Though the days are getting shorter and the weather is taking a turn, there are some great revenue reasons to get excited about the next two months.
As we round the bend into Black Friday territory (which for many began at the end of October), it’s time to get nimble with your business plans. We all know the power of the holiday season for boosting sales — revenue-increasing opportunities abound. Even if your business isn’t centered on retail, are there offers you can create to capitalize on Black Friday?
Finding ways to boost your revenue should have you jumping on seasonal moments in addition to careful planning and execution of your business goals.
These decisions can make a big difference in your Ocean County business’s bottom line. So, let me ask you…
How many “Yeses” can you answer?
1) I have a financial statement for my business that’s no more than 30 days old.
2) I reviewed my financial statement with my bookkeeper or accountant within the last month to pinpoint the potential trouble spots and identify opportunities for increased cash flow.
3) I know exactly which products, departments, and services give me the highest ROI.
4) I have a year-end business strategy based on my figures to date.
5) I know how much cash I have and how much I will need next week.
The reason I ask you to consider these questions is that I have seen far too many businesses come to a sputtering halt because their decision-makers didn’t have clarity about what the numbers should be telling them… and what they should do as a result.
They were likely making one of these three very common accounting mistakes…
3 Fixable Financial Mistakes Sinking Your Ocean County Business
“Any idiot can face a crisis; it’s day to day living that wears you out.” – Anton Chekhov
These mistakes are common enough that most experienced accountants could fix many of them in their sleep (well, that’s not *exactly* true). And, sadly, they’re usually created by either inexperience on the part of the bookkeeper involved OR by lack of communication from the business owner.
Either way, here are common accounting mistakes, all of which we can help you clean up.
1. Expense Tracking (or the lack thereof)
Too many business owners pay for expenses out of their own personal funds. And it’s no surprise that they often don’t keep accurate records of these expenses as a result. This very much needs to change if that’s you.
Here’s why: Co-mingling business and personal funds not only leads to a muddled picture of your finances, but it could also leave you vulnerable in the event of an IRS audit (they really don’t like mixing business with personal stuff). If you avoid doing it in the first place, you’re setting yourself up well moving forward.
That aside, you need to maintain effective communication between your bookkeeper and the rest of your team, be it yourself, or other staff. Essentially, your bookkeeper needs to make sure that everything is coded properly, or you’ll be in some hot water.
2. Spending, Spending, Spending (Cash Controls)
Your business should have a monetary “line in the sand” every month, the crossing of which should set off little alarms. These can range from the sophisticated (multiple trigger points and consequences), to the very rudimentary act of simply budgeting for each month.
But the main point is that your ACCOUNTING system should show you the way on this — on a monthly basis.
3. Not Keeping Up To Date
Sure, it’s painful to have to reconcile and keep every expense entered on a monthly basis — which is why so many business owners don’t keep up with it (even when they’ve “outsourced” the task to a part-timer). The problem with playing continual catch-up is that problems AND opportunities are spotted too late.
For example, say you think one of your service or product lines is the most profitable … but circumstances have changed (whether expenses or other cost factors), and now a different item is most profitable. Well, if you’ve been pushing for what you *thought* was most profitable for six months and only now realize that you should have been pursuing a different strategy, that’s a bunch of time and money wasted.
In short, get a reliable South Jersey professional to help you with this stuff. (Ahem.)
Here to help you,
Kevin Duffy