From the CFO’s perspective, November asks at least five things of you:

1. Close the books by the 15th of the month
2. “Almost” finish next year’s 2007 budget (more on this later)
3. For inventory-based businesses, schedule year-end inventory physical count
4. Execute your year-end income tax strategy
5. Prepare for the holidays and how they affect staffing resources, cash flow, and day-to-day operations.

November is also a month of contrasting forces. As the year draws to a close, there’s an energetic push to hit year-end targets (60 days and counting), yet an intuitive sense that it’s time to wrap things up, go inward, and prepare for the winter.

And if you need a one minute vacation, here, according to Wikipedia, is a page from the Almanac for the Hindu year 1871-72.