There’s a lot happening this month—everything from Thanksgiving to budget preparations. Here are a few things you should address this month.
- Make your reservations. If you are planning a holiday party and haven’t yet booked a venue, don’t wait any longer. Certain restaurants get booked up quickly, especially if your firm wants to do a holiday luncheon instead of a dinner.
- Help make Thanksgiving special. Consider an employee morale boost and pick-up some $25 or $50 gift cards from a local grocery store. Give the cards to your staff the week before Thanksgiving (not the day before, as most people will have already done their shopping by then).
- Order your holiday cards. If your firm traditionally sends out holiday cards, start putting your card list together and choose a firm card now. It sometimes takes a week to 10 days to get the cards, and by the time you get them addressed, etc., Thanksgiving will be on top of us.
- Plan your gift-giving. Does your firm traditionally give gifts to professionals who refer business to your firm, such as other lawyers, doctors, accountants, etc.? If so, start putting together your gift list and plan a budget now. Everyone sends chocolates, cookies, or some kind of gift basket. Maybe this year you can be a bit more creative.
- Double check the budget. If your firm traditionally does year-end bonuses, now is a good time to see where you are on receivables, how well the firm did, and how you want to apportion any monies that might be available to fund holiday, year-end, or performance bonuses.
- Check your receivables. It’s also a good time to check your list of receivables and see what monies you might be able to collect before year’s end.
- Plan for a productive 2023. Speaking of the budget, be sure to ask staff what they need to do their job and get those items into next year’s budget. Now is the time to find out if the firm needs a new scanner, phone system, or software update.
