Beginning Balance

It's easy enough to convince ourselves that personal wants are "needs" that we just have to have. In business, the temptation is even stronger -- after all, it can probably be expensed, there are plans for growth, we have to keep up with the competition... However you spin it, most "needs" are really just wants, and our cash is a scarce resource. Recognizing our wants, however, can free us from the feelings of FOMO, the stress, and the tunnel vision that often accompanies strong desires, and open our minds to alternative solutions.   Mark Butler CFO https://markbutler.com   You Need a Budget https://www.youneedabudget.com

It's a word that inspires yawns and sends meeting participants to their phones. But, it's something that strong leaders and strong teams do well -- process. Mark and Jesse discuss what it means to have good processes in your business, what they look like, and how to develop good processes. Process improvement doesn't happen overnight, in fact it often happens in tiny, incremental improvements over long periods of time. Learning to work on process as part of your normal business operations is the key!   Mark Butler CFO https://markbutler.com   You Need a Budget https://www.youneedabudget.com

Mark and Jesse chat with their long-time tax advisor Casey Murdock about the importance of tax strategizing throughout the year, what to look for in a good tax advisor, when it's appropriate for businesses to do their own taxes, and more!   Casey Murdock https://www.wealthguardadvisors.com/team/casey-murdock  

Mark and Jesse invite their long-time tax advisor Casey Murdock, or Wealth Guard Advisors, to talk about common myths and misunderstandings business owners have about the tax code as well as legitimate tax saving strategies. Tax can seem like a tedious field, but having good tax strategies can result in big savings. As always, having cash on hand opens up options for tax planning.   Stay tuned next week for more tax myth busting with Casey!   Casey Murdock https://www.wealthguardadvisors.com/team/casey-murdock  

Cash basis accounting works for a lot of businesses, and it has a lot of benefits being simple, easy to understand, and a relatively "pure" way to evaluate the cash position of the business. But for some businesses it may make sense to switch to accrual accounting, where things start to get a bit complicated. Mark and Jesse set out to demystify accrual accounting and break it down into YNAB-equivalent terms.   Mark Butler CFO https://markbutler.com   You Need a Budget https://www.youneedabudget.com

Mark and Jesse take a break from talking about cash to focus on the "softer" aspects of running a business and, more specifically, a team. But, as these things tend to do, it turns out core values are everything about running a business, and they directly impact how your day to day business operations proceed.   While very important, core values can be hard to determine, because they are emergent, not aspirational. You simply have them, or you don't. You don't aspire to have integrity, you discover that you already do things which reflect your integrity -- like, you do what you say, you overdeliver and underpromise, etc. The same is true of employees. The people you hire have the core values, or they don't.   Jesse shares some exercises for discovering and refining your core values, as a business owner and as a team leader.   Mark Butler CFO https://markbutler.com   You Need a Budget https://www.youneedabudget.com

Mark and Jesse discuss the role of forecasting in a business' budget, and why many businesses get stuck on "tracking" their finances, for tax purposes, rather than truly budgeting.   Mark Butler CFO https://markbutler.com   You Need a Budget https://www.youneedabudget.com

Jesse and Mark answer the questions -- when do you start paying yourself from the business? How much? Should you take distributions or draw a salary?    Mark Butler CFO https://markbutler.com   You Need a Budget https://www.youneedabudget.com

Jesse and Mark ponder the question: when has business done enough? Enough revenue? Enough profit? When has the business owner taken enough in salary and distributions? The answer may lead you to some uncomfortable questions and answers.   Mark Butler CFO https://markbutler.com   You Need a Budget https://www.youneedabudget.com

How you manage your financial systems is an indicator of how well you manage the rest of your business, says Mark Butler. Long lists of bank accounts, complicated credit card payment schemes... as businesses grow their financial systems becomes more complex, but without careful management, it's easy to let become a jungle that accounting has to hack through every month to close the books. Simplifying these things leads to less stress, less hassle for your accounting team (and less cost), and importantly, more clarity around how profitable your products and services are and the resources needed to sustain them.   Mark Butler CFO https://markbutler.com   You Need a Budget https://www.youneedabudget.com