Combine calendar planning with business cycle insights to make smarter year-end decisions and set up a successful start to 2026.
As the end of the year approaches, most businesses shift into planning mode. Budgets come together, strategies get reviewed, and thinking shifts to what the next year will look like. It is a familiar rhythm and a useful one — the calendar offers structure and a natural moment to reassess. But, as helpful as that rhythm is, the calendar can’t tell you everything.
To make the smartest year-end decisions, it’s just as important to know where you are in the business cycle. The calendar may tell you that it’s time to plan, but your position in the business cycle can tell you how.
Two companies can sit down to budget on the same day in the fourth quarter but be in very different situations beneath the surface. One might be easing into a softer period next year, while another is quietly recovering and on track for a stronger 2026. If both make the same year-end decisions simply because it’s the season to do so, one of them is likely to regret it.
That’s why pairing your usual planning process with business cycle insights is so valuable. It helps you match your decisions to the environment that you’re heading into, not just the next page of the calendar.
Your 3/12 and 12/12 rate-of-change trends, end-use market trends, benchmarks, and leading indicator analysis can add clarity to those year-end discussions:
Don’t replace your calendar. Instead, give your planning season more depth and better direction.
Year-end routines still matter — budget season is important, and this time of year naturally brings reflection and alignment. What makes those routines more effective is adding cycle awareness to the conversation.
The result is a year-end strategy that fits both the moment and the conditions ahead of you. Finish the year strong by closing it out in a way that sets up a smarter start to the next one. Ensure you use a data-based, business cycle-informed planning process to make 2026 the best year it can be.
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