January 2026 McCoy Accounting Advisors – CFO Insights

A New Year a to to Recenter and Move Forward with Intention

January carries a unique kind of energy. It’s full of possibilities. The urgency of year-end deadlines has passed, but the consequences of last year’s decisions both good and bad are still present.

January is a month for forward focus.

From a CFO’s perspective, the businesses that create meaningful profitability this year are the ones that enter the year with intention — clear priorities, disciplined execution, and a plan that aligns financial reality with strategic growth.

This month’s CFO Insights is about shifting your mindset from “What do we need to fix?” to “What do we want to build?” And more importantly, how to map an intentional plan that turns that vision into financial results.

What Forward Focus Really Means

Forward focus is not optimism without structure. It’s not wishful thinking. And it’s definitely not setting vague goals like “grow revenue” or “be more profitable.”

Forward focus means:

  • Knowing where your business stands today
  • Defining what success looks like by the end of the year
  • Aligning financial decisions to support that outcome
  • Creating systems that reinforce discipline, accountability, and clarity

It’s the difference between hoping the year goes well and engineering a profitable year.

As a Fractional CFO firm, we see January as the month where leadership decisions matter most. The choices you make now — what you prioritize, what you delay, what you say yes or no to — set the tone for the entire year.

Step One: Start With Intentional Clarity, Not Activity

The temptation in January is to “get busy” quickly. But movement without direction creates inefficiency.

Before making new plans, ask yourself three grounding questions:

1. What does a profitable year actually look like for us?

Not just revenue but profitability.

  • What net profit margin would feel healthy and sustainable?
  • What level of cash reserves would reduce stress?
  • What margin improvements would meaningfully change the business?

Profitability is a result of intentional choices.

2. What are the constraints we must work within?

Every business has constraints — time, labor, cash flow, capacity, systems.

Ignoring them doesn’t make them disappear. Planning around them does.

  • Are you labor-constrained?
  • Is cash flow tight early in the year?
  • Are systems or processes limiting efficiency?
  • Is leadership stretched too thin?

Forward focus means designing a plan that works within reality.

3. What are we willing to stop doing this year?

Growth often comes not from doing more — but from prioritizing the right things.

January is the right time to ask:

  • Which services, clients, or projects drain profitability?
  • Which internal habits create friction or rework?
  • Where are we tolerating inefficiency out of familiarity?

Intentional plans include subtraction. Prioritize what’s working towards success and eliminate what’s not.

Step Two: Map the Year in Phases, Not Just One Big Goal

One of the biggest planning mistakes I see is treating the year as a single block of time.

Successful businesses think in phases.

From a CFO lens, this allows you to manage risk, cash flow, and capacity while still moving forward.

Phase 1: Stabilize and Strengthen (Q1)

January through March is about:

  • Establishing financial discipline
  • Reinforcing systems
  • Creating predictability

Key focus areas:

  • Cash flow visibility
  • AR discipline
  • Job costing accuracy
  • Overhead control
  • KPI rhythm

This phase is about building a strong foundation.

Phase 2: Optimize and Improve (Q2–Q3)

Once stability is established, focus shifts to:

  • Margin improvement
  • Process efficiency
  • Capacity utilization
  • Strategic investments

This is where profitability accelerates from intentional refinement.

Phase 3: Position and Prepare (Q4)

The final phase is about:

  • Strategic positioning
  • Year-end planning
  • Preparing for next year’s opportunities

Businesses that plan in phases avoid burnout and cash crunches. They grow intentionally instead of reactively.

Step Three: Align Financial Targets With Strategic Intent

A forward-focused year requires financial targets that support your strategy.

Instead of asking:
“Can we increase revenue?”

Ask:

  • Which revenue is most profitable?
  • Which work aligns with our capacity?
  • Which opportunities support long-term stability?

From a CFO perspective, intentional financial planning centers around a small set of core metrics:

  • Revenue (by segment, not just total)
  • Gross Profit (to protect margin)
  • Net Profit (to measure sustainability)
  • Cash (to support confidence and flexibility)

Once these are defined, supporting metrics — such as AR Days or job performance indicators — become tools that create clarity.

Step Four: Build an Intentional Operating Rhythm

Forward focus is not a once-a-year exercise. It’s reinforced through consistent rhythm.

January is the time to define how often leadership will:

  • Review financial performance
  • Assess progress against goals
  • Make adjustments intentionally

From a CFO perspective, effective rhythm includes:

  • Monthly financial reviews
  • Regular KPI check-ins
  • Clear accountability for outcomes
  • Time blocked for strategic thinking

Without rhythm, even the best plan fades into the background as daily demands take over.

With rhythm, intention becomes your method of operation.

Step Five: Design the Year Around Cash, Not Just Profit

Profit is important. Cash is decisive.

Many businesses enter the year with ambitious plans, only to stall because cash flow can’t support execution.

Forward focus means:

  • Understanding when cash comes in
  • Anticipating when cash goes out
  • Planning around timing gaps
  • Building reserves intentionally

January is the month to:

  • Map out expected cash flow cycles
  • Identify high-risk months
  • Decide how much cash must be protected
  • Establish boundaries around spending

Cash discipline early in the year creates flexibility later.

Step Six: Engage Your Team in the Forward Vision

Intentional plans fail when they live only in leadership’s head.

Your team doesn’t need every detail — but they do need:

  • Clear priorities
  • Defined expectations
  • Understanding of how their role connects to success

Forward-focused leadership means communicating:

  • What matters this year
  • Why certain decisions are being made
  • What success looks like
  • How performance will be measured

This creates more than compliance, it creates ownership.

When people understand the direction, they align their decisions naturally.

Step Seven: Allow Room for Adjustment Without Losing Direction

Forward focus does not mean rigidity.

Markets shift. Projects change. People leave. Opportunities appear.

The goal is not to lock yourself into a plan — it’s to maintain direction while adjusting course as needed.

From a CFO perspective:

  • Plans should be reviewed, and revised, not abandoned
  • Adjustments should be intentional, not reactive
  • Decisions should be evaluated against the original intent

Businesses that succeed are not those that avoid change — but those that respond to it thoughtfully.

A Reminder as the Year Begins

You do not need to have every answer in January.

What you need is:

  • A clear sense of direction
  • A willingness to be disciplined
  • The courage to make intentional decisions
  • The patience to let strategy compound

Forward focus is about purpose.

And purpose, when paired with financial clarity, creates profitability.

Final Thoughts: Choose Intention Over Urgency

January sets the tone.

You do not need to:

  • Fix everything at once
  • Chase every opportunity
  • Say yes to every request
  • Outrun last year

You do need to:

  • Decide what matters
  • Protect your financial foundation
  • Build systems that support growth
  • Lead with clarity and confidence

At McCoy Accounting Advisors, we believe the most profitable years are built through intentional leadership, disciplined financial planning, and consistent execution.

As you move through January, let forward focus guide your decisions with intention.

Here’s to a year built on clarity, purpose, and sustainable profitability.