Year End Review Exercise & Worksheet

Happy New Year!  I’m writing to you today from my sofa, with a fire in the fireplace, and little Lucy sprawled across the sofa beside me.  I love this quiet week before New Years.  I always close the office and use this time to step away from the day-to-day activities in my business and reflect on the year. My year end review is a little bit financial, and a little bit emotional, and the goal is for me to stop and reflect on the year that just happened so I can go into the year ahead with intention.  

 If you’d like to join me, I’ve created a step-by-step worksheet below so you can fill in the blanks with your own answers.  See if you can carve out a quiet hour for this exercise. I love to wake up early when the family is still asleep.  Pour yourself some coffee (or wine!), light a candle, and settle in.  This time is just for you! 

Step 1: The Big Picture Overview

First, gather your project information from the year: the projects you worked on, how long they took, and what you got paid.  Depending on what apps you use for your billing/time tracking, it can look like:

• Quickbooks - under “Reports” create an “Income by Client Summary” to see all the projects you worked on this year and how much you got paid for each of them.  
• Harvest Time Tracking: Under “Reports” select the “year” option to see all the projects you worked on this year, how many hours you spent on each and how much you got paid.
• If you don’t use any time tracking or accounting software, you can print out all your invoices from the year.

How many projects did you work on this year? It’s so fun to see them all in one place at the same time.  I always go “wow! I can’t believe I worked on so many projects!” Give yourself a big ‘ol pat on the back for all of your hard work.  You did so much this year and you should feel proud of yourself.  I know I am! :)

Total number of projects for 2021:________________

Along the same lines, what was your total income from all these projects?  It’s also fun to tally all of that up and see the big number.  Gold star!!

Total income for 2021:_______________

If you use a time tracker, how many total hours did you work this year?  It’s so fun to see this big number and realize all of your hard work for the year!  

Total number of hours for 2021:_____________

Step 2: Look at your project fees

The next step is to see what we can learn from last year to make next year better.  Are you charging enough? Do you need to raise your rates?  Do you need to raise your estimates?  How long are things taking and do you need to allow yourself more time? 

For this step, you’re going to group your similar projects together and come up with some averages to help you with your time and fee estimates for next year.  So for instance, you’ll group bathrooms together, kitchens together, etc.  

My first type of project is:_____________________

My average number of hours for this type of project:__________________

My average fee for this type of project was:_________________

My average hourly rate for this category was (divide the fee by # of hours):_______________

Do I need to adjust anything next year (raise my rate, allow more time, charge more, etc.)?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My second type of project is:____________________

My average number of hours for this type of project:__________________

My average fee for this type of project was:_________________

My average hourly rate for this category was (divide the fee by # of hours):_______________

Do I need to adjust anything next year (raise my rate, allow more time, charge more, etc.)?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My third type of project is:_____________________

My average number of hours for this type of project:__________________

My average fee for this type of project was:_________________

My average hourly rate for this category was (divide the fee by # of hours):_______________

Do I need to adjust anything next year (raise my rate, allow more time, charge more, etc.)?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 3: Time and Income

How much did you work last year and how much money did you make?  Do you want to change anything next year? It’s great to see what actually happened and ask yourself if you’re happy with that.  Did you work way too many hours and not get paid enough?  Do you need to raise your rates so you can work fewer hours and still get paid?  

How many billable hours a week did I average in 2021?___________________

My hourly rate for 2021 was:____________________________

My average monthly income for 2021 was:______________________

How many hours a week do I want to work each week in 2022?_____________________

What do I want my hourly rate to be next year?__________________________

I want my monthly income to be (billable hours a week x 4 x hourly rate):__________________

Step 4: Project and client types

It’s so great to take some time and really reflect on the projects you did this year so you can see some larger patterns.  What went really well? Where were you really in your zone of genius?  What went not-so-well?  Did you take on any projects that weren't a good fit and you should probably avoid in the future?  What about clients?  Do you see any patterns in client types that were a great fit for you, or any that were not?  What can you learn from this year to help you when you’re taking on new potential projects next year?  

I’m not going to do this type of project any more:__________________________

Because:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This type of client is not a good fit for me:_________________________

Because:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My favorite project was:_______________________________

Because:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I wish I could clone this client:______________________

Because:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I’m really proud of myself because:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Next year, I want:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Word of the year for 2022:______________________________

That’s it!  I hope you enjoyed this quiet time to reflect on 2021.  You accomplished so much and overcame so many challenges to get to where you are today.  Truly let that sink in, and give yourself the gift of being proud of yourself for everything you got done.  I’m cheering you on, and I’ll be right here cheering you on in 2022!  Happy New Year!