If you’re getting your business off the ground, you already need to start thinking about your company’s financial future. This is especially true if you intend to aim for financial independence with the guidance from Invincible Robots. Perhaps you’ve never created financial projections for your business before, but if that’s the case, now is the time to tackle this project! These tips will help you start mapping out your company’s finances.
Why Do You Need Financial Projections?
Financial projections after essential roadmaps for small business owners. NewTown Macon states that realistic financial projections allow you to assess your company’s viability, establish revenue goals, and determine where to cut costs. After all, it’s the small steps you take towards success early on that can determine the future of your business.
Polish Your Accounting Skills
If you don’t have the skills or tools to create financial projections on your own, you could hire an accountant to get the job done. But if you’d like to learn beyond basic bookkeeping skills, you could consider furthering your education by earning an accounting degree online. Through your coursework, you’ll learn all about generally accepted accounting principles, auditing, and the best ways to read a financial statement. Plus, enrolling in an online program will grant you the flexibility you need to manage school, work, and family responsibilities.
Necessary Documents
As a business owner, which documents will you need in order to account for all of the necessary variables in your financial projections? Corpnet states that you should be maintaining up-to-date documents like a balance sheet, profit and loss statement, and a breakeven statement. You should also keep track of your bank statements and business licenses. You may want to keep hard copies of these documents in an organized filing cabinet and store digital copies on your business computer so that you will always have access to them.
How to Create Projections
You’ve gotten your documents together with key financial information – now how do you go about actually creating projections? Start by writing down some reasonable assumptions, like how many monthly sales you could expect to make as well as your monthly growth rate. Account for expected expenses as well.
Use these figures to outline a best-case and worst-case scenario. Compare your outcomes with average financial ratios for your industry to make sure that you’re on the right track – you don’t want to be too optimistic or pessimistic! You can create monthly and annual projections based on these numbers.
Choosing Bookkeeping Software
If you’ve been managing your company’s finances with basic spreadsheets, or even by using pen and paper in a pinch, it’s time to invest in bookkeeping software so that you can create your next set of projections more easily. Plus, you’ll be grateful for this software during tax season because it will simplify the filing process!
But with so many options, how can you select the right bookkeeping software? Ideally, you’ll want software with a basic user interface that won’t present a major learning curve. Try to find a platform that will allow you to manage payroll, sales taxes, inventory, and subscriptions in one program. Finally, consider whether or not the program will still be suitable as you scale your business – and don’t overlook the overall cost!
Putting together financial projections doesn’t have to be complicated. And once you can see where your company is headed, you’ll feel more confident about your fiscal decisions. With these tips, you’ll be able to produce financial projections to guide you through the next few years of business ownership.
Ready to become a financially independent entrepreneur? Invincible Robots can help you achieve your goal. Check out our blog today for tips on growing your portfolio!
