Story written and provided by Gloria Martinez, founder of WomenLed.org.
The world of entrepreneurship is a wonderful place filled with freedom, flexibility, and power. In order to successfully run your business, you need to get a handle on your finances. As a new business owner, staying afloat and putting down roots requires that you are smart about business expenses. The following are simple ways to cut costs and stay on top.
Let Others Work for You
You’re the boss and you run the show, but you need some people working for you behind the scenes to ensure everything goes as smoothly as possible. To begin, let your bank help you keep track of spending and payments by setting up a separate credit card and checking account for your business. Not only will you have a paper trail, but it saves you the confusion that is likely to ensue when you mix business spending with daily spending. Speaking of a paper trail, you can make your life a whole lot easier by using an app that keeps track of and organizes your receipts. Some extract the pertinent information, while others even generate an expense report. Another pro to have on speed dial is a business accountant. Their knowledge of tax laws and deductions can prevent a headache come tax time and even save you money.
Maximize Your Cash Flow and Output
No matter what kind of business you are running, it’s safe to say you’ll be accepting payments, and having a mobile payment system simplifies everything so that you can quickly accept transactions for products and services. Small Business Trends recommends GoPayment, a system that accepts payments via your cell phone and transfers the data into QuickBooks for instant organization. Not only should you look for ways to speed up transactions, but the delivery of your products as well. ePacket delivery is worth looking into, as it allows for fast delivery and easy tracking for international shipments, enabling you to expand your business’ reach globally. Customers, meanwhile, will enjoy the end-to-end tracking of their ordered item, as well as free returns on anything that couldn’t be delivered.
Tasks to Stay on Top
There are various financial tasks you need to stay on top of daily, weekly, and monthly. You need to check your business bank account every day to track spending and customer payments, as well as catch any suspicious activity. Each week, you should record transactions and prepare invoices, and the end of each month means its times to balance the books. In the beginning, it may be easy to keep track of accounts receivable/payable, sales, purchases, retained earnings, etc., but as the business grows, you might find it beneficial to hire a bookkeeper.
Running your own business is exciting, but it comes with its fair share of work as well. Keeping track of finances is one of the most important pieces. Let financial institutions and programs work for you, take steps to maximize cash flow and output, and stay on top of financial tasks for a business that thrives.
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Gloria Martinez started WomenLed to celebrate the advancements women have made and inspire women to become entrepreneurs and seek promotions in the workplace.