Five Steps to Get Your Business Finances in Order Establishing solid corporate and accounting strategies from the start is critical when launching a business. Consider this advice to get off on the right financial foot.

You have a great business idea, and you're lining up the resources to make it a reality. But if you don't establish solid corporate and accounting strategies from the start, you could be putting your business in peril before you ever get off the ground, says Gail Rosen, a CPA in Martinsville, N.J.

"If you aren't capturing your deductions or you make a mistake because you didn't know you needed to pay a certain kind of tax or workers' compensation insurance, it can really get expensive," she says.