A Good Business Financial Plan is Your Secret Weapon

Basically it's a document that contains the financial particulars of a company & generally includes the following sections:

- A balance sheet
- A cash flow statement
- An income statement

Your company financial plan is one of the most effective instruments for ascertaining whether a business model is workable. It's 'the plan' encompassing all the present financial issues as well as future predictions for the business. It's what you revert to when things go wrong and when thing go right.

It can be used

AN EFFECTIVE FINANCIAL OUTLINE SHOULD INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING DETAILS...

- Start up costs
- Operational costs
- Cash inflow
- Other relevant information

WHEN IT COMES TO FINANCING A BUSINESS, THERE ARE OPTIONS...

Option #1 - For a small home operated business, you personal savings my be enough to start up a business. You may wish to think about keeping some funds in an emergency account, just in case.

Option #2 - If you're short of cash you could approach family members or close friends and ask them if they can help. But do, think it through thoroughly.

If you're not absolutely sure that the business is a winner, perhaps you're better off not borrowing from your near and dear ones. It's happened many times, good relationships destroyed over money.

Option #3 - You can turn to the banks or credit unions for finance.

Generally this involves a meeting with the bank manager where you can explain your business financial plan and try to convince him that your business idea is a clear winner and there's no doubt that you'll be able to repay the borrowings without a problem.

Option #4 - You may wish to look for investors to finance your business. Attracting backing from a third party will be difficult and to be successful you'll require a rock solid business plan and be able to 'sell' your dream in such a way that it's irresistible.

Being able to read & comprehend complex business documents is a valuable skill to have. We all know that, in business, the paperwork in the most boring part and we can usually discover something more interesting to do.

A detailed business financial plan is possibly THE MOST important document of the many that are required to kick-off a new business venture or to fund growth for an established company.

Understanding business documents is an extremely important issue when running a business but there are more important issues ahead not the least of which is attracting new customers.

How to Pick Small Business Financial Software - 3 Sure-Fire Ways to Pick What's Best For You

Small business financial software plays a vital role in the operations of an organization especially the small enterprises. This is where you get the opportunity to keep the record of all the financial activities that are occurring in your organization. It not only helps you to track the various events that have happened in the business but it also prevent you from any problems or nuances from the government officials that may include both stakeholders and non- stakeholders. The small business financial software assists you in managing, controlling and monitoring your business in an effective and efficient manner. The question that lies is how it is possible to select the software that is right for your small business?

What do you basically need for your Business?

There are numerous small business financial softwares in the market that have multiple features in them. On top of it, the seller's main aim would be to sell the software that has more features and is higher in price and profit. Purchasing such softwares mean you are creating a problem for yourself. Small business financial softwares loaded with added features are complex in nature and takes time to learn. The task in your business needs a software that can simplify and speed up the task in less time. As a result, implementing complex softwares for the task would create more problems than actually solving it. Therefore, it is incumbent on the buyer/small enterprise to determine in advance the nature of the task in order to buy the software accordingly.

Is there a standard solution provided by each financial software?

Huge and credible companies are offering softwares in hundreds and thousands of quantities around the world. They may include Microsoft, Quicken, Peachtree and various other companies. The small business financial softwares provided by these companies are established brands as their solution are recognized across the globe. In addition, these companies have experts and specialists who are ready to offer you their services should you confront any sort of problem in the software. Hence, it is wise to buy software that has credibility in the context of established company with the good after sales service.

Is Small Business Financial Software has upgrade option?

It has been discussed earlier that it is good to buy the simple software so that it is easier to learn the software in less time. However, it is also vital that the small business financial software that you have purchased should have the option of upgrading. This is because the world is changing at a rapid pace. The system incorporated in the business should be flexible enough to accommodate any vital change. Similarly, the software should have the flexibility option to get into other modes if any new task crop up. It gives an advantage to the business by not making huge changes in the software or purchasing entirely new one.

Thus, when buying small business financial software, the above factors need to be kept in mind in order to have the right product for your business.

Small Business Financial Software

Starting a new business takes a lot of effort. Part of that ongoing effort will be tracking the income and expenses generated by the small business. There are many small business financial software products capable of meeting your needs. Deciding on the best solution for your small business is the goal of this article.

It is important to determine the financial accounting needs of your small business when looking for software. Depending upon the type of business that you operate, the following functionality needs to be considered:

• Track Customers and Sales
• Invoice Customers
• Manage Inventory
• Process Credit Cards
• Create Budgets
• Perform Payroll Functions
• Business Tax Reporting
• Paying Bills

Most of your time will be spent entering data into your business accounting software solution. An important consideration is the bank that you do business with. Most provide data feeds, verify that their format can be uploaded into your financial accounting software. This can save you hours of effort.

With hard work and determination, your business will grow over time. Pick an accounting software solution that will grow with the business and meet your needs in the future. This can be accomplished by selecting a product with an upgrade path with more options or a product that you can add modules to later.

Their are accounting solutions that are available online using a web browser or by installing and using on a computer. If you will be out of the office for long periods of time, an online solution may be a better choice.

Depending upon the structure of your business, taxes can take lot of time on an ongoing basis. Does the software help generate tax forms that need to be filed on a monthly or quarterly basis. At the end of year tax time, can you create an extract that can be pulled into your tax software. Or if you use an accountant, does the software allow you to create an accountant copy for the accountant? Tax time is stressful enough, these features can be a great time saver.

As your business grows, it may be necessary to allow additional users to enter information or perform other tasks to bill clients etc. Does the software allow you to restrict the access for users? Some users may need access to all functions while others will only need limited functionality.

Talk to people in a similar business to find out what small business financial software they use to track their business. Ask them about the features that save time, what needs improvement and if any are missing. Most likely you will not find a software solution that is perfect, but you will be able determine the software that best meets your small business needs.

Some final considerations to make:

• Will you need support? Check into the support options of the accounting software and estimate any additional costs that may be incurred.
• Do not pay for features that will not be needed.

Free trials are the best way to check out the financial software. Trials are short and usually limited to 30 or 60 days, go through the list above to determine your needs and come up with a plan to test the functionality to decide on the best small business financial software that meets your needs.

Business Financial Planning - A Helping Hand

If you're a small business owner, then you already know that just about everything you've been taught about your business financial planning is a bunch of garbage. Yes, I called it garbage because it's not designed to help you build wealth...

So here's the truth...

Nearly everything being taught about business financial planning in the marketplace, on TV, and in print is designed for one purpose - to separate you from your money and to get it into their company's control.

Because you own a small business you already understand how to make money, but if you're like so many others - you're not exactly sure what you should be doing in terms of investing for the future, getting a reliable return on your money, or how to structure your overall financial plan in a way that optimizes your cash flow.

So what should you do?

Who should you trust?

Those are both important questions, and I'm going to help you with how to find the answer... but I'm going to warn you in advance that it means that you're going to have to think for yourself.

The first rule of business financial planning is that no one cares about your money or success as much as you do. Period. It's just the same as acknowledging that no one else cares about the success of your business as much as you do.

It's not that they are bad people or bad advisers, it's just that they care more about their own bottom line than they do yours... it's human nature.

That means that you're going to have to be accountable for your own money and you can't just turn it over to a so called "Financial Expert" and trust that they are going to take as good a care of your money as you do... It just doesn't work that way and if you need proof, look at the American public.

The majority of them have put money away in investments and followed the mainstream advice about how to grow wealth, but reality is showing that this hasn't worked for most people and the majority of them are relying on dwindling savings & social security to help them scrape by...

This is what happens to most people when they don't take responsibility of their own success - and it doesn't have to happen to you...

So, now that we've established that you can't delegate growing your wealth, the next question you need to answer is this...

Does it make more sense to invest your time, money, and resources into something that you understand really well, or something that you don't really understand? If you agree that investing in things you understand makes more sense then look at what you've done up to this point...

Do you know where your money is invested?

Do you understand how those investments work?

If not, it may be time to reconsider where you're putting all of your resources.

The next question is similar... Does it make more sense to invest in things where you have control of your money, or to invest in things that are out of your control?

That means "Can you effect the outcome of your investments?" or "If things started to go wrong, could you do anything about it?" or "In the case of an emergency, do you have access to your own money?"

If you agree that no one will take as good a care of your personal finances as you will, then it's clear that investing those hard earned dollars into things where you have control also makes sense.

These are just few considerations when learning business personal finances, but where do you go from here?

The next step is for you to invest in yourself and your understanding of how to build and manage your finances in the same way that you've invested in learning how to make your business successful.

Begin thinking for yourself, take the time to learn the skills involved in how to manage and invest your money properly, and you'll begin to see the world of personal finances for you as a small business owner change for the better.

Art to Manage Business Financial Management and Personal Finance

Both a business and families could go into bankruptcy without ever knowing just how much was stolen! A business should never mind wasting your energy putting up security guards at counters. They may cost you much more in discouraging customers buying than you think. And they fail to stop the shoplifter who counts: the professional.

Real pros scoff at physical safeguards which appear to be obstacles. They have been known to get away with goods from closed glass cases when they concentrated on it! Just be sure that you are not wasting your time trying to stop customer petty pilferage while your "faithful" cash-handler may be putting every other dollar of profit into his or her pocket; all the while smiling right at you!

This is a distinct possibility. Ask any detective or insurance man to tell you how often this occurs. The experienced day-to-day money handler becomes so adept at cheating the register and the employer that he will often turn to interesting sidelines, such as cheating the customer in order to enlarge his total take!

Bear this in mind constantly: most money is lost by American business not through shoplifting, not even through inventory pilferage, but through the combined carelessness and crookedness of the semi-managerial and financial officers of the businesses. Leaving aside the question of carelessness for the moment (though it accounts for almost as much as plain thievery), you simply must not be taken in by the "appearance" of new employees or old.

Don't ever hire anyone because you "like" him. Such a method of hiring is invariably wrong. Check thoroughly into the person's background, looking particularly for proof of honesty. Whatever you do, do not attempt to interpret the day-to-day happenings of the business world in the light of a Pollyanna philosophy that all is well. It certainly is not when it comes to handling money. Dishonesty in money handling and financial management is deep in American life.

This goes for business financial management and personal finance. You must watch where the money flows and goes to keep cash in a positive position.