3 Tips to Better Handle Your Business Finances

Many small business owners and freelancers might be excellent at their craft. They offer great products and services. They may even be able to sell them well too. However, when it comes to the most basic financial aspects of their business, they sometimes fall short. Here are some tips to make handling your business finances easier.

1. Let your bank do the heavy lifting

Tom Diem, CFP® and President of Diem Wealth Management believes how you set up your banking is key when it comes to staying organized. He keeps a separate credit card and checking account for business expenses. He says, "I am able to track my spending for whatever period of time I choose and can save PDF files in cloud storage." If you prefer a physical copy, you can print out what you need as well. Diem adds that it's all accessible through your bank. If you're not sure how to go about getting the information, many banks have people to guide you through the process.

2. Capture receipts

When it comes to staying on top of business expenses and saving receipts, President and Wealth Advisor Peter Huminski of Thoriumwealth.com believes Shoeboxed is great for storing and keeping track of them. It helps you stay on top of business expenses and saves receipts in a digital format. He explains, "When it comes time to reconcile the books in Quickbooks, it can be done quickly and with relative ease." Hub Doc is another option for capturing receipts as well as recurring bills and expenses. It syncs to Quickbooks online and Xero accounting programs.

3. Tips for entering receipts

There are variety of ways to automate your expenses and receipts directly into your accounting software. Clint Haynes of Kansas City Financial Planner and President of Nextgen Wealth says, "One solution is to use an American Express credit card that will directly link up your debit or credit cards using Quicken and Expensify." However, if you're utilizing a spreadsheet that isn't connected to accounts, you'll have to manually enter receipts. If this is the case, he recommends entering them on a weekly basis rather than a monthly or quarterly one. Devote 30 minutes or so a week to take care of this. While it might seem hard at first, if you keep at it. It can become a well-oiled routine in no time.

The Bottom Line

While bookkeeping and handling other financial aspects of your business may not be the most glamorous part of your work, use the tips above to make it a little easier. This will help you streamline your bookkeeping, help your business run smoothly and you never know, it could bring out the inner financial geek in you.

(By Karen Cordaway)