For many small business owners, COVID-19 has caused us to change the way we work, made us question our company’s survival, and thrown a wrench in our goals and plans. Through it all, there’s one solution to keep these things going, and get through future disasters: strong cash flow.
Many business owners overlook cash flow, or simply let it go over their heads and do nothing about it. Doing so can cripple a business, and at the very least, keep it from growing.
As a small business owner, cash flow is what matters the most – representing the key to not only survival, but successful business longevity as well. It’s the heartbeat of your business, or the lifeblood to make it flow into the future, and the tell-tale sign behind success or failure.
That’s where the true value of a bookkeeper comes into play: taking your data and providing you with real solutions to take your business to the next level. What goes into discovering that data and making those key cash flow decisions?
Here are some cash flow tips to consider:
Know Your True Balances
Staying on top of your accounts payable and accounts receivable is important. Knowing where you stand provides the balance between what you owe and what you collect, and ultimately, what you can do in the future.
A component of this is staying on top of what you have in the bank, but more than that, it’s knowing your actual cash balance. In other words, you must know if you are truly making money; not just what’s on paper or online, as is the norm nowadays.
For example, just looking at your bank online balance is very risky because you could have uncleared items that don’t show up. This can lead to mistakes that deprive you of your potential to grow and succeed in business.
Projection
This brings us to projection. It’s so important to know where your business is going. Having some sort of basic projection, even if it’s simple, to map out your upcoming expenses is key – instead of spending just because you have money in the bank.
We will go beyond that by being able to project where your business will be in six to 12 months through regular reporting, getting you the latest information and results when you need it. In putting together your projection, Sound Business Services (SBS) can take over your accounts payable on Bill.com and actually provide you with a cash position email on a regular basis, helping you see your actual bank balances, your receivables and your payables.
Budget
As a kid, your parents might have told you to budget. They wanted to teach you a key life lesson and look out for your well-being.
As business owners, we often struggle with the same concept, only on a much larger and more serious scale. That’s because spending out of control, or not having a plan for the future, can wreak havoc on your business.
Don’t worry … we are here to help! At SBS, we will not only help you prepare a budget, but also provide you with a budget vs. actual report on a monthly basis to help you track your performance against your goals. After all, you can only spend what you can afford, and it’s our obligation to make sure you strategically plan your spending to generate success and stay in business.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
We too often discover that prospects and customers have been given unrealistic information in the past. That’s unacceptable.
With KPI reporting, we get a vision of the key drivers that decide your company’s success. KPI tracking enables us to track the key metrics that determine the goals you are trying to reach as a company, which can be financial or non-financial, such as man hours or closed leads vs. lost leads.
How does this work? It’s a painless process where we meet with you to identify KPIs you would like to track. Then, we help you decide the best way to track them, and then design reporting to show you that data in a clear and meaningful way you can understand.
That’s a Wrap!
Wrapping together the cash flow process is getting you the systems you need to succeed, such as QuickBooks Online (QBO) and the many powerful apps that integrate with QBO. Of course, we will find the apps that meet your specific business’ needs.
Feel free to contact us today to learn more about cash flow or start the process, and you will be on your way to transforming your business.