You see, many business owners are so focused on delivery, they neglect to properly keep track of their expenses.

As a NDIS provider, managing finances is crucial to ensuring the sustainability and growth of your services. Yet, we still ask ourselves, “Where did my money go?”

Here are some essential tips for NDIS Providers:

1. Detailed Record-Keeping: Maintain accurate and detailed records of all transactions. This includes invoices, receipts, and payroll records.      Regular audits can help identify discrepancies early.
2. Budget Wisely: Develop a comprehensive budget that outlines expected income and expenses. Regularly review and adjust this budget to
reflect changes in funding or operational costs.
3. Monitor Cash Flow: Keep a close eye on your cash flow. Ensure that your income covers your expenses and allows for savings. Cash flow
projections can help anticipate and mitigate potential shortfalls.
4. Use Accounting Software: Invest in reliable accounting software tailored for NDIS providers. These tools can streamline bookkeeping,
manage your people, generate reports, and provide real-time financial insights.
5. Regular Financial Reviews: Conduct regular financial reviews and involve your team in the process. This promotes transparency,
identifies opportunities and collective accountability.

By implementing these strategies, you can gain better control over your money, ensuring that it is used effectively to provide high-quality support and services to your participants.  You'll no longer be thinking “Where did my money go?”, because you'll know exactly where it is going!

You know, I have a Financial Fitness group where we work on these areas and much more. I am taking in the next group of people so if this interests you, join the waiting list here: Find out more

The post She said: “Where Did My Money Go?” appeared first on Higher Purpose Accounting.

• Why should I bother with a budget or cash flow forecast?
• How can I make sure there's enough money to pay my staff and myself?
• What's the right price for my product or service?

Businesses, particularly small ones can really struggle with managing the financial aspects especially meeting compliance deadlines for taxation and superannuation. 

Do you want to be in the position of having a tax debt?  Or not being able to pay your staff on time?

Budgeting (and cash flow forecasting) can be the difference between growth and sustainability or chaos and failure.  But where do you start? What do you need to include in a budget and cash flow forecast?

Before I answer these questions, let’s look at what each of these is in more detail.

What are budgets & cash flow forecasts?

A budget is an estimation of revenue and expenses over a specified future period and a means to track your progress.  These are usually created each year and referred to each month.   A cash flow forecast shows money coming in and out and the timing of it.  For example, you may invoice for one month but receive payment in the next month.  It is generally reviewed and adjusted on a weekly basis.

Why do I need them?

These tools keep us organised and give us something to aim for.  Each of these provides us with a framework to work with and help us avert issues like a cash deficit.   They also allow us to take advantage of new opportunities as these appear enabling us to grow our business and our wealth.

Banks, lenders and grant providers will also request you provide a budget and cash flow forecast when applying for funds to support working capital, purchasing assets and for project grant applications.

How do I put them together?

Putting together a budget and a cash flow forecast can seem complicated and daunting. But it really doesn’t have to be.  You just need to have a framework, some boundaries to work within and a template to complete.  Here’s some things you can do:

• Determine the number, frequency, and pricing of your offerings.
• Identify various expenses, including staff, rent, subscriptions, travel, utilities, and office-related costs.
• Break down your cash flow forecast on a weekly basis, while outlining your budget on a monthly and yearly scale.
• Create a checklist for all essential elements and document the assumptions you've relied on.
• Utilise a pre-designed budget and cash flow forecast template for enhanced organisation and efficiency.

- enter all income and expense categories for the year by month.  Total this by category, month and year.
- You may need to have separate sheets showing how the monthly figures come together (eg: x number of services @ $Y price each)

Now, how do I use them?

There’s not much point putting together a budget and cash flow forecast unless you are going to do something with them.  You’re just wasting your time!

So, how do I use each of these finely crafted documents?

Budget

With the budget you would want to:
- Add the budget to your accounting software
- Run a Profit and Loss report each month
- Compare your budget to the actual outcomes

Now you can then adjust for current and projected future outcomes.

Cash flow forecast

In the cash flow forecast you need to:
- review your cash coming and out of your bank account weekly
- compare this to the previous week’s forecast
- update your bank account opening balance for the week
- adjust your forecast for cash coming in and out for current and future weeks

From my experience, this can be a quite a challenge for many businesses, particularly smaller ones and not-for-profits. That’s why I created an online course with a simple but structured approach to budgeting.

The course takes participants through:
- understanding why we need a budget and what we need to include
- creating a robust budget and using it to make decisions
- how to monitor progress and cash flows in the business 

It’s quite comprehensive. So, participants can get assistance from me to plan the budget and review it as an extra to the course.

I always say that without a budget and cash flow forecast, you are doing things blindly!  So, will a budget and cash flow forecast save your business?  I truly believe it will!

So, what can I do now?

Book a 15 min chat to discuss how the Budgeting online course will help you create a budget that works for your business.

You’ll determine what revenue you’ll need to pay your staff, pay yourself and pay your expenses.  And, you’ll have cash flow to grow your business!  Click the link below to get started!

https://bit.ly/HPA15mCall

The post Will a budget and cash flow forecast save your business? appeared first on Higher Purpose Accounting.

Separate personal and business finances completely

That dinner you had wasn’t part of a meeting with client, yet you used your business card. Those computers that you bought were meant for work, but you ended up using your personal payment card. Yeah, you can pay yourself back from your business or pay back to your business from your personal account. But DON’T!

It’s that simple.

Personal and business finances should never ever be mixed together whatever the circumstances may be. Generally, when you spend on your business, you should record a transaction. If you don’t or if you combine personal and business finances, then things can become a pain pretty soon and it will be hell for you to track down all the expenses.

So, separate the two accounts right from the start and you’ll be saving yourself a good amount of time and pain in the future. And let’s not forget that this will be a huge help when you lodge your tax return.

Organise yourself!

For organising your finances that is. Spend around 15 to 30 minutes every week and the only thing that you should be doing during this time is to sort out your finances and make sure that they are in proper order.

And by the way, this little activity can even help you gain insights especially if you make good use of your accounting system.

Track salaries

Yes, there is a need to mention this separately. Whether you are the only one working or have a team of staff, track costs associated with salaries, benefits, leaves, overtime and other relevant expenses separately.  This will let you know if your labour costs are within the budget or outside it. Accordingly, you can decide if you should spend more on incentivising your team or if you need to cut down on some benefits.

Consult the professionals

We mentioned this at the start of our discussion, but let’s talk about it again for emphasis. Accountants are a vital part of any team.  They are an expert in maintaining accounting and finance systems and have done it for so many businesses just like yours. They know exactly what works, what doesn’t and which deductions you should utilise.

Agreed, you may want to refrain from hiring an accountant for anything other than tax and other compliance areas, but trust us, bring a professional accountant and trusted advisor on board and the improvements made will more than compensate for the investment!

So, there you have it - Separate, Track, Organise and Consult.  Then you will be well on your way to manging your finances effectively.

Higher Purpose Accounting can help you in setting up your accounting system and managing your finances. Visit our website or book in a call for more information.

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