Keeping track of your finances isn’t just important when it comes to filing your tax return, it’s also vitally important if you are to successfully grow your business.
- Be organised: Essentially, the more organised you are financially, the more time you will be able to spend concentrating on growing your business. Although it may take some time to set up systems in the short term, by knowing where everything is, you will save yourself a lot of time in the long term.
- File effectively: It is vital that you file any financial documents effectively, even if that just means keeping them all in one place. Remember, filing systems should, above all, be easy to use – if you create a complicated system for yourself, you are not likely to stick to it.
- Pay your bills on time: Paying your bills on time means you’ll avoid damaging business relationships or having to pay a fine or excess/interest charges. Keep on top of due dates by putting them in your calendar.
- Plan: What bills are you expecting in the future and when? What date do you have to file your tax return by? When do you need to pay your staff’s salaries? When are you expecting payment from others for your products/services? Buy yourself a diary or set up your Outlook calendar and stay organised to reduce the risk of hitting cash flow problems.
- Check your statements: Avoid fraud or forgotten debts by setting aside time each month to read through your bank and supplier statements – is everything as you expected it to be?
- Use online banking: Getting yourself access to your account online means you can keep track of your transactions more regularly, while making payments electronically saves a lot of time, and makes it easier to avoid late payments.
Stick to the simple points above, and it really can be easy to keep track of your finances – and your business.
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