How’s Your Business Forecast?

As a small business owner you probably employ either a bookkeeper or an accountant to keep track of your business’ past performance. This way you have the ability to forecast for the future of your business for the next month, quarter, or even the next year, so that you might know what to expect.

It’s important that you know your cash flow, what investments you should make, and distributions that you should take, so you can build a stronger financial foundation. When a business is first starting out they may hire a bookkeeper to handle the financial books. business forecasting However, once you have at least 10 employees, it may be time to hire and experienced CPA to assist you with the business cash flow and regular monthly forecasting.

As your business grows you will hire even more employees. At this time you may want to consider hiring a part time CFO to assist your business with the cash flow and forecasting on a weekly basis to protect the business financial health.

Your forecasting should not just focus on past balance sheets, but the effect it will have on future balance sheets. So, if you’re looking for a true forecast, you need to take into account your expenses and revenue as well as other fundamentals such as:

Future liquid cash.
Capital purchases needed in the future.
Future expenses such as: marketing and travel.
Accounts receivable. Customers that owe your money and their payment terms.
Accounts payable. Vendors that owe you money and payment terms.
Long and short term debt pay off.
Cash to pay quarterly taxes.

Don’t hold your business back. It’s time to start building a stronger financial foundation. When you forecast your balance sheets it helps you make timely adjustments and develop a better understanding of your business. At the end of the day, what actually matters is the financial health of your business.