Mid-Year Checklists, Tax Moves & AI Tools — Let’s Finish the Year Strong!

It’s hard to believe we’re already staring down the back half of the year. Summer may be in full swing, but now’s actually the perfect time to slow down (just for a moment) and take stock of where your business stands—and where you want to be by year-end.

One of the most powerful tools we recommend? A good, old-fashioned checklist.

But not just any list—think of it as your financial GPS for the second half of the year. Whether it’s planning for cash flow, reviewing your expenses, or making strategic tax decisions before December 31st, having a solid plan in writing will help you get ahead instead of falling behind.

If you need help, don’t hesitate to reach out to Siegel Solutions today and start preparing for your year-end financial goals. Until then, check out these checklists.

🔍 Key Checklists You Should Be Thinking About Right Now

Here are a few categories we suggest you review (and yes, we’re happy to help you build these out):

📋 Bookkeeping & Accounting Health Check

– Are all your accounts reconciled through June?

– Any uncategorized transactions sitting in QuickBooks?

– Are your financial reports giving you real insights—or just numbers?

💰 Cash Flow & Budget Planning

– Are you on track with your revenue goals?

– Do you have a 6-month cash forecast?

– Are there recurring expenses that no longer make sense?

📦 Inventory, Projects, or Jobs Review

– Are you still carrying inventory that isn’t moving?

– What projects are profitable—and which ones need rethinking?

📄 Tax Planning (the exciting stuff!)

With the recent passage of that shiny new tax bill, there may be fresh opportunities to take advantage of deductions, credits, and entity-level planning strategies—but timing is everything.

Let’s proactively review:

– Accelerating expenses or deferring income

– Retirement plan contributions (especially if you’re an S-Corp)

– Equipment purchases or vehicle decisions

– R&D or energy-related credits

🤖 Want to Supercharge Your List Building? Say Hello to AI.

If making these checklists feels like one more thing on your already full plate—good news: AI can help.

You can actually prompt AI tools to help you create these lists based on your specific needs.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Open ChatGPT or your favorite AI tool.

2. Use a prompt like: “Create a mid-year checklist for a [your industry] business including tax planning, cash flow management, and bookkeeping review.”

3. Once the list is generated, copy it into Word, Google Docs, or even your task manager app.

4. From there, edit it, assign deadlines, and turn it into a real, actionable plan.

Some of our favorite tools for this include:
– ChatGPT
– ClickUp or Notion AI for dynamic checklists
– Microsoft Copilot for Excel-based planning

📥 Exporting Your Checklists with AI

Once your AI tool generates your checklist, don’t stop there. Most AI tools (like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot) can help you take the next step too.

Just ask: “Can you format this checklist into a downloadable PDF, Word document, or Excel spreadsheet?”

This allows you to instantly turn your list into something you can share with your team, keep in your records, or integrate into your project management system. If you’re working with your team remotely or using a virtual assistant, this step is key.

🧾 Additional Mid-Year Checklists to Consider

🛠️ Operational Efficiencies

– Are your internal processes still serving you—or slowing you down?

– Can any manual steps in your billing, invoicing, or reporting be automated?

– Have you reviewed your tech stack lately for outdated or duplicate tools?

📈 Sales & Marketing Alignment

– Are your current revenue streams aligned with your marketing spend?

– What’s working well in lead generation and what needs adjusting?

– Do your sales and marketing KPIs reflect your business goals for the second half?

👥 HR & Team Structure

– Have job roles shifted in the last 6 months?

– Are you planning to hire, promote, or outsource any roles before year-end?

– Have you documented key processes for onboarding or training new team members?

📊 KPI & Metrics Review

– Are your core financial and operational KPIs clearly defined and tracked?

– Do you review these metrics monthly or quarterly?

– Is your dashboard (in QuickBooks, Reach Reporting, etc.) still giving you meaningful data?

📉 Balance Sheet Review Checklist

– Review bank account balances for accuracy and reconciliation status

– Confirm credit card liabilities match your statements

– Review loan balances, interest expense, and amortization

– Scrub accounts receivable: are all invoices collectible? Any bad debts?

– Scrub accounts payable: are there old unpaid bills that need resolution?

– Review fixed assets: are depreciation schedules current? Any disposals not recorded?

– Double-check equity accounts for unusual entries or draws

Let me give you an example, using ChatGPT, I prompted the following:

This is what I got when I opened the document:

I then decided to add to my prompt that I was not an accountant. Could it create a checklist I could understand?

The result below, made it easier for a non accountant to understand, for example, the above output had an item that said “Owner Draws and Contributions are accurately recorded” while the output below changed that to “Any money I have taken our or put into the business is recorded clearly”

Also note, AI is asking if you want this into a fillable pdf or merged with other checklists!

🧭 Need a Jumpstart?

If you want help creating a mid-year checklist tailored to your business—or want to understand how AI can be used in your business—we’re just a phone call or email away.

Whether it’s digging into your numbers or helping you leverage AI to work smarter, we’re here to support your growth.

Let’s finish strong together.



Antonio Tony Martinez
Senior Partner Development Manager

Tony brings over 15 years of QuickBooks knowledge with him and has been recognized as a top performer year over year. Tony will play a critical role in helping our team grow your QB business by managing the relationship between Siegel Solutions and the QuickBooks Solution Provider Program. Tony is focused on optimizing results for strategic partners of all shapes and sizes.

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Noah

Noah Raney
Senior Account Payroll Manager

Noah is our dedicated Intuit Senior Account Payroll Manager who can help you find the right payroll solution for you and your business. He is well versed in all of the QuickBooks platforms being desktop/online/standalone and payroll has been his world since joining Intuit 13 years ago. Whether you are looking for ways to save on time, reduce inflated payroll costs or just get set up with the best discounts, he is here to help. Your success and satisfaction are of utmost importance!

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Sean

Sean McCaffery
Global Channel Sales Partnerships and Alliances Leader

Sean McCaffery has more than 15 years of experience leading channel sales and cloud solutions in the US and Internationally. Sean has held leadership positions with Avaya in Europe growing the channel business with resellers and distributors in key countries driving double-digit growth. He then joined Rackspace Technology and was instrumental in developing sales growth strategies in cloud adoption for customers and partners. Most recently, he ran channels at Dizzion responsible for dynamically growing and expanding the partner ecosystem through SaaS-based VDI solutions before joining Intuit. Currently, he runs the QuickBooks Solution Provider Program supporting the strong business that solution providers and ISV partners have established as well as finding new opportunities to drive emerging mid-market growth together!

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Gabor

Gabor Terebesi
Payments Account Manager

Gabor Terebesi is an Account Manager with the Payments Team of Intuit for over 15 years. He works in the partner division for Intuit payments to ensure Intuit partners along with any clients of theirs are in the most suitable and financially cost-effective solution accepting payments through eCommerce, QuickBooks, mobile payments, or any other options necessary for their business.

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Aimee Garneau
Accounting Manager

Aimee joined Siegel in 2022 as the Accounting Manager overseeing the accounting and bookkeeping team. Aimee brings 18 years of experience with increased responsibility with privately and publicly held companies. Her experience lies with SaaS-based companies as well as in healthcare, consulting, education and nonprofits. Prior to joining Siegel, she held accounting leadership positions with Waban Projects, Elastic Path, Moltin, and Ned Davis Research. Aimee loves partnering with business owners to establish financial reporting and results that promote growth and expansion. When Aimee is not working, she loves spending time with her family and friends and exploring all New England has to offer. She is also an avid Red Sox fan and enjoys going to Fenway Park when she can.

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Jeffrey Siegel
CPA, CEO

Jeff has spent the last twenty years working providing solutions to emerging growth businesses. After graduating from Northeastern University, he spent five years working with two multinational CPA firms in an auditor capacity building a foundation for understanding how business work. He later went on to work in various controller and CFO roles before starting Siegel & Associates (previously Siegel Financial Group) in 2000. In those roles, he sold a company to ADP, raised funds for a major expansion of a large regional IVF clinic, and helped set up accounting and financial structures for dozens of companies. Since starting Siegel & Associates, Jeff has worked with hundreds of clients providing accounting system solutions. Those solutions include setting up QuickBooks in a single-user environment putting in QuickBooks Enterprise in a 30-user environment and integrating various add-ons including inventory, CRM, and e-commerce. He is a Certified Public Accountant, a QuickBooks Pro Advisor, a QuickBooks Advanced Pro Advisor, and an Intuit Solution Provider certified in Enterprise Solutions, Point of Sale & QuickBase. Jeff is also a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer

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Lori Swartz
Client Support Manager

After graduating from Boston University, Lori spent eight years working in various managerial positions for two national companies. In those positions, Lori developed the skills necessary to manage multiple projects, clients, and resources. She later went on to work for a management company that handled over 25 real estate properties with multiple tenants. Lori joined Siegel Solutions in 2003 as a client services manager where she utilized her skills developed to manage multiple clients and multiple staff. She recently moved into the client support manager role where she is responsible for meeting with and onboarding new clients, managing and maintaining our technology stack along with QuickBooks setups, conversions, training, and consulting.

In her free time, Lori enjoys spending time with her family. She loves to travel, music, and theater.

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Janet Jodoin
Bookkeeping Associate

Janet joined Siegel Solutions in May of 2022 as an Associate Bookkeeper. In her younger years, while raising her family, she completed her degree in Business and she spent 20 years in the trades as a custom designer. Janet also has 16 years in corporate management. Her strong team support, training, and development led her to support and manage Human Resources. Janet's desire to change careers has led her to return back to bookkeeping at Siegel Solutions. In Janet's free time she enjoys spending time with her growing family. Her personal favorite is creative landscaping in her yard. She also enjoys working alongside her partner in construction and remodeling.

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Tricia Gullage
Associate

Tricia Joined Siegel Solutions in 2022 as a bookkeeper and works with our clients to keep their day-to-day bookkeeping in order. Tricia has 12 years of bookkeeping experience working for a large construction company for 10 of those years handling all their accounting and Payroll. She met Jeff our CEO while working there and decided she wanted to join our team.

When not working Tricia enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She recently moved up to the lakes region in NH and loves going to concerts, enjoying her time boating and snowmobiling.

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Ed Jaworski
Professional Services Manager

With over 21 years of corporate experience at PeopleSoft Consulting, Sun Life Financial, and KPMG, Ed brings a big business approach to small business solutions. Prior to joining Siegel Solutions in 2022, Ed helped small businesses get the most out of QuickBooks for 21 years as a co-founder of SMB Partners and the founder of Solutions for Office Software.

Ed is an Advanced Certified QuickBooks® ProAdvisor, a Certified QuickBooks® Point of Sale ProAdvisor, a Certified QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions ProAdvisor, and a Certified SOS Inventory Consultant. Ed holds an MS in Computer Information Systems from Bentley University and a BS in Business Administration from Northeastern University.

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Debby Mono
Firm Administrator

Prior to joining Siegel Solutions in March 2023, Debby had been working in administrative and executive assistant roles for many years in various fields. Her extensive background in these positions has provided her with a range of skills and knowledge that are valuable in her new role as a Firm Administrator. She graduated from Suffolk University with a Bachelor's Degree.

Outside of work, Debby can be found at football fields or dojos cheering for her sons. She also enjoys hikes with her dog, Sawyer, reading, sports, and live music. She and her husband also love to entertain family and friends.

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Letitia Cote
Senior Associate

Letitia has an accounting degree and has been working in the Accounting/Bookkeeping industry for over 25 years. Tish is also an Acumatica Business Consultant. Outside of work, Tish has 4 grown children and 5 grandchildren, she loves to ski, hike, bike, and be outdoors. Tish has worked with Jeff for over 10 years.

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Andrea Alencar
Associate

Andrea graduated from Bridgewater State with a Bachelor's degree in Accounting. Andrea joined Siegel Solutions in 2022. Andrea has gained accounting experience working in various industries including a CPA firm, legal, hospitality, and telecommunications. Before coming to Siegel Solutions Andrea previously worked as a bookkeeper and staff accountant.

Andrea has 4 kids which keep her busy. Outside of work, Andrea enjoys spending time with her kids, being outside, cooking, and going to softball/baseball games.

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Mike Derrico
IT

I started my career in 1983 when I designed and built a device to share a computer program, written by the president of a local bank and his son, running on an Apple Lisa computer. The device allowed the large and expensive Lisa's computer to be shared with bank employees. With this program, and with my device, we started a company to market this unique solution to banks. At this point, computer networks were just starting to be used in businesses. I transitioned my efforts to providing support for migrating banking terminal/mainframe functions to the emerging Personal Computer networking platform. For the next decade, I worked with, and beta tested, numerous technologies to integrate the banking functions from dumb terminals into the now smart desktop computers. After working with a few small consulting firms, I started my own company focusing on providing I.T. support to SMBs. More recently I am now doing the exact opposite by helping customers migrate their PC applications and data from their local computers to The Cloud. A few years ago, I joined Siegel Solutions to add my years of I.T. experience to their firm.

In my spare time, I like to travel, fly my drone and, most importantly, spend time with my family. I also still enjoy tinkering with technology.

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Pat Jaworski
Associate

After spending most of her corporate career in the insurance industry, Pat joined a QuickBooks consulting firm providing bookkeeping services to several small companies. Late in 2022, that firm merged with Siegel Solutions, Inc., bringing Pat and her clients to the group. She provides services to clients in a variety of industries: fitness, construction, beauty, equine care, and medical billing, to name a few. She enjoys supporting her clients by keeping their financial records in good shape and allowing them to focus on growing their respective businesses.

Pat resides in the 495/MetroWest area with her husband Ed, daughter Abby and Duffy, their lovable, energetic golden retriever.

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John Brakey Campos

Senior Account
Payroll Manager

John has been with Intuit for over 18 years, serving in a variety of roles across the organization. For the past 8+ years, he has focused on payroll and workforce management solutions, helping clients streamline operations and make informed decisions. John is passionate about working directly with customers to understand their unique needs and recommend the best solutions to support their teams.

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DeeAnna Keyes

Sales and Marketing Associate

DeeAnna Keyes, has been our Sales and Marketing Associate since December 2023. She brings a wealth of experience, having worked at Intuit with a focus on Quickbooks Online and Quickbooks Desktop. With a robust sales history and a license as a real estate agent in Virginia, DeeAnna is a versatile professional. Outside of work, she cherishes family moments, indulges in camping with friends, and finds joy in entertaining at home with her husband and four children.

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Janice Kats

Associate

Janice Kats graduated from Carl Sandburg College with an Associate Degree in Accounting in 1992 and has been working in the accounting field ever since in various jobs doing AR, AP, payroll, office management, and bookkeeping before joining Siegel Solutions in late 2023.

In 2022, she made the decision to branch out on her own and started her own bookkeeping business, working from home.

She is a mom to 3 grown children and a grandmother to 5 grandchildren and enjoys spending time with her husband and two dogs and following her grandchildren in all of their sports.

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Alyssa Bradford
Firm Manager

Alyssa Bradford joined Siegel Solutions as Firm Manager in March 2025, bringing with her a strong background in operations management and a hands-on, "boots on the ground" leadership style. Known for her excellent communication skills and practical approach to problem-solving, Alyssa plays a key role in driving efficiency and fostering team collaboration at the firm.

She is a graduate of the University of Hartford and lives in Franklin with her husband and son, where they enjoy making the most of nice weather together as a family. In her downtime, Alyssa enjoys HGTV and Food Network shows.

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Cynthia Moncayo-Mena
Associate

Cynthia joined Siegel Solutions in March 2025 as an Associate. She has a Bachelor's in Accounting from New Jersey City University and over 10 years of experience in accounting.
She is married with two children and enjoys reading and exploring new places to visit!

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Jermaine Sanders
Associate

Jermaine began his accounting career in 2017 after earning his Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from Emory & Henry College. With seven years of industry experience, he brings a solid background in financial analysis, business taxation, and small business accounting. Jermaine is a QuickBooks Online Certified ProAdvisor and is currently pursuing his CPA designation. He joined Siegel Solutions in the summer of 2025.

Outside of work, Jermaine leads an active lifestyle. He enjoys attending football and basketball games, hiking, biking, and spending quality time with family and friends. A fan of great music, he also enjoys relaxing to the sounds of jazz and practicing the trombone.

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Miya "Yiting" Guan
Accounting Co-Op

Miya joined Siegel Solutions this summer as a six-month Co-op. She is entering her senior year at Northeastern University and brings prior experience from a previous Co-op. In a short time, Miya has already proven to be a valuable asset to the team, thanks to her strong technical and financial skill set.

Originally from Shanghai, China, Miya has an older sister and a younger brother. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and going to the movies.

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