January signals more than just the start of another calendar year; it represents a genuine opportunity for renewal. For business owners and finance teams, it’s a moment of clarity and a chance to reflect on the past year, leave behind its challenges, and reset with a fresh perspective and intent towards achieving stronger finances. With a focus on stronger finances, 2026 can be your year of financial clarity.

After the intensity and pressure of year-end reporting, audits, and deadlines, January offers valuable breathing space. It’s the ideal time to step back and reassess your business finance strategy for 2026, identify what’s working, and address areas that need improvement. By focusing on improving cash flow, reducing overdue invoices, and strengthening your credit control processes, you can set your business up for stronger finances and a more resilient year ahead.

If your goal is to begin 2026 with greater financial stability, improved visibility, and less day-to-day stress, taking proactive action now will make all the difference. The following five steps will help you build a stronger, more confident financial foundation for the year ahead, ensuring you achieve stronger finances this year.

Step 1: Review Your 2025 Financial Performance

A clear and accurate picture of your current financial position is essential before setting new goals for the year ahead. Taking the time to review your 2025 figures allows you to understand where your business performed well, identify the patterns and decisions that contributed to those successes and recognise any recurring challenges or inefficiencies. This insight helps pinpoint areas that require improvement and ensures future targets are realistic, measurable and aligned with your business priorities, giving you a far stronger foundation for planning what comes next towards achieving stronger finances.

To achieve stronger finances, understanding your financial performance is crucial as it lays the groundwork for your financial success in 2026.

How to put this step into action:

• Review your aged debtor report and identify patterns. Who pays late? Which debts are rolled over month after month?
• Check your cash flow highs and lows. What caused the tight periods?
• Assess the workload of your finance or credit control team. Were reminders consistent?
• Review your payment terms. Are they clear, fair and easy for customers to follow?

Step 2: Strengthen Your Credit Control Process

Credit control should be a proactive, structured process rather than a task that gets pushed aside until there’s spare time, as treating it as an afterthought often leads to overdue invoices and unnecessary cash flow pressure. A strong credit control process brings consistency and accountability to how payments are managed, with clear payment terms, timely invoice follow-ups and early intervention when issues arise. By addressing potential problems before they escalate, businesses can significantly reduce late payments, protect revenue and improve cash flow while maintaining positive and professional customer relationships.

How to put this step into action:

Consider how effective management of overdue invoices can contribute to your stronger finances.

• Strengthen your consumer onboarding checks, including credit scoring.
• Clearly communicate payment terms before any work begins.
• Standardise your reminder schedule so it flows automatically and on time.
• Assign ownership, making one person or team take responsibility for credit control tasks

A strong credit control process is a vital component in your strategy for stronger finances.

Step 3: Improve Cash Flow Through Smarter Financial Planning

Financial planning for 2026 should focus on what lies ahead, not on what’s previously happened, using insight and preparation to guide decision-making rather than hindsight. Strong cash flow doesn’t happen by chance; it’s the result of deliberate forward-looking financial planning that anticipates future income, expenses and obligations before they fall due. By forecasting, realistically planning for seasonal fluctuations and building buffers for unexpected costs, businesses can avoid reactive decisions, reduce financial pressure and create a more stable and predictable financial position throughout the year.

How to put this step into action:

• Create a monthly cash flow forecast, including expected payments and recurring costs.
• Review seasonal trends so you can prepare for slower months in advance.
• Set aside a small financial buffer now and expand it gradually.
• Evaluate all subscriptions and software costs to remove unnecessary expenses.

Step 4: Tackle Overdue Invoices Early

When overdue invoices reach 60 to 90 days or more, the likelihood of recovering payment drops significantly, making timely escalation crucial for achieving stronger finances.

Darcey Quigley & Co specialises in clear, respectful, and strategic communication that encourages prompt payment while preserving the integrity of your client relationships. By managing escalations on your behalf, our recovery service helps reclaim outstanding funds more efficiently, reducing the impact on your workflow and allowing your team to stay focused on running the business rather than chasing overdue accounts.

How to put this step into action:

Implementing effective financial planning will ensure you are on track for stronger finances in 2026.

• Set an escalation process for 7, 14 and 21 days overdue.
• Keep notes of every interaction so you can escalate confidently when needed.
• Tighten credit limits for customers with repeat late payment behaviour.
• Contact late payers promptly.

Step 5: Accelerate Recoveries With Professional Support

When overdue invoices reach 60 to 90 days or more, the chances of recovery drop significantly, making timely and strategic escalation essential to protect your cash flow, support stable cash flow, and ensure overall business stability. Acting promptly not only improves the likelihood of recovering outstanding funds but also helps prevent small delays from escalating into larger financial challenges that can disrupt operations, strain resources, and impact long-term planning

Darcey Quigley & Co specialise in ensuring that your business achieves stronger finances by managing escalations on your behalf.

How to put this step into action:

• Set a clear threshold for when debt will be passed to a recovery specialist.
• Make sure customers know this upfront, as it will encourage them to pay quickly.
• Work with a recovery partner who offers transparent pricing.
• Track recovery performance so you understand your overall success rate.

2026 Action Plan Checklist

By using this checklist consistently throughout January as part of your weekly finance reviews, you can stay focused, maintain financial clarity, and ensure your business remains organised and on track for a strong start to the year:

• Review your 2025 financial performance and aged debtor data.
• Strengthen your credit control process and set clear responsibilities.
• Act early on overdue invoices to prevent ageing debt.
• Build a proactive cash flow plan for 2026.
• Escalate debts to Darcey Quigley & Co early for effective recovery.

Make 2026 Your Easiest Financial Upgrade

By reviewing your systems, strengthening your credit control process, planning proactively, and addressing overdue invoices early, you can set your business up for a more confident, resilient, and stable 2026.

Even small improvements made in January can create lasting benefits, such as improved cash flow, reduced stress for your finance team, and greater overall efficiency, helping your business operate more smoothly throughout the year.

How Darcey Quigley & Co Can Strengthen Your Financial Foundations

For more than 18 years, Darcey Quigley & Co. have helped businesses across every sector reduce overdue invoices, improve cash flow and create strong financial habits for the year ahead. As you implement your 2026 action plan, our team is here to support you with fast, professional, transparent commercial debt recovery, giving you the time and stability to focus on growth.

If you’re ready to tackle ageing debt early and enter the new year in a more secure financial position, get in touch to speak with one of our specialists today.

For ongoing insights, tips and expert guidance to support your credit control and recovery strategy throughout 2026, follow Darcey Quigley & Co on LinkedIn!