Are your company’s finances becoming difficult to keep track of?
Here are a few organization tips to help you to take back financial control.
Consolidate your expenses.
If you’ve got too many outgoing costs and are finding them hard to manage, consider whether there are any ways in which you could consolidate these expenses.
Rather than taking out multiple insurance schemes from different companies, consider whether you’d be better off taking out a bulk insurance scheme from one insurer.
If you’ve got lots of debts that are getting hard to keep track off, consider paying them all off with a consolidation loan. This could turn all your debts into one easy-to-pay installment each month.
As for general suppliers, cancel any subscriptions that you rarely use such as unused software or stock that you keep ordering and never selling.
You could even consider outsourcing a supply chain management company to take care of all your individual suppliers, collecting all their individual bills and then presenting them to you as one single bill to pay off each month.
These consolidation tricks could be a huge help in staying organised and could ensure that you never miss another payment.
Set payment reminders.
To ensure that outgoing costs are paid on time, and that clients equally remember to pay you on time, it could be worth setting payment reminders. This could be important for keeping your cashflow healthy.
Set alerts about big bills a few days before so that you can ensure that you have enough money in the bank to pay these off.
Similarly, set reminders for dates when clients are supposed to pay you. If they miss their payment, you can then chase them up promptly.
These reminders could be on a physical calendar or on your smartphone – whichever you think is more likely to have an impact.
An alternative option to setting reminders could be to arrange all payments for a specific day each month by contacting suppliers and clients and asking if it’s okay to change to this date.
By having all ingoing and outgoing costs on the same day each month, you can easily keep track of it all rather than having to monitor payments from week to week.
Of course, certain suppliers and clients may not be able to pay on this date, which is something you need to account for.
Make use of software.
Software can help to automate a lot of financial processes in your business.
When it comes to general bookkeeping, almost all companies can benefit from using accounting software. This can help to ensure that your taxes and expenses are calculated precisely so that there’s no human error.
There are also programmes that you can use to help with processes such as your employee payroll and automatic invoicing.
You can even use analytics software to help make cuts and suggest improvements – something that has become common in many retail and manufacturing industries.
There are lots of different types of financial software out there so make sure that you do your research.
Certain software may be targeted at small businesses, whilst other software may be targeted at larger companies. The latter is likely to be more complex and expensive.
You can read reviews to help find the most suitable software for your business.
It could also be worth downloading free trials in order to test the programme out for yourself. As well as possibly attending software demos, in which you can ask questions to someone who works for the software company.
Use apps too.
Many programmes now also come in the form of apps. These can not only help to automate processes, but they can allow you to organise your finances on the go.
You could use an invoice app to help send invoices on the go or an accounting app to help do some bookkeeping on the go. This could be useful if your work requires you to travel around a lot and you’re very rarely in the office.
As with software, do your research in order to find the best apps. You may be able to use software you currently use in app form and continue using all the same data.
Read also: 8 Tips to Help You Deal with Late Payments on Invoices
Consider hiring an accountant/financial advisor.
It could also be worth outsourcing professionals to help take care of your company finances.
Many business owners take the stress out of annual tax assessments by seeking help from an accountant. These professionals can ensure that your taxes are calculated correctly and presented in a clear and concise manner.
There are lots of accountant services out there and you should shop around in order to find one that is affordable and credible.
You’ll usually pay more for a chartered accountant. However, these professionals have often been screened making them more reliable than a non-chartered accountant.
You don’t have to hire a local accountant and many business owners are now hiring accountants virtually over the web.
As for financial advisors, these professionals can help with your overall business costs, helping you to trim your outgoing costs and increase your incoming costs.
They can also help with decisions such as taking out loans, budgeting startup costs and selling your business.
Large companies may employ a team of financial advisors who can creatively come up with new ways to reduce costs and increase income.
As for your average small company, you may be better off outsourcing an advisor on a need-to-know basis. Many advisors charge on an hourly basis.
As with accountants, you should do your research in order to hire the best advisor for the job. Some advisors may specialise in certain areas of trade whilst others may be able to give more general advice.
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