Year-End Review: Take a Look at Your Subscriptions and Business Expenses

As the year wraps up, there’s one task that’s often overlooked but can make a real difference in how you start the new year.

Now is the perfect time to review your business subscriptions, software, and recurring expenses. Doing this before December 31 helps you catch what you’re no longer using, cancel what’s not serving you, and begin the new year with a clean, intentional budget.

Why This Matters Now

Most small business owners subscribe to a handful of tools and services throughout the year - design apps, CRMs, coaching platforms, storage tools, and more. Over time, they add up quietly in the background.

By checking in now, you can:

• Save money by canceling unused or duplicate subscriptions

• Plan ahead for renewals or upgrades you actually need to support your evolving business

• Start the new year organized, knowing every dollar in your budget is being spent with purpose

How to Review Your Subscriptions and Expenses

You don’t need a complicated system to do this. Just set aside an hour of focused time and attention. Here’s how:

1. Pull a list of recurring charges from your bank or credit card statements for the last 3–6 months.

• Look for monthly or annual subscriptions you might have forgotten about.

2. Categorize each one as:

• Essential: You use it regularly and it adds clear value.

• Nice to have: You like it, but could do without.

• Cancel: You haven’t used it in months or it overlaps with something else.

3. Decide what to keep or cancel.

• Keep what’s helping you move your business forward.

• Cancel anything that isn’t directly supporting your goals or systems.

4. Plan for next year.

• Note any annual renewals or price increases coming up.

• Consider whether a paid annual plan makes more sense than month-to-month for tools you rely on.

Many business owners are surprised by how much they spend on tools they don’t use and how freeing it feels to clean them up. Doing this now means you’ll start January with clarity and intention, instead of carrying extra costs from the year before. You’ll also get a clearer picture of your true monthly overhead, which helps you plan, price, and make decisions with confidence.

At Just Bookkeeping, we see this small step have a big impact every year. Organized, intentional spending not only improves your bottom line. If you’d like support reviewing your books or setting up better systems for tracking expenses in 2026, we can help you make it simple and stress-free.