December: Chocolate Glut, Cash Squeeze

December feeds you first. Then it bills you.

It starts with the chocolate. Your company party, or somebody else’s. It is December, it is everywhere, and by the third handful you are not deciding anymore. You are feasting. An hour later comes the crash: heavy, foggy, a little irritable.

Now picture running a business on that. Too much food, too little sleep, a party every third night, and the biggest decisions of the year packed into the same four weeks.

December does the same thing to your bank account. It feels fine while it is happening, and the bill shows up in January, when you are clear headed again.

It is also the month many good companies feel broke. The year was fine. Sales were fine. Then the bank balance tells a different story: payroll lands heavier, customers pay slower, and every annual bill arrives at once.

That is not a verdict on your business. It is mechanics. December squeezes cash from both sides every year, on schedule, which means you can plan for it, if you plan in November.

Why the squeeze happens

Basically, even when the P&L looks great, cash flow slows down. Many customers’ payables departments run on skeleton crews from Thanksgiving on, so an invoice that would clear in three weeks in October can slide into January, and then it goes to the back of a new line. QuickBooks’ 2026 Small Business Late Payments Report found that 59% of small businesses carry invoices overdue by 30 days or more, up from 47% a year earlier, and those waiting on unpaid invoices are owed about $17,700 on average. December is when that stops being a statistic.

Money out bunches up. Holiday pay. Bonuses. For anyone who pays every two weeks, sometimes a third paycheck month. Insurance renewals due January 1. Your own doors close between Christmas and New Year’s while rent, salaries, and loan payments run at full speed. Then January sends its own bills: estimated taxes on the 15th for most owners, and in some states, Texas included, property taxes by the 31st.

And there is the spending nobody budgets: the holiday party, gifts for the crew and customers, the extra food in the break room. None of it is big. All of it is real money. None of it was in the forecast.

Six moves to make in November

1. Collect now, not in December. The best week to collect a receivable is this one. Call your biggest slow payers. A call, not another emailed statement. Money in hand by December 15 is cash. The same invoice chased on January 10 is a project.

2. Map thirteen weeks. Lay out cash week by week through the end of January. Every squeezed company has a trough week. Finding it in November is planning. Finding it the morning payroll is due is a crisis.

3. Stop paying early out of habit. Paying every bill the day it arrives feels clean. In December it is a leak. Pay on terms. Not late, but not early either, and line up big outflows after big receipts. If you must stretch a vendor, call before the due date and say when you will pay. Vendors forgive a plan. They do not forgive silence.

4. Ring fence January’s money. Before any owner draw, set aside what January already owns: the estimated tax payment, the property tax, the insurance premium, the first payroll. The classic squeeze is the one you cause yourself: a comfortable draw in December, a hole in January, and a credit line covering the difference at interest. Your own money, borrowed back.

5. Put a number on goodwill. The party and the gifts are not the problem. The problem is that they are never a decision. They happen one “small” expense at a time until January adds them up. Give them a budget now.

Bonuses are harder, because a bonus is never just money. Pay one three years running and it stops being a bonus. Your people have it spent by Thanksgiving, and cutting it feels like a pay cut. If this year’s numbers do not support last year’s bonus, say so early and say why. A smaller bonus explained in November lands fine. The expected one funded quietly by the credit line costs you twice.

6. If you will draw the line, tell your banker now. A seasonal draw discussed in November, with numbers, is banking. A line that maxes out silently in December and gets explained in February is a problem. Bankers expect December draws. What they do not forgive is surprise.

Caution

December is also when owners buy equipment they do not need because a tax deadline says so. Section 179 and bonus depreciation are real, and the rules got friendlier: the 2025 tax law made 100% bonus depreciation permanent and raised the Section 179 limit, which is $2.56 million for 2026. But permanent changes the pitch. Waiting no longer means losing the deduction, only moving it to next year’s return. And a deduction lowers your taxes. It does not make the payment. Buy it because the business needs it and the cash allows it. A deduction on a payment you cannot afford is a cheaper mistake, but still a mistake. More on Section 179 in the next post.

The squeeze comes for good years and bad years alike. It is not about the year. It is about the calendar. The owners who get hurt are the ones who run December like a normal month.

It is not a normal month. Plan it like it matters, while November still gives you room.

If you want a second set of eyes on your thirteen week cash view before December hits, grab 30 minutes here: https://calendar.app.google/LsX7u6bSkHM34iNV6. Otherwise, start this week: pick up the phone and call your slowest payer.