Month: December 2025

Year-End & New-Year Financial Planning Series

As the year draws to a close and a new one begins, we believe thoughtful financial planning is an important part of faithful stewardship. Each post in this series builds on the last — helping you reflect on the year behind you, plan wisely for the year ahead, and establish steady habits that support clarity, peace of mind, and long-term sustainability. New entries will be released weekly as we move together from closing the year well to starting the next one with intention and confidence.

Preface: “Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.” – Margaret J. Wheatley

Part 1: Closing the year with clarity and beginning the next with confidence: A Year-End Financial Checklist for Small Businesses

In the final weeks of the year, many business owners feel pulled in multiple directions — finishing projects, managing cash flow, and preparing for time away. While December can feel rushed, it’s also one of the most valuable times of the year to pause and take stock financially.

A thoughtful year-end review doesn’t need to be overwhelming. A few intentional steps can bring clarity, reduce stress, and set the stage for a smoother tax season and a stronger year ahead.

1. Review Your Financial Statements

Before year-end, take time to review your profit and loss statement and balance sheet. You don’t need to understand every line item perfectly — but you should understand the overall story your numbers are telling.

Consider:

• • Does this year’s performance align with expectations?
  • Were there unusual expenses or revenue changes?
  • Are there trends worth paying attention to going into next year?

This review often surfaces questions worth addressing before December 31.

2. Ensure Accounts Are Reconciled

Accurate reconciliations are foundational to reliable financial reporting. Make sure bank accounts, credit cards, and loan balances are reconciled and up to date.

Unreconciled accounts often lead to:

• • delayed tax preparation
  • misreported balances
  • unnecessary follow-up questions later

Addressing these now saves time and frustration in the months ahead.

3. Organize Key Documentation

Year-end is a good opportunity to gather and organize important documents, including:

• • payroll reports
  • loan statements
  • asset purchases or sales
  • significant contracts or agreements

Having documentation readily available helps ensure accuracy and reduces delays during tax preparation.

4. Evaluate Timing Considerations

Depending on your situation, there may be flexibility in the timing of certain income or expenses. While not every business has year-end options available, it’s still worth understanding what applies to you.

These decisions are best made with context — not in isolation or at the last minute.

5. Communicate Changes and Context

If your business experienced growth, challenges, staffing changes, or major purchases this year, make sure your CPA is aware. Context matters, and proactive communication leads to better guidance.

Closing the year well isn’t about perfection — it’s about clarity and faithfulness. The time you invest now helps ensure fewer surprises later.

6. How Can We Help?

If you’re unsure whether your year-end information is complete or would benefit from a brief review, now is a good time to reach out. A short conversation before year-end can help identify issues early and set the tone for the coming year.

As you take time to bring clarity to the year just ending, remember that finishing well creates space to move forward wisely. In Part 2 of this series, we’ll turn our attention to planning for the year ahead — focusing on simple, practical steps that can help you begin the new year with direction and stability.

Preface: “Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” ― John Maxwell

Best New Business & Leadership Books of 2025: A year-end reading list for thinking about work… without actually working

That quiet stretch at the end of the year is a rare reset. The inbox slows down, the meetings ease up, and your brain finally has room to notice things you’ve been too busy to think about.

If you’re taking a break over the holidays (or just enjoying a slower season), a good leadership book is a low-pressure way to stay sharp without actually “working.” It’s reflection, not grind. A way to think about your business from a healthier distance.

Here are some of the best new business and leadership books of 2025. A few lean more toward strategy and market awareness, and a few lean toward people-first, servant-hearted leadership — the kind of leadership that strengthens a team instead of just squeezing results out of it.

1. The Thinking Machine — Stephen Witt

If you’ve been trying to understand what the AI wave really means for everyday businesses, this is the most readable “big picture” book of the year. It traces Nvidia’s rise and the infrastructure behind generative AI — but more importantly, it shows how leaders spot a shift early and prepare wisely.

Why it’s worth your year-end time:

• • it’s story-driven and easy to read in short sittings
  • it helps you think about what’s changing in your industry before it changes you
  • it nudges a steady, stewardship-oriented question: How do I prepare my people for what’s coming, not just my bottom line?

2. Empire of AI — Karen Hao

This book zooms out from tools and trends and looks at how AI organizations gain power, where they risk overreach, and why governance matters. It’s not a “how to use AI tomorrow” manual — it’s a “how to lead responsibly in a new era” book.

Why it’s good for a slower season:

• • it helps you re-orient instead of react
  • it encourages discernment about automation and ethics
  • it pushes the servant-leader kind of wisdom: Just because we can automate something, should we?

3. Make Work Fair — Iris Bohnet & Siri Chilazi

A practical, research-grounded book on building workplaces that are fairer and more effective — and not in a slogan-heavy way. This is about designing systems that help people thrive and teams perform better over time.

Why leaders keep recommending it:

• • it focuses on structures, not just intentions
  • it’s full of “small changes that make a big difference”
  • it’s aligned with the idea that good leadership removes burdens people shouldn’t be carrying

A year-end question it raises:

Where are our systems unintentionally making life harder for our people — and what’s one thing we can fix in Q1?

4. Chokepoints — Edward Fishman

This one isn’t a leadership book in the classic sense — it’s a clarity book. It explains how trade pressure, geopolitics, tariffs, and supply chains shape today’s economy. For small business owners, those global realities show up as price spikes, delays, and customer shifts.

Why it earns a spot on this list:

• • it helps you see the terrain clearly
  • it makes uncertainty feel less mysterious
  • it strengthens your ability to lead calmly when costs or markets swing

A simple takeaway for 2026 planning:

Where are we more dependent than we realized — and what’s one backup plan we should build?

5. Leadership with a Servant’s Heart — Kevin Wayne Johnson

This 2025 release is a gentle but grounding read for leaders who want character to stay ahead of ego. It connects leadership to humility, service, and the everyday ways we shape the people around us. It’s less about scaling fast and more about leading well.

Why it fits a year-end reset:

• • it’s reflective, not frantic
  • it helps you examine leadership at work and at home
  • it encourages the kind of leadership that strengthens trust and dignity in your team

A small question to sit with this week:

Do the people around me feel served or managed by my leadership?

A simple way to read these without turning rest into homework

Try this low-effort rhythm:

1. 1. Read 20–30 pages at a time.
   2. Underline anything that makes you pause.
   3. At the end of each session, write one sentence – “If I used this idea, I would…”

No big plan required. Just gentle clarity that you can carry into January.

Closing thought

Some of the best leadership work happens when you’re not “working” at all — when you’re rested enough to think clearly and care deeply.

If this season gives you a little margin, pick one book to start now and add a couple to your 2026 to-read wish list. You’ll head into the new year with something better than a to-do list: a clearer way to lead.

Preface: “Plans are nothing; planning is everything.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Year-End 2025 Industry Mini-Guides: How to Use 100% Bonus Depreciation Before December 31

If you’ve been waiting for the clearest “do I buy this now or not?” answer, here it is: 100% bonus depreciation is back for 2025, and it can dramatically lower your tax bill — but only if you handle the timing and documentation correctly.

The 2025 law change restored full expensing for many business assets and made it retroactive to qualifying property placed in service on or after January 19, 2025.

That retroactive piece is why this is the biggest year-end planning lever for small businesses right now.

Below are quick, practical mini-guides by industry so you can see what matters to your business — plus a simple December checklist at the end.

First: the two rules that matter most

1. “Placed in service” beats “purchased.”

You don’t get the deduction just because you paid for it.

To qualify for 2025, the asset generally must be ready and available for use by December 31, 2025. Delivery, installation, and actual use all matter.

2. Bonus depreciation and Section 179 work together.

Bonus depreciation is automatic for eligible assets unless you opt out.

Section 179 is elective and sometimes better for certain assets or planning goals. Your best result usually comes from using both strategically.

Mini-Guide #1: Contractors & Construction

What usually qualifies:

• • • • Heavy equipment: skid steers, excavators, lifts, compactors, loaders
      • Jobsite tools and machinery
      • Trailers and work vehicles (especially those over 6,000 lbs GVWR)
      • Surveying, GPS, and jobsite tech
      • Computers, tablets, and office/field software systems

Year-end traps to avoid:

• • • • Ordering in December isn’t enough. If the machine arrives in January, it’s a 2026 deduction, even if you paid in 2025.
      • “Sitting on the lot” isn’t placed in service. If it’s not ready for use (or you don’t have possession), you likely can’t claim it yet.

Smart December move:

• • • • Review your 2025 purchases that have already been put into service. With 100% bonus depreciation restored retroactively, you may have deductions you weren’t expecting when you bought earlier this year.

Mini-Guide #2: Farms & Ag Businesses

What usually qualifies:

• • • • Tractors and combines (new or used, if first use by you)
      • Harvesting, planting, and feeding equipment
      • Grain bins and certain farm structures/equipment
      • Irrigation equipment
      • Farm trucks and trailers
      • Dairy and livestock systems that are tangible depreciable property

Year-end traps to avoid:

• • • • Installation timing. A grain bin delivered but not installed/usable by 12/31 may not count for 2025.
      • Financing confusion. Financing does not prevent eligibility — what matters is placed-in-service timing and business use.

Smart December move:

• • • • If you’re considering a major equipment upgrade anyway, placing it in service before year-end can turn a big purchase into a big deduction.

Mini-Guide #3: Manufacturing & Light Industry

What usually qualifies:

• • • • Production machinery and shop equipment
      • Robotics and automation tools
      • Forklifts, pallet systems, warehouse equipment
      • Quality control and testing tech
      • Computers/software tied directly to production
      • Certain facility improvements that are depreciable equipment (not land/building structure)

Year-end traps to avoid:

• • • • Long lead times. If you order now but it won’t arrive until Q1, plan for a 2026 deduction instead of assuming 2025.
      • Capital improvement vs. equipment. Some building work can qualify (like certain interior improvements), others can’t. Classification matters.

Smart December move:

• • • • Don’t guess whether a project is “equipment” or “building.” We can often re-classify parts of a project to maximize what qualifies.

Mini-Guide #4: Professional Services, Offices & Small Retail

What usually qualifies:

• • • • Computers, monitors, servers, networking gear
      • Point-of-sale systems
      • Phone systems and security equipment
      • Office furniture and fixtures
      • Certain leasehold/tenant improvements that are depreciable property
      • Specialized equipment used in service delivery (medical, dental, salons, studios, etc.)

Year-end traps to avoid:

• • • • Bundled invoices. If your contractor bills “office remodel” as one number, you may lose deductions that could have qualified as equipment. Breakouts help.
      • Low-cost items add up. Don’t ignore “small stuff” purchases (workstations, laptops, POS upgrades). They often qualify and can swing your year-end result.

Smart December move:

• • • • If you’re planning tech upgrades for next year, doing them now may pay for part of the purchase in tax savings.

Should you always take 100% bonus depreciation?

Not necessarily.

Reasons you might scale it back or opt out:

• • • You’re already low-income in 2025 and want deductions for a higher-income year.
    • Full expensing could reduce other benefits (like parts of the QBI deduction) depending on your situation.
    • You’re applying for bonding/financing and want stronger book income (tax strategy and reporting goals don’t always match).

That’s why a short planning call before year-end is worth it.

Your December 2025 Checklist

Use this as a quick “am I set?” list:

1.  List everything you bought in 2025 that’s used for the business.

           2. Mark what’s already placed in service (in use or ready to use).For items not yet in service:

• • • • • confirm delivery/installation date
        • decide whether to accelerate or accept a 2026 deduction

           3. Pull documentation now: invoices, serial numbers, delivery receipts, install confirmations, and photos if helpful.

            4. Ask one key question before buying more:

“Will this be placed in service by December 31, 2025?”

              5. Talk to your CPA before the purchase if it’s big — the “best tax move” depends on your whole return.

Want us to run the numbers?

If you send us:

• • • a list of 2025 equipment/vehicle/tech purchases, and
    • anything you’re thinking about buying before year-end,

we’ll estimate the tax impact and suggest the best mix of bonus depreciation and Section 179 for your goals.

Conclusion

For most small businesses, this is the single biggest year-end lever for 2025 — but only if the timing and documentation are right.