How to Manage Your Finances as a Small Business Owner

As a small business owner, it's important to be smart about how you spend your money. Here are some tips for managing your finances wisely.

Sure, you can save a few bucks by mopping the floors yourself or taking your own headshots for your website—but when it comes to managing your finances, it's important to leave that task to the professionals.

Why You Need to Manage Your Finances

As a small business owner, it's easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day tasks of running your business. But if you don't take the time to manage your finances—watching your spending, tracking your income and expenses, and staying on top of invoices and payments—you could find yourself in hot water quickly. Ignoring your finances can have serious consequences like putting you at risk for financial penalties or even legal trouble. 

How to Manage Your Finances 

The first step to managing your finances is knowing where your money is coming from and where it's going. This may seem like a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised how many small business owners don't have a clear picture of their income and expenses. The best way to track this information is by using small business accounting software like QuickBooks or FreshBooks. These services will help you track your income and expenses, invoicing and payments, and even mileage if you're using your personal vehicle for business purposes. 

Another important aspect of managing your finances is staying on top of invoices and payments. If you're not regularly sending out invoices and following up on past-due payments, you could find yourself in a disastrous cash flow situation—and no small business owner wants that! Sending out monthly or bi-weekly invoices (depending on your billing cycle) will help ensure that you're getting paid in a timely manner. You can also use accounting software platforms to automate this process so that you can focus on other aspects of running your business.  

Last but not least, it's important to have a solid budget in place for your small business. This will help you keep track of your spending and make sure that you're not overspending in any one area. Having a budget will also give you a better idea of where you can cut costs if necessary. There are a number of free budget templates available online that you can use to get started.

Bottom Line

Managing your finances as a small business owner may seem like a daunting task—but it doesn't have to be! By taking some time each month (or week) to track your income and expenses, send out invoices, and follow up on past-due payments, you can ensure that your business is running smoothly from a financial standpoint. And if keeping tabs on all of this sounds like too much work for one person, consider enlisting the help of an accountant or bookkeeper—they'll be more than happy to take care of the nitty-gritty details so that you can focus on growing your business!

STATISTIC

Ready to see how
much you qualify for?

Let's get started

Arrow Image