How can business owners manage their finances more effectively?
For those running large businesses, there are typically people who are employed to manage the finances and make sure that everything is in check. In the world of SMEs, this is more difficult as there isn’t always a spare person who can work on this. Often, business owners need to do their own accounts and pay their taxes. So what happens when they are too busy to do so?
In this article, we are going to look at some of the ways that business owners can manage their finances more effectively. Read on to hear how this is happening already.
Set time aside
There is nothing more stressful than the last week of the month where it seems as though everything needs to be done at once. You need to pay your invoices, sort out any taxes and make sure that your employees are paid on time. For this reason, setting time aside each week to focus on finances can be beneficial. You might think that you don’t have any spare time to set aside but 20 minutes here and there can make all of the difference. When you spread out the work, you can save yourself some time and stress at the end of the month.
Set reminders
If you miss a payment on an invoice or a bill, you could face a large fine. On top of that, missed taxes can also result in penalty charges from the HMRC which is something that you’ll want to avoid at all costs. To combat this, business owners should manage payment deadlines more effectively and set some reminders. If you can have a reminder each month to focus on a certain task, you won’t forget about it as easily. Usually, you can use your mobile phone or laptop to set these kinds of reminders and they can be ongoing. This is a great way to manage finances more effectively.
Try software
Did you know that many business owners in the UK are managing their finances by using expert software? You don’t have to have an accountant who does everything for you when you can buy software that does the same job. There are plenty of software solutions for accounting that are readily available to you. Find the right one for you and you’ll find that it frees up a lot of your time.
Keep finances separate
Finally, if business owners want to make sure that they are managing their finances effectively, they need to separate any business and personal finances. It can be easy to dip into your savings or vice versa when you need money for something urgently but this can be a big mistake. Not only can you get yourself in a lot of personal debt but you can also cause problems when it comes to filing your taxes. Set up separate banking accounts immediately if you haven’t already.
Try these tips
Managing your finances when you have a lot on your plate is not easy but there are ways to make it easier. If you aren’t already using software to manage your finances and pay your taxes then this is something that you should consider. Make sure to take all of the tips that we have given you in this article on board and use them to make some changes to the way that you are managing things. Once you figure things out, you’ll realise that you don’t need to hire an accountant until your business grows.
