Tracking your income and expenses, invoicing, paying yourself, time tracking, client management, sales management, and document management are all important parts of running a successful business. But what happens when your current system isn’t working for you? In this blog post, we’ll take a look at what isn’t working in your system and how you can change it to make your life easier. 

1. What isn’t working in your system? 

If you’re finding that your current business finance system isn’t working for you, it’s important to take a step back and figure out what isn’t working. Is it that you’re not tracking your income and expenses accurately? Do you have trouble invoicing clients? Are you spending too much time on administrative tasks? Once you’ve identified the problem areas, you can start to look for solutions.

2. What would make your life easier? 

Think about what would make your life easier when it comes to business finance. Would an automated system that tracks your income and expenses be helpful? Would being able to quickly generate invoices save you time? Would having a central place to manage all of your documents be helpful? Identifying the pain points in your current system will help you find the solutions that will make your life easier.

3. What are you unwilling to change? 

There’s no doubt that making changes to your business finance system can be daunting. But if you’re finding that your current system just isn’t working, sometimes change is necessary. That being said, there may be some aspects of your current system that you’re unwilling to part with. Perhaps you’ve developed a good relationship with your accountant and don’t want to switch to a new one. Or maybe you’re comfortable with the way things are and don’t want to rock the boat. Whatever the case may be, there may be some changes that you’re just not willing to make. And that’s OK! Identifying what those changes are will help you focus on the ones that are most important to you.

To help go through of 7 areas of Financial System here question to ask about each one:

Income &  Expense Tracking

How do you currently keep track of your revenue and income streams? 

How do you keep track of your business expenses?

How do you ensure the information is up to date and accurate?

What tools or software do you use? 

How often do you track this info? 

How do you review this info?

Invoicing

How do you bill your clients? 

How do you collect payments for invoices? 

How do you ensure on-time payments? 

How do you track overdue/late invoices? 

How do you follow up with late invoices?

Financial Self Care

How do you pay yourself? 

How do you save in your business? 

How do you pay off debt?

How do you track your budget vs actual spending? 

How do you ensure you have enough money to pay your bills?

Time Tracking

How do you track your billable and non-billable time?

How do you transfer this time to your invoice?

How do you mark time as billed? 

How do you ensure the accuracy of your billable time?

Client Management

How do you communicate with your clients?

How do you send your clients estimates, proposals, and contracts? 

How do you collect information from your clients? 

How do you schedule with your clients? 

How do you track projects and or sales per client?

Sale Management

How do you collect payment for your products and services? 

What payment processors do you use? 

How do you deliver products/services? 

How do you follow up on sales? 

How do you process refunds?

Document Management

How do you store digital and physical receipts? 

How do you process financial documents you receive via mail?

How do you process bills and payments to contractors? 

How do you store documents needed for your taxes?

Making changes to your business finance system can be daunting, but if your current system isn’t working, sometimes change is necessary. Figure out what isn’t working in your system, what would make your life easier, and what changes you’re unwilling to make. Then, focus on making the changes that are most important to you. With a little effort, you can develop a business finance system that works for you! If you need a Bookkeeping Coach to help walk through this process schedule free consultation to see how we can help you.