Sep 27, 2023
(NC) Whether you’re running a small business or a household, high inflation and rising interest rates are causing many of us to feel concerned about our finances. While we can’t control inflation or interest rates, there are some steps we can take to help balance our books. Here are three.
Monitor your money
Whether you’re tracking your personal finances or those of your business, it’s essential to create a budget to monitor your income and outgoing costs.
Start by listing all your annual expenses. This includes fixed costs, such as your mortgage or rent, insurance and any professional fees or licences, plus all the variable costs, which include things like utility bills and groceries. Next, list all sources of after-tax income. If your expenses exceed your income, you’ll have to look for areas to cut back.
In some cases, a business may need to operate at a loss. In that situation, you’ll need a loan or other source of funding to cover the costs. But that’s not a sustainable model for the long term.
Automate bill payments
Your home and office both rely on a variety of service providers to function, from power and water to the internet and phone lines. And each of those comes with a recurring bill. If you miss a bill payment, you’ll be charged interest and a late-payment fee. Avoid these extra costs by setting up auto payments for all your bills.
Note that if you do miss a payment by mistake, it’s worth contacting your provider to see if they’ll waive the penalties for the one-time oversight.
Invest in accounting software
Do you find tracking all your expenses, receipts and income to be a laborious, time-consuming task? You’re not alone. That’s why many people, especially small business owners, invest in technology to streamline their accounting processes. With a cloud-based platform, such as FreshBooks, you can automate your business’ invoicing, collect payments and automate how your business expenses are categorized.
Platforms like these can also be used for project management, time tracking and more. Plus, since they’re cloud-based, everything is automatically backed up.
Learn more about cloud-based accounting at https://freshbooks.com.