Step 7.5 — Annual Cadence
Trigger: End of calendar year. Year-end close and forward-year planning. Owner: Concetta (primary). External CPA (financial close, 1099 filing, audit support). Nick (strategic decisions, policy refresh, forward-year planning).
🎯 Ideal State
The objective: Close the year cleanly (financial statements, tax filings, 1099s), reset annual figures (ceilings, limits, thresholds), review strategic patterns, and plan forward-year accounting workflow improvements.
Twelve Annual Cadence Activities
1. Year-end 1099 compliance (Step 6.4)
November preparation, December verification, January filing per the documented workflow. The single largest compliance event of Forza’s year. Carrier copies due January 31; IRS filing due January 31 (electronic) or February 28 (paper).
2. Annual audit preparation (if applicable)
If Forza engages in an annual audit (external CPA audit or similar):
- Gather supporting documentation for the year
- Schedule audit timing with CPA
- Prepare management representation letter
- Address any audit findings
If no formal audit, structured year-end review with CPA covering the same financial integrity questions.
3. Annual financial close
- Final P&L, balance sheet, cash flow for the year
- Year-end accruals
- Year-end adjustments per CPA guidance
- Close the year in QuickBooks-Online — lock for prior-year integrity
4. Year-end reserve reconciliation
Special emphasis on the final month’s reserve reconciliation (Step 5.5) plus an annual rollup:
- Total reserves held by HaulPay at year-start vs. year-end
- Total reserves released during the year
- Total chargebacks applied to reserves during the year
- Any unexplained reserve movements aggregating for the year (the CBCG Report concern at annual resolution)
- Documented reconciliation for annual audit support
5. Annual factoring partner review
Beyond the quarterly operational review — an annual strategic review:
- Overall HaulPay relationship health
- Contract terms review — are fees, reserve %, aging window competitive?
- Alternative factoring relationships worth exploring (benchmark check)
- Renegotiation opportunities if applicable
6. Self-finance policy review
Annual review of the self-finance policy set in Step 1.3a:
- Per-Shipper cap still appropriate?
- Portfolio ceiling still appropriate given business size?
- Path A vs. Path B usage patterns — is the default still correct?
- Default payment terms (Net 15 for Path B) still appropriate?
Nick reviews and adjusts as needed.
7. Credit limit reset
Annual refresh of all active Shipper credit limits based on a full year of payment behavior. Larger reset than the quarterly refresh because it incorporates annual trends.
8. Tech stack annual review
Deeper version of the quarterly tech stack review:
- Subscription renewals coming due — decide keep/cancel/negotiate
- New tools considered during the year — formal evaluation and decisions
- Integration status across the stack — any needed upgrades
- Team tool utilization — are all paid tools actually being used by the intended users?
9. Annual accounting process audit
Review Phase 7 cadences from the year:
- Did daily cadence run consistently?
- Did weekly chargeback review run every week? (If yes — count the chargebacks caught. If no — that’s a critical finding.)
- Did monthly reserve reconciliation run every month?
- Did quarterly reviews happen on schedule?
- What gaps in the cadence framework need closing for next year?
This is the accounting workflow’s annual self-assessment — did the operating system actually run?
10. Year-end strategic review with Nick
Structured conversation covering:
- Full-year workflow performance (what worked, what didn’t)
- Strategic risks identified during the year
- Recommendations for next year’s accounting workflow Rocks
- Resource planning (tooling, headcount, training)
- Succession and single-point-of-failure review — Accounting is a single point of failure; annual review should revisit this risk
11. Document retention and archive
Annual archive of closed loads, paid invoices and bills, reconciled remittances and reserves, signed contracts and agreements. Retention per policy — 7 years standard for tax documents, longer for contracts and litigation holds.
12. Forward-year planning
- Annual accounting workflow Rocks for the new year
- Cadence calendar for daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly/annual reviews
- Training needs for Accounting team (growth, backup, process changes)
- EOS Rock integration for the new year
Annual Cadence Format
Time commitment: Concentrated November through February activity, with the heaviest work in January.
Output: Year-end package delivered to Nick, External CPA, and L10 leadership team:
- Annual financial statements
- 1099 filings
- Reserve reconciliation annual summary
- Factoring partner relationship summary
- Annual accounting process audit results
- Forward-year plan
🤖 SYSTEM AUTOMATION:
Year-end 1099 generation is QuickBooks-Online-automated if vendor records are clean. Annual financial statements auto-generate. Strategic reviews and policy refresh decisions are fully human.
🛑 HARD GATE:
Annual cadence is the ultimate integrity check on the workflow. An annual cycle that cannot substantiate reserve movements, chargeback history, and financial state is the condition that generated the CBCG Report. Discipline throughout the year makes annual close a routine exercise rather than a forensic reconstruction.
📍 Current State
- Year-end 1099 and financial close happen — same pattern as current state in Step 6.4.
- Annual reserve reconciliation does not happen systematically — same root cause as monthly reserve reconciliation gap.
- Annual factoring partner strategic review happens informally if at all.
- Self-finance policy doesn’t exist formally yet — no annual review to run.
- Credit limit annual reset not happening systematically.
- Annual accounting process audit is a new concept.
- CBCG Report was the forensic exercise that revealed what annual cadence should have caught.
🚧 Gap
- Annual reserve reconciliation not happening — CBCG Report condition.
- Annual factoring partner strategic review informal.
- Self-finance policy annual review doesn’t exist because policy doesn’t exist yet (per Step 1.3a).
- Credit limit annual reset not systematic.
- Annual accounting process audit is a new concept — not part of current practice.
- No year-end package delivered in a consistent format beyond 1099 filing.
- Forward-year planning for accounting workflow not structured as an EOS Rock input.
🛠️ Gap Closure Actions
- Document the 12-item annual cadence framework Owner: Casey + Concetta + Nick + CPA | Effort: High
- Establish year-end reserve reconciliation as part of monthly cadence that year-end inherits Owner: Casey + Concetta | Dependency: Reserve reconciliation operational per Step 5.5 | Effort: Low
- Establish annual factoring partner strategic review — agenda, participants, cadence Owner: Casey + Nick + Concetta + HaulPay | Effort: Medium
- Schedule annual self-finance policy review as standing January activity Owner: Casey + Nick + Concetta | Dependency: Self-finance policy exists per Step 1.3a | Effort: Low
- Establish credit limit annual reset process Owner: Casey + Concetta + Nick | Dependency: Quarterly refresh operational | Effort: Low
- Document annual accounting process audit methodology Owner: Casey + Concetta | Dependency: Phase 7 cadences operational for full year | Effort: Medium
- Build year-end package format and distribution standard Owner: Casey + Concetta + Nick | Effort: Medium
- Integrate forward-year accounting workflow planning into EOS Rock cycle Owner: Casey + Nick + Concetta | Dependency: EOS integration defined at quarterly cadence | Effort: Low