Small Business Accounting
Understanding the Value of Small Business Budgeting Abstract Take the intimidation away from small business budgeting and learn how these simple exercises will benefit many facets of your business. Plan for the future, make more money and control that profit better with budgets. A better, more profitable business is the result. Article Body Although it may seem like a lot of work, budgeting is an essential process for your business. It will help you to plan for the future – this year and over the next decade.
Budgeting will assist you in decision making, goal setting and many other types of planning. It also helps to control the actions of your business. Planning and control work together, but are not actually the same thing. To plan in a business involves laying out the direction and goals. Control comes when you’re in the process of working towards those goals.
If the plan is to purchase a large asset in five years with cash reserves, the control comes into the picture when decisions are made that ensure you have enough cash when that time actually rolls around. Small business budgeting is the tool to help you plan well and exercise control. And it’s the key to your business’s financial success. Budgeting can be done in simple, straightforward methods now using computers, spreadsheets and even specialized software. You can create a master budget easily by starting with your long-term sales forecasts. Once you have a realistic idea of future sales you can plug those numbers into a Sales Budget, which also helps with a Purchasing Budget and an Ending Inventory Budget. Inventory can be a tricky thing within every business and the information gathered in these budgets is extremely helpful.
The Sales Budget also helps to create a Budgeted Income Statement. This particular accounting financial statement is helpful for potential investors to assess the likely profitability over the next few years. Long-term sales forecasts are also the first step in creating an Operating Expenses Budget and a Capital Budget. These figures help with day to day business as well as working to ensure a healthy future. When you can budget for capital expenditures based on sales forecasts and then maintain control on the way there, your business will thrive.
The Cash Budget is often the most useful for small business owners. Knowing how much cash you are likely to have at the end of a period is important and planning to keep a -safe amount- on hand for debt repayment or other things is simpler with a cash budget. Using the Sales Budget, the Operating Expenses and the Capitol Budgets, combined with past habits and events, you can create a reasonable Budgeted Income Statement and Balance Sheet. Those are used to bring about the Budget of Cash Flows, an essential tool for small business. Find out what you can realistically afford in the future and keep a handle on your company.
Remember that budgets are a continual exercise and will be updated frequently as new information arises. Small business budgeting is a flex thing and will need regular attention. Participation within the company is important. Involving managers in the planning stages will give them ownership of the goals and help them feel more connected with the end result.
Your business will benefit when more people work together on the budget.