Top Ten Ways to Better Manage Your Cash Flow

TOP 10 WAYS to Better Manage Your Cash Flow

BY STEVE GOODMAN

Cash flow - it can be the bane of a small business. If you need to generate greater income from your business, there are really only three ways to do it: reduce expenses, (we will save that for another column), increase revenue, or maximise cash flow.

It is very hard for any business to significantly increase volume to improve revenue, but small enterprises in particular are often forced to squeeze as much cash as possible out of existing operations. To do that, means you need to get serious about a strategy to maximize collections on your receivables, and take other methods to ensure positive cash flow.

Maintaining positive cash flow is a bit of a juggling act.

Here are 10 proven tips to help get more coming in, rather than out, of your bank account! 1 Get a Grip The first thing you must do if you want to better manage cash flow is to get a good grip on the cash coming in and moving out of your business with a good forecast. A 12 month forecast that looks weekly at projected sales, necessary inventory and salaries will help you get a better handle on what money has to be paid out ‘up front’, when you can expect it back, and what actions you can take to tide you over in between. 2 Organise your Billing Bill early and bill often. The best way to do that is to have a structured and organised billing schedule. There are several easy DIY software programs out there such as Intuit’s Quickbooks Pro or Peachtree Complete Plus Time and Billing, that easily automate your billing process. The quicker you can turn over your receivables, the more money you will have to grow your operations.