15. Advertising costs. Analyze advertising costs. It is often better for a business to postpone profit at year-end until the next year by spending a lot of money on advertising during the last month of the fiscal year. 16. Price checks. Evaluate current price lists and discount schedules for all products, the date of the last price increase, and the percentage of increase. You might even go back and look at the previous price increase to see what percentage it was and determine when you are likely to be able to raise prices. Here again, compare what you see in the business you are looking standards in the industry