We've covered a lot of individual pieces this month, reserves, forecasting, pricing, scenario planning. This post pulls them together into one straightforward checklist you can actually work through before your slower season arrives.

Start with your books being current and reconciled. Every recommendation that follows depends on accurate numbers, and none of it works if your P&L and accounts haven't been reconciled in a few months. This is the foundation everything else sits on.

Next, know your actual cash reserve against your target. If you haven't calculated one to three months of fixed operating expenses and compared it to what's actually set aside, that's the first gap to close while collections are still coming in at a steady pace.

Build or update your 90-day cash flow forecast, specifically modeling what the slower months typically look like for your practice based on last year's actual numbers, factoring in your real insurance reimbursement timing rather than optimistic assumptions. If the forecast shows a cash crunch coming, you want that information now, while you still have options.

Review cash-pay pricing and insurance contract performance using this year's real cost and collection data rather than last year's numbers adjusted by a rough guess. If margins have been sliding, this is the moment to correct it before another year locks in the same numbers.

Check that your Q3 estimated tax payment is handled and start thinking ahead to Q4, so tax obligations aren't competing with a tight cash month for the same dollars.

Look at any planned equipment purchases or financing decisions through the lens of the slow season ahead. A purchase that made sense during a strong month might be worth delaying if cash is going to be tighter in the meantime.

Finally, revisit staffing and associate scheduling. If patient volume typically drops during a specific stretch, decide now how you'll handle that, whether it's adjusting front desk hours, planning associate schedules around it, or simply going in with eyes open rather than reacting once volume slows.

Working through this list in September, while there's still time to act on what it shows you, is the difference between a slow season you manage and one that manages you.

Jeremy Brewer is the founder of 911 Bookkeepers LLC in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 911 Bookkeepers partners with MBJA Accounting Service to give chiropractic and MDVIP practices clean, current financials. He is a Xero Certified Advisor.