Numbers, decisions and action.
Practical finance lessons for mission-driven business owners. Real numbers, plain language and one thing you can do this week.
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The Low Down on Strategic Financial Management: A Guide for Small Business Owners
Struggling with business finances? Our guide provides actionable tips and strategies to improve your financial literacy and management skills and drive business growth.
The 4 Keys to Avoiding Tax Pain: Essential Tax Planning for Small Business Owners
Tax season: The annual event that turns normally rational small business owners into tightly stretched rubber bands, ready to snap. But fear not, entrepreneurs, for there's a way to navigate this treacherous tax planning terrain without losing your sanity.
Your 4-point Path to Meaningful Numbers and Clear Financial Reports
Meaningful numbers are a central theme at CFO on Speed Dial.
That’s because having and using meaningful numbers is the foundation for our entire framework for building business and financial success. If your financial reports are not meaningful; then they can’t do the job you need them to do — which is to make informed decisions about how to keep your company moving ahead strategically.
3 Systems to Fast Track Business Growth and Boost Finances
Three systems.
That’s all you need to manage finances and propel your business growth...that sounds simple enough, right?
In theory, yes. However, one thing I’ve learned during my years as a CFO for growing companies is that numbers and financial decisions can feel incredibly stressful and complicated.
How to use a Cash Flow Forecast to Control Spending and Boost Profit
Too often, business owners become the victim of poor cash planning or “swiss cheese” style of cash management -- letting cash leak out of the business simply by not paying enough attention to expenses. In fact, 82% of businesses fail because of cash flow problems (according to a US Bank study,).
Being proactive and strategic in managing cash is critical to your business success. And the best way to do that is to start by crafting a detailed cash flow plan.
3 Steps to Craft a Flexible Financial Plan for Your Business
Business financial plans usually start with recent history and use a trend line to predict the future. For most companies, it's impossible to use 2020 revenue to predict reasonable sales or revenue growth for 2021. Still, when life and business are full of uncertainty; having a map of where you want to go and how you plan to get there is a critical tool.
So yes, in 2021, you can and should create a 12-month forecast to plot out a full year of what you think can or will happen. But, don’t treat it like a fixed business budget and try to make it 100% correct.
Instead, acknowledge something that has always been true:
Today’s forecast can’t fully predict next month’s challenges.
Where's the Money?
When cash is tight, seeing profit on your P&L does not feel like the truth you are living — because profit is not cash. There are dozens of places where your Balance Sheet is connected to your P&L. This post covers the top five.