Closing Out 2024: The Top 3 Tasks for Bridal Shop Owners to Tackle Now

As December approaches, bridal shop owners, it’s time to prepare for year-end with three essential steps that will set you up for financial success in 2025. These tasks not only ensure your books are clean and accurate, but they also simplify the work for your accountant (or you!) when closing out your financials. Let’s dive into the three most important things to prioritize in your shop before December 31.

1. Schedule and Perform a Physical Inventory

The first and most crucial task is performing a physical inventory. This step ensures that the items in your inventory management system, such as BridalLive, match the actual inventory on hand. Here's how to do it:

• Use BridalLive’s Physical Inventory Feature:

  • If you have scanners, use them to scan inventory items directly into the system.
  • If you don’t have scanners, manually enter product numbers to update BridalLive.

• Timing Is Key: Schedule the physical inventory as close to December 31 as possible to ensure accuracy.

• Team Involvement: Assign team members to help count and verify inventory efficiently.

By completing this step, you’ll avoid discrepancies between your physical stock and what’s recorded in BridalLive, setting the foundation for accurate reporting.

2. Review Cost Values and Correct Data in BridalLive

After completing your physical inventory, the next step is to run an Items on Hand Report in BridalLive and export it to Excel. Use this report to review the data and fix any inconsistencies, especially the cost values.

• Check for $0 Cost Values:

  • Incorrect or missing cost values can lead to reporting errors.
  • Update these values in BridalLive before December 31 to ensure your end-of-year reports are accurate.

• Avoid Post-Year Adjustments: Fixing data after December 31 is time-consuming and can create unnecessary complications or compliance issues. Take the time now to ensure your inventory data is correct.

3. Complete Pending Sales Transactions

Finally, ensure pending sales are properly completed or addressed before year-end. This is especially critical for shops filing taxes on an accrual basis, as completed sales affect your reported revenue and cost of goods.

• How to Check Pending Sales:

  • Run a Transaction Report in BridalLive: Set the transaction date to the current day and filter by status: pending.
  • Look for transactions with event dates in the past. These are likely the transactions that require attention.

Pro Tip: If you find pending sales from prior years or periods, consult your accountant before making changes. Adjusting past transactions could affect previously filed tax returns or sales tax reports, leading to compliance issues. 

Bonus Tip: Don’t Forget to Run BridalLive End of Year Reports on December 31

If you’re working with us at BridalVision Financial, we’ll handle running the necessary reports for you on December 31. If not, remember to run key reports that day, as you can’t retroactively generate accurate data later.

Why Year-End Prep Matters

Completing these three tasks—physical inventory, cost value review, and finalizing sales—ensures your books are accurate, your financial reports are clean, and your accountant can process your tax filings smoothly. Skipping these steps or delaying them can result in errors, unnecessary stress, and higher tax burdens.

Set yourself up for success now so you can enjoy the holidays without worrying about messy year-end finances!