News & Blog

October 1, 2018

2018 Fourth Quarter Planning

Finish 2018 Strong

Are you currently adding holiday and end of the year lunches and parties to your work calendar? If, so, happy Fourth Quarter! The fourth quarter is here, and at Wilke & Associates, we are helping clients to end ’18 with a bang and welcome 2019. This quick-read is aimed at helping you think a little more about what’s yet to accomplish in October – November – December.

October we suggest that you may want to consider outsourcing business support services, doing so may improve your bottom line. November we’ll discuss estate and gifting strategies to include in your year-end tax plan. December will be time for the year-end wrap-up and new year planning.

Business support & outsourcing

• A frequent consideration many of our entrepreneurs entertain in their succession planning is – ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan). This option provides tax benefits, employee benefits, and is an alternative option for borrowing capital.

• CFO Outsourcing has been increasingly popular as the individual in the position has the experience to analyze financial data, can detect and prevent fraud, and effectively negotiate on your behalf.

• We are honored to assist our clients during unfortunate events of divorce, fraud, and court proceedings involving business damages. We partner with your attorney to strengthen your case and to analyze and identify flaws in your opponent’s financial information.

We will address these 3 areas in our next blog, “October Outsourcing, Now is the Time!?”

Gifting & Trusts

November will be a Q& A about gifting and estate planning. As a business owner, you may want to learn more about gifting shares, trust options, and year-end gifting.

• It is becoming more common that business owners are choosing to gift company shares to family, employees, and charity. Whether the motivation is personal or for strictly monetary purposes find out more about this strategy.

• Generation Skipping Trusts are effective in protecting the wealth you have toiled to earn. This trust is not optimal for every situation. However, it will be valuable to learn how it works and the tax savings it offers. Other trends for estate and trust planning will be included in our discussion.

• Other year-end gifting approaches will be deliberated. IRS Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) great options for taxpayers 70 ½ or older. Gifting appreciated stocks will help reduce tax liability. Good old-fashioned cash is a tried and true practice to give to family and your favorite cause.

Budgeting & Planning

Year-end 2019 planning has many levels that need important evaluation in December. We will illustrate points that affect your business and personal financial decisions.

• Cash Flow Analysis and Improvement is primary when wrapping up a year-end. It’s the best way to see where you have been and where to make needed changes. Improving collections systems, and choosing best customers to work with, selecting choice vendors to partner with, and getting suggestions from your accounts receivable department will help cash flow. You may even want to accept cryptocurrency as an option for payment.

• There is usually a year-end tax bill that is being debated through the month of December and is finalized days before Christmas. To be best prepared, plan for current law and for possible changes. We will talk about the hot topics that affect you.

• Best practices to establish you 2019 Budget in the Fourth Quarter of 2018 so it will be your springboard to take on the new year. We will give you tips on what to look for in your 2018 budget, tracking spending and planning for ebbs and flows many companies experience. Make room in your budget for technology and automation investments to benefit you next year.

We hope that you will find this series of blogs to be helpful. Our goal is always to fuel you with as much information as possible, identify areas of improvement (every business has room for improvement, not to worry!), and develop a plan to increase wealth and decrease expenses.

Contact us today to begin your Q4 plan.
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