Getting your income to flow quickly into your business is a sure path to improving cash flow.  Making it easy and convenient for your customers to pay will improve the process. Of course, automating your invoicing process as much as possible with technology gets the ball rolling in your favor.

If your accounting software and/or 3^rd party app is set up for automating your invoices, many have payment processing built in.  It sends the invoice directly to the customer via email and they have the option to pay with ACH or Credit or Debit card instantly with a click of a button.  Technology is moving fast, and apps go in and out of style, but taking the time to review a few options to integrate into your payment processes will help with your cash flow.  There are so many ways money can be sent and received. Making it easy for your customers to pay you is good business.

If you find that your customers consistently ask if you use a particular payment option, that may be a great place to start.

When speaking to a new client, one of the first questions I ask them is “Do they have a line of credit?” What is the purpose of this question? Let’s get into it.

We think it is important for most companies to have a line of credit for a couple of reasons:

1. You are growing!

Yes, success! But are you prepared to handle that growth? When you grow, there are many times that cash flow can suffer in the beginning stages of that growth to pay for extra payroll, new equipment, and any additional costs of that growth. A line of credit can help with those additional costs in the beginning stages of the growth.

2. Get through the hard times.

Not only is a line of credit good for growth, but it is good for those months where cash flow may be low. Most companies have good months and bad months. You do not want to worry about how you are going to pay your employees or pay your bills during those bad months. That keeps business owners up at night. Rather, it is good to have that line of credit in your back pocket for those months, and then you will be ready for reaping the benefits of those good months.

3. Better rates than a loan.

A line of credit normally has better rates than a term loan, and you only have to take out what you are going to use. There are fees that will be associated with the line of credit, but we think those fees are worth the expense in order to have good control over your cash flows.

If you think it is good for your business, go get a line of credit and you may just sleep better tonight. Need help finding the right bank to work with? We can help with that too!

Create multiple informational forecast reports based on the data you’ve imported and adjusted.

Watch how to import your data quickly, plus the ability to adjust your budget to fit your business goals.

Budgets give you a broader perspective of your business’ spending habits, and how that spending impacts your bottom line.