Mastering Small Business Finance: Strategies for Accountants and Bookkeepers

Accountants and bookkeepers are tasked with managing their clients' finances. Not doing so means letting a business operate inefficiently. But what about your own business? Are you putting the time and effort into streamlining the way you manage your business's budgeting, saving, and investing? 

You can even consider your personal finances. Many times, bookkeepers spend so much time on these tasks for their clients that they let their own financial management needs slip. You know that’s not the best use of your money, but how can you manage it all? These strategies for financial management and small business finance can help you.

Budgeting Strategies: Here’s Where to Start

When it comes to small business finance, the heart of success comes from budgeting. If you do not have the right budget in place, you do not know what your financial health will be from one month to the next.

There are a few key budgeting strategies that are critical to accountants, bookkeepers, and other small businesses.

Define the risks you face 

As you begin to make a budget, consider the risks you know you are taking. As an accountant, some services are becoming obsolete thanks to artificial intelligence. If you are worried about losing those clients, put money into risk aversion strategies. Don’t build your budget without first considering your risk.

Come back to your budget frequently

It's easy to believe everything is in order, but as analytical professionals, you know this does not always happen. The only way for a budget to remain healthy is to keep it up to date as your business and time management change. This way, you can move funds where they need to go and even identify and reduce expenses more effectively.

Estimate expenses accurately

As your accounting business grows, you may realize that your expenses are going to go up as well. It's easy to put extra money into these in your budget because you want to be covered. However, that means you have more money available for other needs. Prepare the funds you need for each task and expense based on the data you have.

Focus on cash flow analysis 

Depending on the way you provide services to your clients, you may have a cash flow concern from time to time. If your accounts receivable are not coming in fast enough, that puts your overall financial health at risk because you cannot make payments as you need to. Ultimately, you have to stay on top of your cash flow.

Routine cash flow analysis provides you with updated data you can use to make better decisions. You may not realize just how far behind your client is on payment or how much other costs have risen this year over last. Cash flow analysis allows you to see more clearly what is happening.

Tackle Financial Reporting and Investment Management Head-On

Accountants and bookkeepers operate very powerful businesses. Considering that, you need to know the rules and regulations surrounding your company from a financial reporting vantage point. This is your business, and that means you should not push off these tasks because you don’t have time.

Financial reporting:

Make sure you have an effective and robust manner of monitoring changes in your business operations over time. Reporting means you are recognizing and submitting that information so you know what’s occurring.

Investment management:

Do not put off investment management for your own company. You likely do this without flaw for your clients, but if you do not put enough time and effort into managing the process for your own company, you could be leaving valuable money on the table.

Remember, too, that a third-party view is valuable in both of these areas. Even though your accounting firm can handle these tasks for other companies, you absolutely should have another accountant or service provide you with oversight for your own company. It just empowers you to move forward.

Make Sure You Pay Yourself

Another area of small business finance that is often overlooked is paying yourself. You pay yourself, but are you underpaying? This is not the area to draw funds out to put towards your budget. You need to know:

• What is typical pay for a firm like your own
• How much money you are making
• If you are making enough to build your business and meet your personal financial goals 

Underpaying yourself undercuts your business success in the long term because you end up taking on more work instead of refining your work in a more meaningful manner.

Save for the Future

Investing and saving for your business’s future should be a core component of any budget. Without this focus, small business finance becomes limitedly helpful to you, especially over the long term. For healthy financial management, you absolutely need to have a plan in place for the future that addresses the following:

• Inflationary pressures your company is likely to face, as any business does
• Growth objectives, including your need to expand your services
• Employee training and continuing education for yourself
• Tech investments to remain competitive and robust
• Security investments to minimize risks to your clients and to your business 

Putting money into your business’s future is a critical step in keeping it profitable long-term. If you have not done any financial management in this area recently, it’s time to do so with ease.

How Qbox by CoralTree Can Help You

There is certainly a lot to tackle in small business finance, but bookkeepers can utilize Qbox from CoralTree to create better outcomes for both your own business and that of your client.

There are numerous benefits to choosing Qbox for your financial management. It is by far the best financial management tool for a small business, including for bookkeepers themselves. Here's why:

• Remote support the way you need it. It is one of the best tools available today when you need a remote support tool for QuickBooks desktop. This tool allows you to tackle the big jobs remotely, including supporting collaboration and file sharing for all of your users.
• Share within your organization with ease. It also provides you with a solid strategy for sharing files of most types across your organization, whether it is a small company or a large organization. That includes Word, MS Access, PowerPoint, Excel, and QuickBooks. This also enables you to instantly sync all components to all users, creating a simple, accurate document.
• Locked and protected resources. One of the best reasons to choose this option for financial management is that it protects your data and ensures that information is always located and protected. 

That's because Qbox provides you with bank-level security. You do not have to worry about your company's financial data and information being exposed, even when you are tackling these tasks from a distance. In short, Qbox makes it easier for you to better view your financial management and overall small business finance needs. That way, you have the information you need to make better decisions.

Learn More About How Qbox from CoralTree Can Help You

Small business finance and financial management overall do not have to be a secondary focus for bookkeepers. You need to put in the same amount of time and effort for your own business as you do for others. When you apply these strategies to your own finances using Qbox, you get the support and guidance you need in a far easier-to-use manner.

Now is the perfect time to learn more about Qbox from CoralTree. You can sign up now to get a free first 30 days – find out why so many people have made the move.