With just over eight weeks left in 2009, now is a good time for business owners, particularly those with a December 31 year-end, to look strategically at their business. This will help end the current year on a high note, reduce some levels of uncertainty and enter the New Year in a position of strength.

1 Get your financial books in order. This step is critical, whether you are a solopreneur or have a staff of 15 or more. We hear from a number of successful business owners that they can run the company without formal financial statements. Our experience has shown us that while any of us can run a business without formal financial statements, we can run it more successfully with them.

The fact is without financial statements you can't conduct business planning. You simply have to complete this step before you can move forward in the planning process. So get the help you need and get on with it. If you are a dual citizen of the US and Bermuda, this information will more than likely be transferred to your Form 1040, so accuracy and comprehensiveness is important.

2 Analyse your current position. The next step is to figure out where your business is now by examining the following three areas:

a. Financial Statements. Regular readers of this column will recall that we talked about certain key financial documents over the summer, when we suggested a mid-year review. As a refresher, the following three documents provide the insight you need into the financial viability of your company:

i.The balance sheet is a summary of how your business looks on paper at a particular point in time. It includes the assets that your business owns, its liabilities and resulting equity.

ii. The profit/loss statement or income statement as it is also called, shows the degree to which your business revenues exceeded, matched or were lower than expenses for a given time period.

iii. The statement of cash flow reconciles the opening cash position against the closing cash position for a given period of time, thus providing information on the movement of cash during that period. By looking at different time periods over your fiscal year, you can get a better understanding of how your business operates. Look for trends. Is there seasonality to your business? Is that by design or by default?

Once you have examined your balance sheet, profit and loss statement and cash flow statement, take your analysis a bit further by reviewing your business' current ratio, debt ratio and net profit margin. If possible, obtain industry information and compare your data against your industry. Once you identify gaps, you can then begin to do something about it.

b. Evaluate your progress toward goals. Now that you know where your business is financially, it's time to look at how it got to this point. Pull out your business plan and any other strategy documents and review your progress against what you set out to achieve.

Write a letter to your board of directors - even if your board consists of you, yourself and who you want to be. This doesn't have to be a formal paper - its purpose is to further identify gaps and will be helpful when you move to the next step. Describe your wins for the year and how you can further improve on them. What worked? What could be improved?

c. Evaluate your current business structure. Does your personal financial planning warrant a change? For example, for tax planning purposes, dual citizens of the USA and Bermuda may want to consider shifting from sole proprietor to a corporation. Are you moving closer to retirement? Is it time for a business partner? Do you want to expand? There are pros and cons with any of these moves and therefore it is important to talk with a professional about what strategies would be best for your personal and business circumstances.

3 Plan for 2010. With all the groundwork complete, it's time for some forward planning. This means that you are now going to:

a.Update your personal financial plan for 2010 so you know what your business needs to achieve financially or otherwise to move your personal plan forward.

b. Set the goals for the business. In addition to the typical financial goals, consider staffing needs, training needs and customer satisfaction.

c. Prepare an action plan - we typically recommend a rolling 90 day plan cycle complete with review dates.

You've no doubt heard the saying: businesses that fail to plan, plan to fail. We know that business planning is one of those chores that just never seem to get done with all the daily pressures that demand attention. We also know that our most successful clients are those who set aside strategic time to devote their full attention to strategic planning matters. We hope this checklist will move you closer to your own definition of success in the coming year.

Patterson Partners Ltd. provides cross-border tax, estate and investment planning services to dual citizens of the USA and Bermuda, their families and businesses. For more information, visit www.patterson-partners.com or contact Jennifer A. Patterson, CFP®(US), CIMC, CIMA®, TEP via email at info@patterson-partners.com or phone 296-3528. Asgill Post Ltd. provides assistance with Business Valuation, Financial Strategy and the Purchase and Sale of Companies. For comments or queries, contact Kumi Bradshaw MBA, CBA, BVAL via email at kumi@asgillpost.com or phone at 295-3301