1. Is company data up to date and reliable?

Quality data is a fundamental prerequisite for correct decisions. If your information system contains outdated contacts, duplicate records, or incorrectly configured customer and supplier data, these issues can carry over into billing, accounting, and reporting.

Before the new year, make sure to check:

• the up-to-date status of customer and supplier information,
• duplicate or incomplete records,
• pricing, discount, and payment term settings,
• the accuracy of data used in documents and reports.

Why does it matter so much? The more reliable the data your system contains, the less time employees spend on corrections and verifying information in other sources.

2. Do you have finances, receivables, and cash flow under control?

Having good revenue is great, but without control over cash flow, you risk having cash shortages on your account even if you are profitable on paper. With an accurate financial overview, you don't pay debts at the last minute, but can freely plan investments and business growth.

Verify in your information system whether you can easily:

• track outstanding receivables and liabilities,
• identify overdue invoices,
• compare planned and actual costs,
• gain an up-to-date overview of the company's financial situation.

If you gather this information from multiple spreadsheets or have to manually combine it, it may be a sign that your processes need to be simplified.

3. Do inventory and asset records match reality?

Incorrect stock data can lead to unnecessary purchases, missing goods, or issues in order fulfillment. Similarly, maintaining up-to-date asset records and tracking their movement is essential.

Before the end of the year, pay attention to these areas:

• inventory counts and discrepancies between records and reality,
• slow-moving or excessive stock items,
• records of goods and material movements,
• the accuracy of fixed asset records.

Integrating inventory management, purchasing, sales, and accounting helps limit duplicate data entry and provides a better overview of the company's status.

4. Which processes are you still doing manually?

Re-entering data between multiple systems, manually creating reports, or repeatedly checking the same information consume valuable time that employees could spend on more important tasks.

Try mapping out where your company regularly loses time:

• typing data from one program into another,
• creating documents or reports by hand,
• approving requests via email,
• searching for information that already exists in another system.

You don't have to automate every process. Start with the one that repeats frequently, burdens multiple people, or causes the most errors. Even a small improvement can save your company significant amounts of time.

5. Is your system ready for legislative and technological changes?

Changes in legislation and the way business documents are exchanged can impact daily company operations. One key topic worth monitoring is electronic invoicing.

From 2027, the rules of the game are changing – electronic invoicing is entering a new reality and will impact how you send and process documents. New requirements are coming into effect soon. Specific steps depend on your transaction types, so it is wise to check early what applies to your business.

Check the following:

• whether you are monitoring legislative changes relevant to your company,
• whether your information system supports necessary updates and modifications,
• how you will receive, process, and send electronic documents,
• whether employees are familiar with any workflow changes.

With electronic invoicing, it is not enough to look only at the issuance of the invoice itself. Subsequent data processing and its integration with accounting and other corporate processes are equally important.

You can find up-to-date information on the website of relevant regulatory authorities .

6. Are access permissions, updates, and backups in order?

An information system contains data without which a company often cannot run smoothly. Therefore, it is wise to check not only its functionality but also data protection measures and readiness for technical issues.

Before the new year, verify:

• whether employees have access only to the data they need,
• whether the system and used applications are updated regularly,
• whether data is backed up regularly and backups are secure,
• whether you can actually restore necessary data from a backup.

The mere existence of a backup does not guarantee that operations can be restored after an incident. Periodic restoration testing helps you uncover problems before you have to resolve them in a critical situation.

7. Do you have reports available that help drive decisions?

Data in the system holds the greatest value when you can interpret what is actually happening in the company. It's not enough to know how much you sold or spent. It is also useful to understand why results are changing and where opportunities for improvement lie.

Check if you can easily obtain an overview of:

• revenues and costs by period or cost center,
• profitability of orders, products, or projects,
• the development of receivables and liabilities,
• plan fulfillment and key performance indicators of the company.

Good reporting should provide clear and up-to-date information without tedious manual processing. This allows you to react faster to changes and make decisions based on data rather than mere guesses.

Prepare your business for 2027 in time

Preparing for the new year doesn't have to mean a massive technology project. Often it's enough to uncover a few weak spots, tidy up data, simplify selected processes, and verify that your information system meets your current business needs.

Which of these seven areas takes up the most time or causes the most trouble in your company today? That is likely where you have the greatest room for improvement.