You have been meaning to get your business systems in order, but you’ve been too busy.
These financial clean-up tasks will benefit your business, any time of the year:
1. Create and Maintain a Business Budget
No time to make a budget? Then how do you know you are operating your business effectively? A budget can show you where you are over-spending and help you determine the best way to maximize earnings.
2. Set up a Financial Record Keeping and Accounting System
The first, and most important part of setting up a record keeping system is to capture the information, but you then must keep it up to date and review it to make improvements. And, of course, you will need all this information to file taxes. You can set up a simple system for keeping records, either by hand, using financial software, online, or with a bookkeeper. It’s one of your biggest responsibilities as a business owner.
3. Create a Debt Collection System to Maximize Collections
One of the most important things you can do make sure your business is profitable is to set up a system to collect money from customers. Remembering the first two rules of debt collection:
Rule #1 – the longer a bill is overdue, the less likely it is to be paid, and
Rule #2 – some people won’t pay, no matter what you do.
Take the time to learn how to set up a system to monitor accounts receivable and collect on overdue bills, and also how to stay within the law on debt collection practices.
4. Plan for Business Disasters
Disasters of all kinds can happen to your business. Set up a plan to prepare for a disaster and recover from that disaster, including:
- Planning to keep business records safe;
- Planning for employee safety and minimizing damage to property;
- Getting a business valuation now, so you know how much your business was worth before the disaster;
- Learning about government loans and other disaster relief assistance; and
- How to recover business records after a disaster.
5. Get Your Payroll System in Order
Make sure you have your payroll system in order, including employee records, payroll records, and records of payroll taxes. Whether you do it yourself,
use payroll software, an online payroll system, or a bookkeeper, you need to know what to do and when to do it – for withholding, paying, and reporting.
