​Revenue is vanity, Profit is sanity, Cash flow is reality

Managing Your Cash Flow

They often say cash flow is king and well there quite right. It’s nice to have profit but cash flow is what will make or break your business. With the Pandemic causing chaos in the business world managing your cash flow is now more important than ever.

First off, cashflow often gets confused for profit, yet it’s a little bit different.

Profit – cash left over once your expenses from your sales revenue has been taken out.

Cashflow – Cash that flows in and out of your business and not into your pocket. Cash flow is used to cover your expenses, both current and future. It’s what grows your business.           

What’s the secret to managing your cashflow?

Books – Make sure your records are up to date. Record all your cash flow information regularly. This is a big must as you need to know if you have more expenses than income or if you have enough cashflow happening to buy supplies. Setting up your bookkeeping and taking care of it regularly means you can check your not only your cash flow but your complete financial state at any time.

Cash flow forecast – Sounds intimidating I know. Simply put this an estimation of the amount of money you expect to flow in and out of your business. By forecasting your cash flow you have the chance to identify any potential or current issues before they turn into major ones.

What a forecast can tell you:

• Projected starting account balance

• Predicted income

• Estimated outgoings, e.g., bills, salaries, raw materials

• Projected ending account balance

• Any money left over

Don’t Forget the Tax Man – Tax sneaks up on you if you are not prepared. Make sure you work this into your forecast.

• Opening bank balance

• Cash receipts

• Cash payments

• Closing bank balance

• Surpluses and shortfalls in receipts over payments

Customers - Useful to have for every business. Invoices, a necessary customer payment prompt. Having a strategy will help make creating and sending invoices easier. Set up a system that works for you. How? Here are a few pointers:

• Use templates already created for invoices

• Use an online billing software. Have a look at Xero for more info on this

• Link invoices to quotes

• Track all your materials and time on jobs better

• Have a process in place for late payment. Don’t be afraid to chase these up.

Keep it separate – Don’t mix your personal and business finances together. Tempting I know. This will make it much harder to work out what your cash flow is. Also gives you a false cash flow forecast. Set up your pay properly so you can pay yourself, any excess cash can then be identified easier and used to grow your business.

Set up a cash reserve   - Is there a certain time of year where you struggle to pay bills? Save for that rainy day.  Start building up a cash reserve now, so you're prepared. Yes, it may mean cutting back a bit for now on what you may pay yourself, but it will be worth it to have that cash reserve.

Bonus too, if any unexpected events arise, for example COVID, you will have a little bit of cash to help you out. Plus watching the cash reserve grow will help build your confidence and strengthen finances.

Need an extra hand?

Business stuff can be complex, so if in doubt ask us for help that’s why we’re here.