Cash Flow Management Best Practices

What happens when you don’t feed your body? You slow down, have trouble concentrating and can’t function normally. What happens when you don’t have the cash to feed your business?

When you stop and think about it, cash is the food that nourishes your business. It can’t survive long without it, and if you don’t have enough of it, you may struggle to operate efficiently and smoothly.

In this blog, we’ll look at the reasons cash flow management is critical to the health of a business, and then we’ll look at some of the best practices in use by today’s most successful Australian companies.

 

Why is Cash Flow Management Critical?

As mentioned, cash is the fuel that keeps a business humming along and operating optimally. Here are a few of the ways your business depends on healthy cash flow: 

 

• Cash can provide liquidity. Even though a customer may have paid on credit, you may still need cash for paying your suppliers.

• Healthy cash flow can give you time. When you’re trying to juggle payroll, supplier payments, loans and more, you may have to make rushed decisions. When everything is running smoothly, you can take your time to be more strategic with your financial decisions.

• Cash can allow you to manage your taxes more effectively. You can avoid late fees and other problems caused by late tax payments when you have cash on hand.

• Cash can keep your costs down. When you can pay your bills on time, you can lower your costs by avoiding interest payments and late fees.

• Cash can preserve your reputation. If you want to be known as a business that is dependable and always pays promptly, protect your cash flow vigilantly.

 

Cash flow can affect virtually every aspect of your business, from your choice of suppliers to pricing and margins. When it comes to something so integral to your success, best practices are essential.

 

 

Cash Flow Management Best Practices

Looking ahead is one of the best things you can do as a business owner, and many of today’s cash flow best practices stem from a forward-thinking, planning-focused mindset.

 

Financial Budgeting

Without a firm grip on where your money is coming from and where it’s going, your cash flow can be unpredictable. With comprehensive budgeting, however, you can take control of your cash flow and have access to the financial information necessary to make informed decisions.

 

Cash Flow Planning

Another important best practice is to create cash flow plans that will help you to predict exactly how you’ll keep your business running smoothly. Cash flow forecasting and modelling are used by businesses in many different industries to regulate and control income and outflows.

 

The Value of an Outsourced CFO

Most business owners find that their day-to-day work consumes a large portion of their time. Between managing employees, handling marketing, preparing payroll and filling orders, there’s not much time left over for bigger-picture financial duties. 

 

Outsourced CFO services can significantly lighten your load and aim your business in the direction you want it to go. Hiring a full-time, in-house CFO may be more than you need at this point in your company’s development, but you may still need the expertise and experience that a CFO brings to the table.

 

With outsourced CFO services, you can scale up or down as needed and gain real-time access to the data you need for making forward-thinking, confident decisions. With our CFO services, you can have the following: 

• Advice based on accurate, up-to-date financial information
• Advanced financial technology
• More time to execute your business strategy
• Experienced financial firepower
• Timely, accurate and meaningful reporting
• Removal of staffing issues and capability roadblocks

 

As you can see, our outsourced CFO services can do even more than help you to get your cash flow under control. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your business to run the way you’ve always envisioned.