Regardless of the size of your organization, you can’t ignore sound financial management. Solid financial management acts as the cornerstone of all successful businesses. Lack of solid financial management can cripple even the most lucrative businesses.
Studies show that 90% of startups fail, while 10% will fail within the first year. According to Statista, 38% of businesses fail due to a lack of finances rather than poor products or services.
So, it’s essential to have significant financial decisions when starting your business. Keep in mind that there is no period of settling in.
Many small business owners may have experience in business management expertise or good financial literacy, but they’re total amateurs.
Access to essential tools can help you navigate critical initial decisions and predict financial duties.
If you have minimal experience in business finance, this comprehensive guide to managing small business finances is a gem. This is a guide for those who have been bold enough to pursue their ideas but need help with the finance sector. Let’s dive in!
1.Pay Company Taxes & Maximize Available Tax Benefits
Comprehending and complying with tax laws is another critical step in managing your business finances. After separating your accounts and understanding the basics of accounting, you don’t want to deal with hefty penalties for your business taxes.
Most small businesses find taxes one of their most challenging and tedious aspects. The penalties can be quite severe, as you might face criminal charges or lose your firm. Let’s explore some of the fundamentals of paying business taxes:
- Exercise tax: Is often levied on organizations with huge fuel consumption. Indoor tanning and archery equipment, among others, are some businesses that enjoy levies on exercise taxes.
- Income taxes: These are referred to as pay-as-you-go for businesses. You must submit annual income tax returns based on your earnings as a business.
- Self-employment tax: is essentially the same as the withholding tax imposed on wage earners. The self-employment tax is how you pay for social security and Medicare benefits.
- Employment taxes: Having a staff means your company has more tax obligations. Their Social Security and Medicare taxes, federal income tax withholding, and unemployment tax will all be on you.
There are various tax benefits for small, medium, and large companies based on their locations. In Europe, you can leverage the services of Malta and Monaco as they specialize in tailoring their services and solutions to all types of companies.
However, you must follow due diligence when registering your company in these jurisdictions to enjoy maximum tax benefits. So, engage Malta Company Formation agents for expert guidance while setting up a private, public, or holding company in Malta or any other region that offers tax benefits.
The goal is to avoid any tax-related legal battles while exploring options to maximize your tax benefits and increase your turnover.
2.Keep Separate Your Business and Personal Finances
If you want to produce disorganized financial records, then you can start by mixing personal and business finances. Besides, keeping track of the money coming in and going out will be complicated. Also, it’s dangerous as it can lead to overspending as you might use your personal finances in your business and vice versa.
Therefore, before starting your business, separate the two accounts. This step is critical as it’s crucial for organizational and tax costs.
Adopting this method helps simplify your bookkeeping management and the requirements for business taxes. Also, separating the two accounts has significant legal repercussions.
In the event of any legal issues with your business, you can be confident that your personal finances are well protected. So, it’s essential to have clear boundaries between your personal and business accounts for eventualities.
3.Understand the Basics of Business Accounting
A basic understanding of business accounting is crucial for managing your company’s finances. Most people with no accounting knowledge find it overwhelming to learn the basics of accounting concepts. That’s understandable, but the good news is it isn’t that difficult.
Also, having a deeper understanding of these basics is essential as you will have clarity of how accounting affects your business finances. As a result, this makes it easier for you to choose the best accounting program or hire an expert.
When running a business, you can’t afford to run away from the tedious bookkeeping, filing tax returns, and accounting chores.
All these are essential as they help keep your company safe from tax compliance fines. Moreover, you’ll be able to produce useful information to help your company succeed. Understanding these essential terms will change the game for you:
Bookkeeping
One of the administrative tasks of an organization is bookkeeping. Keeping daily records help to streamline finances.
The tasks entail duties including but not limited to creating and sending invoices, tracking your spending, keeping tabs on your monthly bills, and paying staff.
Gross Revenue (Total Revenue)
The whole amount you collect from clients after a complete purchase of revenue is your gross revenue. Remember that this is before excluding expenses (such as taxes, rent, cost of goods sold, etc.).
Expenses
Expenses are all the things that prevent your gross revenue from getting directly to your bank. Examples of expenses include loan interest, rent, utilities, payroll, material costs, taxes, costs for sold goods, and other operating costs.
Net Profit
You get your net profit when you deduct your expenses from your gross revenue. Often, entrepreneurs refer to it as the bottom line, net income, or net earnings.
A positive figure is a good indication that your organization is profitable. This is because your gross revenue exceeds your expenses.
Cashflow
Aside from profitability, cash on hand can determine your business’s success. It doesn’t matter how lucrative your business is; without enough money in your account to cover petty expenses, it may harm your company.
The difference you get after deducting cash from the start of an accounting period and the end is your cash flow. The money flows in from sales, investments, the sale of assets, and loan proceeds. Then it flows to cover operating and direct expenses, buying new assets, and principal debt service.
4.Optimize Your Payroll Process
Streamlining your payroll process is essential to maintaining a consistent cash flow. Investing in the right payroll structure will ensure that your employees’ salaries are promptly transferred into their accounts.
Direct deposits are life-saving, as they help your organization manage cash flows. They help to eliminate inconsistent deposits of checks by the employees, leading to disruptions in cash flows.
Besides, they prevent you from accessing the cash in your account as it’s for the outstanding checks.
Key Takeaway
These are some critical but straightforward methods for managing small business finances. This guide will help you maintain efficient business operations.
As a small business owner, you constantly feel overwhelmed with the other aspects of running your company. Ensure your finances are well streamlined to enhance the growth prospects for your business.
Lack of tax compliance can also harm your business. Lack of funding or lengthy regulatory procedures will stall your business. Engage with experts to help you register your company, deal with tax obligations, bookkeeping, etc.