What Business Leaders Need to Clean Up Before 2027

By: Ryan Kunkel, President of Third Road Management

Fall is one of the most important decision windows of the year for business leaders.

There are just over two months left to understand where the business stands against its 2026 plan, make the decisions that have been deferred and address the issues that could otherwise follow the company into 2027.

The goal is not to fix everything. It is to identify the financial, operational and organizational issues that could have the greatest impact on the business and address them while there is still time to act.

It starts with one honest question:

What does the business need to clean up now rather than carry into 2027?

1. Clean up the numbers
   Start with budget versus actual performance. As year-end approaches, is the business above or behind plan? More importantly, does leadership understand why?

   Look beyond whether revenue is up or down. Current reporting should show what is driving performance, where the business is diverging from expectations and which gaps require action before year-end.

   If the books are behind, forecasts are outdated or leadership lacks visibility into the numbers, fixing those issues should come first. Leaders cannot make good decisions using old or incomplete information.

2. Make the Decisions You’ve Been Avoiding
   Most leaders can name at least one decision they have been putting off. It may involve an underperforming employee, the wrong person in a key role, an inefficient process or an investment the company has spent months debating.

   Now is the time to make the hard decisions. That could mean making a key hire, purchasing a piece of equipment or greenlighting a technology investment. It could also mean restructuring a role, addressing an underperforming employee or cutting an expense that is no longer delivering value.

   Technology deserves particular attention. Leaders should assess where AI and automation could eliminate repetitive work and free employees to focus on higher-value tasks.

3. Pressure-test costs, margins and cash flow
   The assumptions used to build the 2026 plan may no longer reflect today’s operating environment. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 57% of small-business owners identified inflation as a top concern in 2026, up from 48% in Q2 2025. Cash-flow confidence has also weakened, while a spring 2026 NFIB survey found that 70% of small-business owners had been affected by supply-chain disruptions to some extent.

   Those pressures continue to show up in operating expenses, vendor costs and financial planning. Leaders should revisit assumptions around tariffs and input costs, labor, pricing, inventory, supply chains and the cost of capital.

   Expenses also creep over time. Businesses need to actively prune unnecessary spending and determine whether pricing, cash flow or margin assumptions need to change before year-end.

4. Always be transaction ready
   Transaction readiness is not only important when a sale is imminent. Clean books, reliable data and strong financial processes put a company in a better position for nearly any scenario.

   A transaction-ready business may receive better terms from its bank, move quickly on an acquisition or respond when an unexpected opportunity arises. It is also better prepared for succession or a sudden leadership change.

   Ask a simple question: If an opportunity or disruption arose tomorrow, would the business be ready?

5. Create the Capacity to Win in 2027
   Planning for 2027 should not begin by plugging new numbers into the 2026 budget. Start with strategy. What does the business want to accomplish? What needs to change? Where should it invest, and where should it pull back?

   Zero-based budgeting can help. Rather than carrying the current budget forward, start from zero and require each area of the business to explain what it needs. While this may not be practical every year, going through the exercise periodically can expose creeping expenses, outdated investments and resources that should be redirected.

   The goal is to enter January ready to execute, not spend the first quarter dealing with problems that could have been addressed in the fall.

Grade yourself honestly

Business leaders should grade themselves on the company’s financial reporting, team, cost structure, transaction readiness and 2027 plan.

Then comes the harder question: Is the team capable, prepared and ready to execute?

An owner cannot carry all the water alone. If the answer is no, it may be time to make changes to the finance team, add a critical hire or bring in outside support. There is still time to make meaningful progress before year-end, but only if leaders act on what they find and finish the race.