's
kind of your mid year it'sprobably a great opportunity to
say, okay, how are things goingso far?
And then what do I know thatmaybe has changed.
Because I always tell peoplelike a budget's not static, it's
not going to like be frozen.
Pretty much I consider budgetto be fluid and sometimes there
may be changes that will impactyour organization and they're

(02:51):
going to impact your budget forthe remainder of the year.
So, and that's okay, that'sokay for it to you know, maybe
make an update, you know aroundmid year, to say, okay, maybe
revenues are, maybe we'regrowing faster than we expected,
Maybe we're growing a littleslower than expected, and make
those you know necessary changes, just so you have kind of a you
know a better projection ofwhat the rest of the year is

(03:14):
going to look like for you Setthe budget, tweak the budget
quarter three summertime we'rehaving a good time.

Randi Lynn (03:20):
What's happening?

Brian Werner (03:20):
Yeah, everybody's having barbecues and, you know,
working shorter hours, hopefully.
But I would say at that point,it's good time for you to look
back, okay, and say, okay, whatare we doing that's working,
what are we doing that's notworking?
Okay, and then make appropriateadjustments.
So we work with a lot of ourcompanies on we call it

(03:42):
investing their dollars, becauseevery business, instead of
using the word spend, becausespend has such a negative
connotation To me every dollarthat a business invests should
have a return on investment,right?
So it's a good opportunity forbusinesses to look and see what
investments are paying off.

(04:02):
Opportunity for businesses tolook and see what investments
are paying off Like, wow, wejust invested in a brand new
space and it's beautiful and ourcustomers love it and the
business is growing.
Well, that sounds like a reallygreat investment that the
business made.
But maybe a business may be,you know, taking a particular
marketing route and they haven'tgenerated any new business from

(04:22):
that marketing route andthey've been sinking dollars
into it for the last six months.
It might be time to maybe lookat that and say, okay, maybe we
turn that, turn that off, andcan we reallocate those dollars
in a more meaningful way.

Randi Lynn (04:36):
Great Okay, Quarter four.

Brian Werner (04:40):
Quarter four, and that's pretty much you know when
everything ramps up andeverybody's trying to plan for
year end, essentially.
So it seems like, you know,almost from like Halloween until
like the end of the year, youknow, a lot of companies are
usually trying to you knowmaneuver.
Maybe, if they have you know alarge bottom line, they're

(05:00):
looking to their certifiedpublic accountants, their CPAs,
to discuss some year endplanning.
Maybe some, you know, do weneed to?
Maybe you know, invest moredollars in our office equipment
if they have the need, or ifthey have the need for new
furniture and such and um?

Randi Lynn (05:17):
yeah, tell us some some things that people
typically spent, like if they,if they got to get their books
balanced a little bit more.
What are?
What are some things people canthink about?

Brian Werner (05:27):
So I'd say retirement plans is usually a
big one.
Um, sometimes you know ownersof companies or even you know
owners of companies sometimeshave options when it comes to
retirement plans, and some ofthem are more lucrative than
others and allow you to put moreinto your retirement accounts.
There's retirement plans like401k plans that even allow you

(05:49):
to do profit sharing with youremployees as well.
So that would be probably onethat's you know, still gives
owners the ability to keepcontrol of that money, but all
they're doing is shifting itfrom company resources into
their own retirement accounts.
So that's usually a big onethat we kind of look at.

(06:10):
And then there's even enhancedretirement plans like defined
benefit plans that if there's alot of income and they have, I
would say, mo' money, mo'problems, pretty much.

Randi Lynn (06:21):
Great song, great song, cool.
That's awesome.
Yeah, all right.
So I'm going to hit them againbecause we know I like bullet
point.
Yes, quarter one budget Make itStick to it.
Quarter two see if you'resticking to it, reassess, tweak
it if you need.

(06:41):
Quarter three look back right.
So we're thinking what were theinvestments that worked?
Maybe we need to reallocate thethings elsewhere.
And then, quarter four talk toyour CPA about how to make
investments work for you.
Buy that furniture, do theupgrades, things like that.

(07:01):
To do the write-offs andretirement planning.
That was a big one, becausethat is a good place to put
money at the end of the yearthat, instead of it sitting in
the bank account, help you oryour employees with their future
planning, which is great.
That is great Cool.