Month: October 2021

The business world highly runs on cash. But surprisingly only a few entrepreneurs take proactive steps to manage their company’s cash flow. Most businesses end up with pending payments and bills due to poor cash flow management. As we witnessed an unprecedented Covid-19 crisis last year, it was a huge shock to the business world. Many business owners had to shut down their business or switch towards temporary closure. This is the result of not getting control of cash flow management. It helps you make financial plans, prepare for uncertain crises and give peace of mind.

5 ways to improve cash flow management

Businesses can follow these steps for their cash flow management:

1. Check company’s profitability

Regular monitoring of your business profits is essential. You need to make sure that you are making reasonable profits every month. You need to keep up your tracking game, analyze each and every product separately. Check whether the services are accurately priced and detect any inefficiencies. You need to be ahead of the curve in cash management and set targets for high profit margins.

2. Cash flow projection

Businesses should prepare cash flow projections for next year. Firstly, analyze your current financial numbers, profits, and sales. Based on this, prepare an excel spreadsheet and make cash estimates for short and long periods. Secondly, predict any cash shortages or note down what changes you want in your expenses. This will help you get a clear picture of where your business is heading. Also, projection of cash flow will also help boost your business’s success.

3. Use Technology

Decades ago, transactions were recorded manually. But today, we have the advantage of technology which makes the process faster and accurate. Use any accounting software and its available tools for easy and productive cash management.

4. Emergency backup funds

Businesses should know the importance of keeping emergency backup funds. This will help them in their financial downturn. It is recommended that businesses should have at least 6 months of backup funds to cover their expenses. Cash flow crises can be very damaging, so in order to sustain your business always plan things beforehand.

5. Proper invoicing

It is imperative for businesses to send out invoices as soon as they deliver their output. Poor management or delay in invoices can create loopholes in your financial system. Also, you will receive your payments late from the clients. Assign a person for this task to stay on top of invoicing. Keep your invoicing clear and straightforward. Highlight your payment methods so it gets easier for clients which will speed up the payment process.

Business advisory services assist businesses in identifying their key strengths and weaknesses by analyzing different areas of their business. Professional advisors can help their clients overcome the challenges and complexities of business by providing them with tailored solutions. Also, you get a fresh perspective and insights on improving things for your business. 

Starting a new business can be a complex and frightening experience for some. The pressure of doing things the right way and not failing can make things more difficult for new owners. Here come the professional business advisors who can help you set up your business. Firstly, they get involved in all areas of your business from doing all the legal documentation work to branding, marketing & sales. Secondly, Analyzes the competition in the industry and advise clients on what they can do to make their business stand out and make their mark in the industry. Hiring an advisor can save your time and help avoid mistakes and pitfalls. Moreover, professional advisors give business guidance and help execute and manage your operations.

A professional business advisor can help clients improve their business strategies and take effective measures to get instant results. Furthermore, they will analyze your current performance, any potential threats, and risks and advise how to tackle them properly. In order to achieve your long-term business goals, advisors can help you move forward in the right direction. Also, they can help you make important decisions at crucial stages of your business. Therefore, it is very insightful to get business advice from professional advisors. They evaluate clients’ business from all angles and suggest corrective steps to grow their business.

Benefits of business advisory services

1. With adequate financial knowledge and extensive experience, a professional business advisor will give you the best advice for your business work. Outsourcing these services can give you an objective outlook on your business.
2. Professional business advisors can help you take timely decisions and grow your profits. They can help you focus on your long-term goals and manage your finances accurately. 
3. Your business operation will be streamlined, minimizing mistakes and optimizing your employees. Advisors will help you prepare effective business strategies that will truly benefit your business. 
4. Advisors can detect mistakes and risks that your business is facing and can help in making new business plans that can avoid your business from costly mistakes and underlying risks.

Accounting is an integral part of all enterprises. It is important for record-keeping, monitoring your business expenses, achieving the company’s financial goals, and discovering new avenues of growth. However, different enterprise sizes require different accounting processes. The same accounting process doesn’t fit all sizes. When you look at the internal accounting system of a small business it may look completely different from any medium or large size enterprise. 

Small businesses are in the phase of establishing their financial system, therefore their financial processes will highlight important aspects. The main focus of SMEs is to implement an effective financial process that is accurate for their business. On the other hand, large businesses are more established. They have a large number of employees all their financial processes are systematically arrange.

Difference between volume of Accounting in SMEs vs Large businesses

An evident difference between SMEs and large business activities is with the number of employees working, their salaries,  transaction volumes, and maintenance of all transactional records. SMEs’ have a fewer number of employees, a fewer number of clients initially which means they have a low volume of transactional data. This makes the recording and bookkeeping process much easier and less complex. Records of SMEs are easily manageable on paper as well as on accounting software. SMEs’ accounting can be managed with or without accounting professionals. But with the assistance of professional accountants, a strong financial framework can be built according to professional accounting standards. 

On the contrary, large businesses have a large number of clients which means the plethora of transactional data, managing business expenses, paying a large number of employees on time, can be a lot more complex. As the business grows, the invoices and records keep on increasing. Therefore the record-keeping process should be systematic and accurate. For large businesses, manual record-keeping is very difficult to maintain, they rely on cloud software. Large businesses have professional accountants who are responsible for managing the company’s all accounting activities, identifying financial risks, and suggesting improvements in the financial system. Professional accountants take over the complexities of accounting holistically and solve all the challenges with their skills and knowledge.

The approach “one size for all” does not work realistically. You need to make sure that your professional manager develops a system which is suitable according to your business size. Implementation of the correct system will have effective benefits on your business and will help accelerate your business performance.