Smart Financial Moves

One of the least exciting things about starting a business is your business finances. Between figuring out complex tax questions to hiring a reliable bookkeeper, you could fill hours with all of these often-tedious tasks. While some money-related tasks aren’t as important as you may have been led to believe, others need to be addressed ASAP. Successful business owners recognize that business expense issues are always real fires that, in the end, consume more time to put out.

Unsure of how to best tackle your business finances? Montfichet & Company – Atlanta shares the following financial moves to help reduce your stress and anxiety.

Keep your business and personal finances separate

If you are currently your only employee, you may feel like there is no urgent need to separate your business and personal finances. However, this one move can do wonders for your short and long-term business goals. By maintaining separate bank accounts and credit cards, you’ll be able to quickly get a picture of how much money you are earning (and spending) on a daily basis. You’ll avoid sifting through your personal bank statements to calculate what you’ve made and be able to pay yourself exactly what you need. Over time, seeing your business earnings and expenses on one report will help you make better money-related decisions. It will also make tax time far easier.

Figure out how much you’ll owe in taxes

Now that you own a business, you won’t have an employer deducting your taxes from each paycheck. Instead, you will be solely responsible for knowing how much to deduct and what you will ultimately owe when it is time to file your taxes. Rather than waiting to pay your taxes in full upon filing, utilize the option of quarterly payments. You can access the information needed to calculate, and set up these quarterly payments directly to the IRS. Paying throughout the year will prevent the stress of owning an unknown amount of money. It will also reduce the risk of having to seek financing if you do not have the money to pay the lump sum.

Know what tax documents you need to prepare for the coming year

If you currently employ staff members and/or contractors who will be paid more than $600 this year, start researching the various tax documents that you’ll need to provide to them. In almost all cases, you will need to produce W-2s for employees and 1099 forms for your contractors/freelancers. To make this process easier, begin using a business tax software program that can generate these forms.

Form an LLC

Forming an LLC is a great way to reduce paperwork, get tax advantages, and protect your personal finances. With an LLC business structure, you cannot be held personally responsible for your business’s liabilities and debts. The process of forming an LLC is relatively quick and easy. Keep in mind that each state has its own regulations around forming an LLC, so check the rules in yours before moving ahead. If you’d rather not do the legwork on your own, you can avoid hefty lawyer fees by using a formation service.

Take out a loan if needed

Does your business need a bit of extra funding to hit the ground running? While you should always take debt seriously, Lendified notes that there’s no shame in taking out a business loan if you need one. Often, this is necessary to get the equipment, staff, and space you need to take your business to the next level. Before applying for a loan, work with a professional to ensure that the amount of financing and payment terms are wise for your current situation.

Adopt ongoing strategies

Moving forward, look for operational strategies that are smart financial moves. For example, on the public relations front, if a situation arises that jeopardizes your public image, hiring a PR strategist can be a huge help when it comes to not only saving face but saving existing clientele. In this case, you’ll want to do your due diligence upfront long before such an occurrence, so look into qualified and tenured PR agencies to have at the ready.

In addition to these recommendations, AARP suggests not being shy when it comes to asking for help when you need it. If you are ever unsure about anything related to your business’s finances, reaching out to a fellow business owner or a financial expert can save you headaches and frustration later on.

About Montfichet & Company – Atlanta

Atlanta Our team of experts Montfichet & Company – Atlanta can not only build your business website, but we can manage the process while allowing you to work in your business. We provide Industry research & market analysis to provide efficient content for the Website. We also partner with our sister company The Trusted Automation to help business owners or aspiring business owners and innovators obtain the training needed to push to deliver exceptional results.

If you found this article beneficial, feel free to leave a comment below. We are located at 3343 Peachtree Road Ste. 180-581 in Atlanta, Georgia. You can also email our team of experts directly at Atlanta@montfichet.com or contact us at 404-900-9814 for more information.