Christmas Clean-Up

Just like the clean-up that awaits homes after the holidays, my studio and business requires much care after Christmas and New Years have passed. All Christmas "enhancements" -- that is, ribbons, beads, floral picks, baskets, tissue paper, and the like -- are put in boxes and put away until late summer (when the photo shoots for the next Christmas begin). Likewise, another big box is marked for tax season, and file folders are cleaned out of receipts and paid invoices, etc, for the year just finished. Telephone, credit card payment receipts, insurances paid, vendor payments, etc. -- all are set aside for tax time. Four big banquet tables are taken down and stored; they are needed only when working on large orders. Boxes galore are broken down and recycled -- all of the incoming outer cartons as well as the inner cases. Then, the vacuuming, dusting, and other general cleaning. You just wouldn't believe how much stuff gets strewn about here!

Another end-of-the-old-year / start-of-the-new-year task is to get caught up on Quickbooks -- Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Reconciling the business checkbook (4 months' worth - yikes!), Reconciling the Credit Card statement, paying accumulated sales tax, paying credit card processing fees. Printing preliminary reports for tax time, looking them over and finding things that need to be re-classified and/or corrected, for whatever reason, and making those changes. It's usually just the result of something not being classified correctly when the transaction occurred. When all looks good on the reports, they're printed "for real" and saved for the tax appointment in March or early April. Next, the costs and expenses that are associated with (and stored) in my home are tackled -- gone over with a fine-toothed comb, combined, added to a spreadsheet, printed, saved for tax appointment.

It is exciting in December when orders are flying in, and gifts are flying out! This "slow" time is welcome, too, a time to regain normal working hours; eating, sleeping and exercising habits; thinking about how the year went and how to fine-tune things for the year ahead, and make plans.