Business New Year's Resolutions

Business New Year’s Resolutions

New Year’s resolutions are easy to make; the hard part is sticking with them. Business New Year’s resolutions are no different.

Here are our tips to freshen up your business and renew your enthusiasm for getting your business into shape.

Review your budget – have you stuck to it so far?

Of course you did your business budget back when the financial year started in July, but have you looked at it since? Usually a budget will have considered the changes you wish to make, the KPI’s you wanted to achieve, and targets which aid you in achieving the goal you’ve set.

Now is the time to look at how you’re actually travelling, and make any adjustments to what you are doing so that you can build on wins or help turn around any losses.

Check health of cash flow – do you need to plan ahead?

December, January & February are often the months that cause a heavy toll on business cash flow. Generally staff enjoy celebrations and time off so cash flow feels the extra pressure of holiday payments, bonuses, entertainment, as well as all the usual expenses like GST, PAYG, and superannuation outflows.

You may be lucky enough to be in an industry which is at it’s highest cash flow inflows at this time, and if not, you had to plan for it (and may still be doing so). Many of our clients have separate bank accounts where they park cash regularly to cover GST, PAYG, and superannuation so they’re not caught short when these payments are due.

Improve your understanding of your own numbers

We strongly recommend that you learn to understand your Balance Sheet as well as your Profit & Loss Statement (P&L). Your business is much more than the money you have in your bank account, and ideally business decisions should not be based on cash flow alone.

All your assets, liabilities & equity play a part in making smart strategic decisions, and it’s so important you have the knowledge to check information on these pieces of paper is accurate before you commit yourself to a course of action.

Get your time back

You may have asked yourself “where did last year go?”. We did too. Many businesses are now taking advantage of new technology and online solutions to make routine tasks quick & easy. The result is that transactions & decisions taking place in the world around you are speeding up, whether or not you join in. Your competitors probably already are.

Give yourself back the time to focus on what will let you achieve your budget & cash flow targets. Avoid the pressure cooker from being out of control.

You may have balked at the cost of an online solution in the past; however, the true cost of not automating is probably much higher. Now is the time to check in on whether you should look at an online accounting solution like Xero which links in to so many apps to make your life simpler, cash flow faster and reporting more accurate.