Five Tools to Help You Manage Your LNC Business Finances
Managing your LNC business finances is one of the most important factors in running a business. You can’t have a profitable LNC business if you have poor money management. Not managing your cash flow and responsibilities correctly can cause the failure of your business.
Just yesterday I heard a financial planner discuss how his business failed. When he fired his major client, he ran into cash flow issues, and started paying his bills with his American Express card. Pretty soon he could only pay the interest, not the principal, on the card, then he could not even afford the interest. He recovered from that financial disaster and now helps small to medium size businesses manage their businesses in a much more fiscally prudent way.
I could empathize with him. In the 1980s before I became an LNC my husband and I came VERY close to having to declare bankruptcy. I don’t want to see anyone go through that.
Five Tools to Help Manage Your LNC Business Finances
1. GoDaddy Bookkeeping
This bookkeeping app does a lot more than bookkeeping. It’s a single entry system that works fine for small business owners. The system also offers tax information and reports, including the ability to print out a Schedule C for US taxes.
GoDaddy has recently added more features, including invoicing and timekeeping features. This all-in-one system is worth looking into, especially if you’re looking for something user-friendly. Check it out here.
2 FreshBooks
While FreshBooks is an accounting app, it’s an invoicing application with some project management features such as teams and time tracking, as well as the ability for clients to sign in and look at what’s happening with their time, and more. To get full accounting features you’ll have to export to QuickBooks.
There are a variety of third-party apps you can connect to it, too. What really makes it stand out is how simple it is to understand and use. Learn more here.
3. Shoeboxed
Every small business owner needs to keep track of receipts for tax time. It’s one of the hardest things to keep organized. You would not believe the number of people who go to the accountant with their receipts in a shoe box.
If you are one of them, you risk missing out on deductions you know you deserve without proof and then risk losing that deduction in an audit.
Shoeboxed lets you keep your receipts organized better without the worry of them being lost. Check it out here.
4. PayPal
Most people are very comfortable paying with PayPal. PayPal offers payment methods that are easy to use, respected, accepted, and provide the customer with options. Payments can be made via PayPal, or they can pay via credit card if you have PayPal for Business. Learn more here.
5. QuickBooks
No discussion of managing business finances can leave out QuickBooks, often thought of as the gold standard of accounting and financial management software for business. Today, you can use QuickBooks Online for less than $10.00 per month and it has all the bells and whistles that you could want for small micro-businesses to super-large corporations. Their tutorials are extremely helpful and the learning curve is not as steep as you may think. Learn more about Quickbooks here.
In addition to finding the right tools to help you manage your business finances, it’s important to learn the basics about small business finances. You may choose to hire a professional CPA to help. After all, it’s your signature and business on the line if something goes wrong. The bottom line is the longer you put it off, the worse it will get. Don’t do that to yourself!
Today you can work with a bookkeeper anywhere in the U.S. Pick someone with whom you feel comfortable and is a good communicator. Get control of your finances and sleep better at night.
Pat Iyer is president of The Pat Iyer Group, which develops resources to assist LNCs to obtain more clients, make more money, and achieve their business goals and dreams.
Pat’s related websites include the continuing education provided on LNCEU.com, the podcasts broadcast at podcast.legalnursebusiness.com, and writing tips supplied at patiyer.com.