Budget, Budget, What’s in a Working Business Budget?

Is Your Business Budget Up to Snuff?

We all know how hard it is to come up with a balanced budget.  However, to actually run a profitable business you need to use budgeting properly and have a working budget for good financial management.  Even having a workable budget in your personal lives is tough but it’s doable, so we just need to apply that to the business.

A “working budget” means that it’s a work in progress. It’s adjustable. You, the business owner, need to look at it every day. Follow it and make necessary adjustments.  Consider it your guide book.  A budget gives you the ability to know what dangers or opportunities may lie ahead. The SBA has a budget worksheet that can be downloaded for use or you can always just make your own.

If you’ve been running your business for a while, you have your financial data to use to formulate your budget.  If you’re just starting out it’s a little different.  You need to do some research on your competition, and estimate your profit and loss, expenses, etc., based on what you can find on your competitors.

What can happen if you don’t have a business budget? You could easily become an employee at someone else’s business.  You have to be sure that you can make enough income and profit to cover the expenses associated with your business.  The only way to do that is to have a budget.  With a budget in place, not only do you know how much you need to have in income, you know how much is going out in expenses, and on what.  But you have to maintain the budget.  It’s easy to forget about it when you are busy focusing on other parts of your business.

Another option you have to help you with budgeting is to talk to your accountant or tax preparer.  This is a service that is often outsourced. Accounting services is not one of the CORE aspects of your business.  Your time can be better spent, and outsourcing your accounting is an option that can save you time, money and often frustration.

Should you have any questions regarding your budget, budgeting practices, or outsourcing your accounting, please contact us.  The specialists at the Next Level Accounting & Tax are here to answer any questions you may have