January is National Financial Wellness Month!

It’s time to prepare your business finances for the year during Financial Wellness Month. Financial Wellness Month takes place in January each year, right after December spending for the holidays is through. It is the perfect time to take stock of both your financial wellness as an individual and the financial situation of your business.

The folks at Grow Wabash County can direct Wabash County residents to the experts and programs that will help them manage their business finances. New entrepreneurs and seasoned business owners alike can benefit from meeting with financial professionals who can offer advice on budget, financial projection, cash flow, and other business aspects.  

We highly recommend speaking with someone at your closest Small Business Development Center (SBDC) such as Wes Shie at the Northeast Indiana SBDC. We also recommend contacting Red Earth CPA, Dawes & Pugh CPAs, The Firefly Group, or Crossroads Bank. Other resources in the Wabash County area include Edward Jones financial advisors such as Wayne Denger, Tyler Olson, Troy Baer, and Amy Sullivan to name a few. 

Best Practices for Being Financially Secure in 2023

Kick off the new year by making financial preparations for your business so you can continue to stay one step ahead while managing finances throughout the year. First, you will want to review your company’s current financial situation. Be sure to look at specific metrics such as gross profit margin and operating margin to determine how much your company performance will need to improve based on industry standards. Then you can begin setting goals and financial projections.

Make a list of major expenses that will lead to an increase in sales. Important expenses might be for equipment, expansion, relocation, and more. Then you can apply for a business loan several months ahead of when you will need the financing. Go over bookkeeping monthly, weekly, and even daily, and your business will be one step closer to financial progress.

Business Accounting Apps for Efficient Financial Management

When it comes to owning a company, staying on top of managing your business finances is imperative. After a while, it may cross your mind to hire a full-time accountant or CFO. Luckily, there are so many technological applications available for efficiently managing business finances that companies can take advantage of. Wabash County business owners can utilize the following tools to help organize their company finances.

• Stay up to date on your business expenses with the Expensify app. Your business expenses no longer have to be manually entered into a system. They can quickly be uploaded and managed by connecting the app to the appropriate credit cards and debit cards.
• FreshBooks offers customizable invoicing features, the perfect tool for service-based companies. The app features cloud-based bookkeeping and integrates other financial software programs to help businesses streamline their daily operations.
• When it comes to managing payroll, taxes, and benefits for your business, Gusto is a useful app. The app can be used to ensure that nothing is missed during the onboarding process by reporting any new hires to the government. They also handle state and federal taxes and send digital pay stubs via email to employees. With Gusto, business owners can manage important company tasks from their phones when they are away from their computers. 
• QuickBooks is still commonly used for small business accounting as it syncs with your bank accounts to make certain financial tasks much simpler such as monthly bookkeeping, invoice management, and tracking vendor payments.
• Accept payments through the Square app! Business owners, salespeople, and employees can all take advantage of this app by taking payments using a card reader that plugs into a smartphone. This process improves cash flow, as opposed to sending invoices via snail mail and waiting for payment.
• Small businesses can also look into using Wave, an app that offers free accounting software. Wave makes accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning much easier and can include multiple businesses in just one account.
• Employees who have to wear multiple hats when working for a micro-business will enjoy the many benefits that Xero has to offer. Its cloud-based platform offers a mobile app, payroll integration with Gusto, and inventory management and cuts down the number of hours that would normally be spent working on these. 

Managing financial tasks for a business has become easier than ever as new technology keeps coming out. However, we still recommend talking with a financial professional who has knowledge and expertise on the Wabash County economy. We encourage entrepreneurs and small business owners to reach out to financial professionals such as the SBA to help lead them on the path to financial success.