Learn About Managing Business Finances this National Financial Wellness Month

January is Financial Wellness Month, a time to gather ourselves and prepare our financial situation for the year ahead of us. It’s no wonder it takes place after December after all that spending during the holidays is done. Now is the time to take note of not only your individual financial wellness, but also your business’ finances. 

One option that we recommend is working with your regional Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Whether you are an entrepreneur who is just starting off or you own a small business, financial professionals can provide you with great advice on business essentials, such as budget creation and implementation, financial projection development, and cash flow management.

Tools and Technology for Business Accounting 

It’s important to consistently keep up with managing business finances on a monthly, weekly, and even daily basis. Over time, hiring a full-time accountant or CFO may become necessary. Thankfully, there are a number of technological applications available that have made managing business finances much simpler. We encourage business owners in the Heart of Texas to look into the following tools to help manage their company finances.

• Stay up to date on your business expenses with the Expensify app. Your business expenses no longer have to be manually entered into a system. They can quickly be uploaded and managed by connecting the app to the appropriate credit cards and debit cards.
• FreshBooks offers customizable invoicing features, the perfect tool for service-based companies. The app features cloud-based bookkeeping and integrates other financial software programs to help businesses streamline their daily operations.
• When it comes to managing payroll, taxes, and benefits for your business, Gusto is a useful app. The app can be used to ensure that nothing is missed during the onboarding process by reporting any new hires to the government. They also handle state and federal taxes and send digital pay stubs via email to employees. With Gusto, business owners can manage important company tasks from their phones when they are away from their computers. 
• QuickBooks is still commonly used for small business accounting as it syncs with your bank accounts to make certain financial tasks much simpler such as monthly bookkeeping, invoice management, and tracking vendor payments.
• Accept payments through the Square app! Business owners, salespeople, and employees can all take advantage of this app by taking payments using a card reader that plugs into a smartphone. This process improves cash flow, as opposed to sending invoices via snail mail and waiting for payment.
• Small businesses can also look into using Wave, an app that offers free accounting software. Wave makes accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning much easier and can include multiple businesses in just one account.
• Employees who have to wear multiple hats when working for a micro-business will enjoy the many benefits that Xero has to offer. Its cloud-based platform offers a mobile app, payroll integration with Gusto, and inventory management and cuts down the number of hours that would normally be spent working on these. 

As new technology continues to emerge, businesses can manage tasks more efficiently. However, speaking with an expert who knows a lot about the Heart of Texas economy still has many advantages. HOTCOG encourages small business owners to reach out to help organizations such as the SBA to help them manage their financial goals.