Making a list and checking it twice

Andrey Popov/stock.adobe.com

If guys are like me, it's been a whirlwind of a year. As 2019 comes to an end, your mind is probably swimming with everything you have to accomplish at work before New Year's Eve. Every year, I refer to several checklists so I don't forget anything. Use these lists as applicable in your job to help you stay organized and efficient during the home stretch of 2019.

Holiday checklist

☐ Plan holiday party.

☐ Pick up gift for practice owner.

☐ Finalize gifts for staff.

Client checklist

☐ Send holiday cards to top 500 clients.

☐ Clean up accounts receivable (call outstanding accounts, send each client a statement, and write off account by Dec. 31).

☐ Prepare to purge records (if you have paper charts).

☐ Put together thank-you gifts for the pets lodging during December.

Employee checklist

☐ Review vacation time and sick time; give updates.

☐ Evaluate whether we can give out year-end bonuses.

☐ Map out team member goals for the first three months of 2020.

☐ Collect payments for any outstanding team member bills.

☐ Confirm mailing addresses for W-2s.

Inventory checklist

☐ Count everything in the practice; adjust numbers in practice management system system.

☐ Evaluate every revenue center to see if you are within the goals you set for 2019.

☐ Create a goal for each revenue center for 2020.

☐ Evaluate the allowances you set for every zone (treats, candles, gloves, food for lodgers and inpatients, cat litter, etc.) and make adjustments as needed for 2020. 

☐ Place orders to get you through the end of the year. Don't be tempted by year-end promotions unless you can negotiate delayed billing.

☐ Check every item in the hospital for expiration dates; discard and reorder as necessary.

☐ Run final sales histories using your ABC analysis and create new reorder points.

☐ Return any overstock items that you can.

☐ Order rabies tags.

☐ Audit redundant items to lower cost of goods sold.