Business Finance Articles

As a small-business owner, it’s up to you to make sure your company has the financial wherewithal to stay afloat, the resources to achieve your business goals and the reserves to fund growth - next week, next month and next year. This requires planning, analysis and a good cash flow budget.
A cash flow budget, also [...]

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For a solopreneur, entrepreneur or small-business owner, having a good bookkeeper is just as important as having a good accountant. One is no substitute for the other.
Generally, a bookkeeper is responsible for recording financial transactions, including sales, purchases, receipts and payments, into a general ledger. Other bookkeeping tasks may include monitoring cash flow, paying bills [...]

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It’s a common lament among small-business owners and solopreneurs: “If I’m making so much money, why am I always broke?”
The problem often boils down to the difference between net income and cash flow.
Net income is the bottom line, or the profit or loss that is recorded on your income statement after accounting for all business [...]

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Depreciation is an income tax deduction that lets you recover the cost of certain property. To qualify as a depreciation deduction, property must meet the following criteria:

You must own the property.
You must use the property in business or in an income-producing activity.
The property must have a useful life of more than one year.

Most types of [...]

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The following is a glossary of some commonly used accounting and bookkeeping terms:
Accruals: Charges that are incurred and increase even though an invoice has not been received. An example is interest that accrues before you receive a bank statement.
Amortization: The depreciation of an intangible asset such as a loan or mortgage over a fixed period [...]

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By measuring and tracking key metrics, you can determine your marketing return on investment and link your efforts to bottom-line goals such as income and revenue. Following are some key marketing metrics that matter:
Leads Generated: Keeping track of the number of leads generated and the source of those leads helps you allocate marketing resources effectively.
Leads [...]

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Small-business owners must understand the differences between fixed and variable expenses and how they affect a company’s success.
All business expenses can be categorized as either fixed expenses or variable expenses.
Fixed expenses must be paid no matter how many goods or services you offer for sale.
But just because you cannot immediately change your fixed costs doesn’t [...]

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A balance sheet - or statement of financial position - is a summary of your business’s financial condition at a given point in time. It lists your company’s assets, liabilities and owner’s equity. The balance sheet is one of four basic financial statements and is often described as a snapshot of a company’s financial condition.
The [...]

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Many microenterprises and solopreneurs believe they are too small to need a working budget.
Some start-up owners who are busy launching their operations think it’s a waste to spend time developing one.
And some small and medium-sized enterprise owners reason: “It’s just a shot in the dark, anyway.”
But no matter how small or entrepreneurial your business, you [...]

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Reconciling accounts is the process of verifying that your financial records are accurate and that your books are consistent with what your bank statement shows. You should reconcile your accounts every month to stay on top of cash flow and to avoid any nasty surprises from your bank. The following tips might make the process [...]

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