Sharpen your pencils, grab a fresh notebook—it’s back-to-school season for your business! Just like the excitement of new school supplies and a fresh start, this time of year gives us the perfect opportunity to reset and set yourself up for a strong finish to the year.
In this episode of Business by the Books, Danielle Hayden, reformed corporate CFO and owner of Kickstart Accounting, Inc., shares her simple but powerful framework for getting back on track after summer and closing out the year in a way you’ll feel proud of. Think of it as your “second January,” a fresh chance to refocus, reenergize, and reset your goals for Q3 and Q4.
Key Takeaways:
- Reset Your CEO Mindset: Learn how to pause, reflect, and set yourself up for success by focusing on what’s working (and letting go of what’s not).
- Schedule CEO Time: Carve out dedicated time each week to think strategically about your business instead of getting lost in day-to-day fires.
- Get Clarity on Your Numbers: Update your books, review your income statement and balance sheet, and uncover where your money is really going.
- Prep for Q4 with Intention: Map out expenses, holiday schedules, and one clear financial goal so you can finish the year with focus, not overwhelm.
- Some Goals Can Wait: Trying to do everything right now often leads to getting nothing done. Choose one thing you can accomplish before year-end and save the rest for another quarter.
- Ask for Help!: You don’t have to do this alone—lean on your financial team, coaches, and accountability partners to support your growth.
Topics Discussed:
(00:00 – 02:10) Why Back-to-School Season Is a Fresh Start and a Reset from Summer
(02:11 – 04:38) Shifting Into a CEO Mindset and Creating Weekly CEO Time
(04:39 – 06:59) Reviewing Financial Statements to Uncover Insights and Cash Flow Surprises
(06:59 – 09:31) Planning Q4 with Intention: Expenses, Taxes, and Big Goals
(09:32 – 11:25) The Power of a “Wait Until Next Quarter” List and Asking for Help
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Episode Transcript
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;32;22
Danielle Hayden
Welcome back to Business by the Books, the podcast for entrepreneurs who are ready to take control of their business finances without confusion, all of the shame, and overwhelm. I'm your host Danielle Hayden, reformed corporate CFO and owner of Kickstart Accounting, Inc., where we partner with entrepreneurs just like you. Today's episode is for every business owner who spent the summer running camp pickups, planning vacations, enjoying summer, or surviving the chaos of summer break,
00;00;32;24 - 00;00;59;05
Danielle Hayden
and now we find ourselves ready to get back on track. You guys, if you're anything like me, you might feel a little behind, maybe a little disorganized and honestly plain old exhausted. But this episode, this is our reset. I've always loved this back to school season, even when I was a child, and as my kids would go back to school every year, I love the feeling of fresh notebooks, new pens and pencils.
00;00;59;05 - 00;01;25;11
Danielle Hayden
It's this season of a reset, a season of freshness. Kind of our second chance at January all over again, so that we can close quarter three and quarter four strong. Now, summer for me was an absolute joy. I got to start the summer by traveling for work. I was asked to speak at a few conferences. It is such an honor to be able to do that.
00;01;25;13 - 00;01;53;26
Danielle Hayden
Jumped right into family vacation when I got back, and then had a long summer up at the boat on Lake Erie and just really enjoying my family. My kids are getting older and I am hyper aware of my shortened time with them. However, every fall this leaves me with a feeling that I want to do everything, and I hear from my clients over and over again every year over the last ten years that there's so much energy coming into quarter three and quarter four.
00;01;53;28 - 00;02;21;26
Danielle Hayden
I want to share with you the framework that we've created to help our clients come back to business after summer break and close this year strong. So, what do I do as a business owner and CEO as we are embracing these last few months of the year? First and foremost, we need to reset our mindset. I want you to have the mindset of a CEO and what successful CEOs do to reset their mindset.
00;02;21;28 - 00;02;39;21
Danielle Hayden
First and foremost, we have to revisit our 2025 business goals and what is still in reach this year. Now, I do want you to go all the way back to January. What were the goals that you set for this year? And it doesn't mean that those are still our top priorities for the last few months of this year.
00;02;39;23 - 00;03;02;06
Danielle Hayden
It's important to connect with where you saw this year going and decide what exactly is still in reach this year. Now, as we decide where we want our focus to be for the last few months of the year, I want you to ask yourself what's working and what's not working? And this is really hard to do when we're trying to do everything in our business.
00;03;02;08 - 00;03;33;08
Danielle Hayden
So each week I have what I like to call CEO time. It is the time that I can spend away from the business. I'm not putting out anyone's fires. I'm not in a meeting. I'm not talking to a team member or a client. I'm not in client delivery. I am taking time to really think about what it is my business needs from me, and what's working in the business and what's not, so that I can drive my attention so I can focus to the areas of the business that need me.
00;03;33;08 - 00;03;53;06
Danielle Hayden
So during this reset of our CEO mindset, it's important that we have defined our CEO time to a point of reflection as we go into these months. And then maybe that's something that we can keep going for the last few months of the year, having CEO time each and every single week where we can ask what's working and what's not.
00;03;53;09 - 00;04;17;20
Danielle Hayden
I also want you to identify in this CEO mindset shift, a reset is what is your biggest financial stressor right now, and what is one thing that is causing you the biggest financial stress? And I want you to commit right now to resolving that stress. As humans, we like to focus on the negative. It's easier to focus on the negative.
00;04;17;23 - 00;04;43;01
Danielle Hayden
But I am asking you to give yourself credit. Three things. Three wins from this year so far. What are three financial wins that you've had for 2025? And I want you to really hold on to them as we think about how we are getting back to business during this season and closing out the year strong. Step two is to get clarity on your numbers.
00;04;43;01 - 00;05;09;03
Danielle Hayden
We cannot reset goals and think about closing out this year without clarity on our numbers. So if your books are not up-to-date, I want you to really be honest about if that is the task that you should be doing. Our clients here at Kickstart Accounting, they love that they have that accountability. The bookkeeping is off their plate and they get to focus on the next few tasks.
00;05;09;06 - 00;05;32;09
Danielle Hayden
So step one in this is to get your bookkeeping up-to-date. Step two is to review your last income statement. Where's your money actually coming from and where is your money actually going? Where are your expenses? Now focus on your top five expenses and do they align with your goals for this year? Next we're going to look at our balance sheet.
00;05;32;12 - 00;05;57;00
Danielle Hayden
Our balance sheet is an important place, so that we can see our assets growing or our debts. Our assets, those are the things that we own. Our cash, inventory, receivables. Who owes us money? If our assets are decreasing and our debts are increasing, our credit card, line of credit, we have to be aware of the direction of our business.
00;05;57;01 - 00;06;23;02
Danielle Hayden
Be super clear about our intentionality of quarter three and quarter four. Our balance sheet also hides all of our personal expenses and owner's drawers. So if you are sitting here thinking I'm profitable, but I don't know where my cash is going, your balance sheet can uncover the secrets of where your cash is going in your business. What are your personal expenses and owner's draws year-to-date?
00;06;23;02 - 00;06;45;23
Danielle Hayden
This is a great place to think about what are your personal goals? What do you personally need from your business as you close out quarter four. So download your most recent financial statements, review your income statement. Have a hard look at your balance sheet month over month to make sure that things are going in the right direction and track your cash flow for the last 30 days.
00;06;45;25 - 00;07;10;19
Danielle Hayden
What surprises are there? Because we all have them. Especially over summer. Remember, this is our fall reset. We need to take this time to review what happened over the summer so that we can get back on track. All right, step three is to prep for quarter four with intention. We cannot do everything right now, so we need to map out our big quarter four expenses.
00;07;10;21 - 00;07;35;13
Danielle Hayden
Quarter four is a big quarter for most of our clients. We have holidays. We have a launches, team bonuses, 1099s. We have a lot of activity that happens in quarter four. And the worst thing that we can have our CPA say to us is, hey, you have a large profit. Let's go spend that profit so that you're not paying the taxes on it.
00;07;35;18 - 00;07;59;19
Danielle Hayden
Oh gosh, nothing makes me cringe more than hearing that statement. Please do not spend a dollar to save $0.40. It's not worth it. I want you to have mapped out your big quarter for expenses right now, so that when you start to look at your profit and plan for your taxes, you already know how you're going to spend.
00;07;59;21 - 00;08;24;01
Danielle Hayden
Are there team bonuses? Is there an annual software contract that you want to pay upfront? A vendor that you can pay annually? Marketing gifts. Conferences. These are the types of things that we can prepay for next year in quarter four. But I want you to do it with intention. This is how we map out business investments to take advantage of our tax deductions.
00;08;24;01 - 00;08;44;23
Danielle Hayden
So during our prep for quarter four, I want you to outline your holiday schedule and any blackout dates for you and your team so that you know exactly what is expected of you for the next four months of this year. And then we're going to choose one financial goal that you want to hit before the end of the year.
00;08;44;25 - 00;09;15;20
Danielle Hayden
Maybe it's revenue. Maybe it's a pay raise, an owner's draw or a bonus. Focus on one thing. Not everything. One thing. You can focus on one thing because we are taking the time to look at what we planned for this year. To understand what's working, what's not working, to celebrate the things that have already happened this year. Get clear on your numbers and then plan for quarter four with intention.
00;09;15;22 - 00;09;39;10
Danielle Hayden
We are not going to get surprised in December when our tax accountant says, let's spend money to avoid profit. Know exactly what your big expenses are and know what your big financial goal is before you go into quarter four. Now, one thing that I have been doing that's really helping me is the waitlist. The “no.” I get so excited, you guys.
00;09;39;10 - 00;10;03;11
Danielle Hayden
I am a true visionary. I have all the ideas and I want to do everything right now. I've actually created a “wait till next quarter” list the things that my team has to tell me no. So when I'm able to create my focus for the quarter, I'm able to say, these are all the things that might be a great idea, but they have to wait until next quarter.
00;10;03;17 - 00;10;29;16
Danielle Hayden
They have to wait till January. They have to wait until next year. So allow yourself a waitlist so that you can stay focused on your priorities. Lastly, it's time to ask for help. I have connected with so many entrepreneurs throughout the years that feel like they need to do it all themselves, that they’re the best ones to do it, or that in order to know what's going on, that they have to be the one to touch it.
00;10;29;19 - 00;10;56;03
Danielle Hayden
I want to encourage you, ask for help, whatever that task is that's lingering for you that's not the best use of your time. It's time to ask for help. Lean on your partner, your coach, your accountability team, your money team. Your money team, they want to hear from you. They want to be here for you. My team and I, we love when clients book calls and ask us questions.
00;10;56;05 - 00;11;22;20
Danielle Hayden
Forward us the IRS receipt. Talk to us about the things that are coming up for you. We want to have an opportunity to celebrate those wins with you, and to be there for you when things seem unsure. So remember, you don't need to do this all alone. Now, I love this season, you guys, and I hope that these strategies will help you during this back to school, quarter three/quarter four planning time.
00;11;22;21 - 00;11;47;27
Danielle Hayden
Let's close out this year in a way that we're proud of. I hope you enjoyed today's episode of Business by the Books. Don't forget to hit like and subscribe! This is the number one way we can help other entrepreneurs find this podcast, because here at Kickstart Accounting, Inc., it is our mission to help entrepreneurs understand their numbers, get access to this information, and grow and thrive in their business.
00;11;47;27 - 00;12;10;11
Danielle Hayden
So please help me, help other entrepreneurs understand their numbers so they can finally grow and thrive!