How-To: Small Business Finances
Congrats! You’ve either recently started a new business, are thinking about it, or started a little while ago but haven’t quite gotten a handle on exactly how to manage money in business yet. You probably weren’t thinking that finances and accounting would become part of your life, but it is inevitable unless you have a budget to hire extra help. Often this is not the case, so let’s buckle down and learn the basics!
Learn Finance Basics
Lucky for us, this doesn’t require going back to college, or even visiting the library. There are endless sources right on the web, including lists of common vocabulary terms, and free online classes from credible colleges, with great information to help with this process.
- Udemy: Business Happens
- Coursera: Business financing classes
Don’t forget there are lots of tools available for making this process easier, like QuickBooks.
Learn About Corporate Funding
There are many, many types of large and small business financing opportunities out there today, and they all have their particular uses. Read back on some previous blogs to learn a bit more about some of the types available to you. Feel free to contact us as well to inquire about your particular situation and see what one of our loan professionals suggests. Otherwise, sit for a little bit and do some good ol’ research so you can be as informed as possible if and when the time comes that your business needs a little funding to boost you to the next level. One tip suggested by many is, apply for a business line of credit at a time you don’t necessarily need it and your cash flow is good – you’ll more likely be approved, and you’ll have it immediately when the need presents itself.
Organization is Key
Keep everything in one place to minimize confusion. Plan out a budget as accurately as possible so you know when you’re within your spending limits or if you need to rethink your finances! There are plenty of tools for this as well.
Plan Your Taxes
Budgeting and planning your federal and state taxes quarterly is recommended to keep ugly surprises and the dreaded doom feeling of tax season at a minimum. Accountants are very helpful in this realm especially if you’re not familiar with all the deductions you may be eligible for.
It’s OK to Outsource
Your job is to focus on and grow your business, and if tasks like these are distracting and beginning to take too much time away from that, hire someone in-house or from another firm so you can get back to doing what you love.
