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Is Your Business Prepared for Hurricane Season? by Kevin McNally, JD

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Posted on June 04, 2025 by Kevin McNally

Another hurricane season kicked off on June 1, reminding businesses along the Gulf and Eastern seaboards of the devastation that tropical-force winds and rain can inflict and their long-term impact on continuing normal business operations. The following checklist outlines best practices to help you protect and preserve your assets, mitigate losses before a storm strikes, and prepare your business to get up and running as soon as possible after the storm passes.

Inventory your Assets

Create an up-to-date record of all your current tangible business assets, including buildings, computers, office equipment, machinery, vehicles and inventory, along with your original basis in those assets, the date of purchase, depreciation schedules and their current fair market value, if possible. It is also a good idea to create a digital video recording of these assets and provide a narration describing each item in detail. For example, if you own real estate, use your phone to videotape a walking tour of the entire building, including the interior space, the outside parking lots and all the landscaping.

You should also have a current list of all your clients, vendors and employees with each of their emergency contact numbers. This will enable you to keep in contact with the people you rely on to make your business successful.

Copy and Secure Key Business Documents

If your business sustains losses, you must be prepared to demonstrate your company’s track record of financial performance to your insurer. You can accomplish this by gathering and securing three to five years of the following documents:

You should also have a detailed accounting of your current operations, including pending and fulfilled sales orders, future budget forecasts and other projected financial data.

Check in with Payroll Service Providers

If you use a payroll service provider, ask them if they have a fiduciary bond in place to protect your business should they default on their responsibilities to you. After all, your employees will need their paychecks even if your payroll service provider’s offices are closed.

Regularly Review and Update your Company’s Emergency Plan

Do not wait until hurricane season to develop an emergency plan that maps out your company’s actions when a storm is tracking in your direction. Consider what employees should do to secure their offices when a storm threatens and how you will communicate with them before, during and after a storm passes. Determine when to close the office and how you will maintain communications with staff throughout the storm and afterwards. Have a plan for securing digital assets that will allow you to continue operations through a potentially prolonged recovery period. It is also a good idea to create a disaster-recovery and business-continuity task force of key employees you trust to take the lead and carry out this plan.

The speed and ease with which your company can return to normal operations after a disaster depend on the planning you do today. At a minimum, review your plan annually, make updates, put it into practice and share it with your stakeholders.

About the Author: Kevin McNally, JD, is an associate director of Tax Services with Berkowitz Pollack Brant Advisors + CPAs, where he works with high-net-worth families, private equity firms and real estate development businesses on a broad range of tax matters, including complex deal structuring.  He can be reached at the CPA firm’s Miami office at 305-379-7000 or info@bpbcpa.com.