Without a doubt, the last few years have been economically unsettling for many SMEs. However, there have also been some business success stories, which means that businesses of all sizes will be looking to scale and grow over the coming year.
Whatever the size of the business, there are several common financial challenges for business owners to keep track of as they start the scaling and growth process.
We look at some below and provide you with a number of new processes that can be introduced into your business. We also look at how you can ensure existing financial processes are simplified. Throughout any scaling exercise, your financial procedures need to be robust within the scope of your business growth.
Automate your expenses tracking systems and processes
A key part of owning a small business is keeping track of your expenses. Don’t shy away from scrutinising your bank statements, no matter how difficult it might feel! Keeping track of your business expenses is key, and there are many online management tools that can help you.
Are you using an expense management system within your business? Systems such as Xero, QuickBooks or Sage Online all offer varying price plans that suit businesses of any size. They are intuitive to use and enable you to track your business expenses by storing your expenses receipts.
You can reconcile your bank account transactions within such tools too, which can be an easy way to keep on top of your costs. Each of these systems will also provide you with easy-to-view reports, which can be downloaded daily, weekly, monthly or annually.
Tracking your expenses via an expenses management system is a proven way to effectively review your business expenses. Having such a system in place will help you to keep on track of expenses against your budget too, which is particularly important when you are scaling your business.
Expenses are likely to increase as you grow, so ensuring that you have a robust expense tracking process and/or tool in place is key.
Setting best practices within your team
As you scale and grow, your team is a vital part of the process. Without them, it would be very hard to successfully scale! It’s important to communicate to your team effectively at all stages of the scaling process, but especially so when it comes to expense tracking. This would help to ensure that they understand why it’s so important that business expenses are tracked effectively, particularly whilst scaling.
It’s likely that some team members may have responsibility for their own department budgets. Make sure you’re setting time aside to regularly review their department expenses and budget with them.
It’s vital that the process is two-way; your employees need to be able to come to you with any budgetary concerns or details of an increase in expenses, but it’s also important that they are aware that you have the final overview when it comes to your business and its financial controls.
Using prepaid business expense cards to simplify your spending
As you scale your business, tracking your expenses in real-time can be incredibly important. Whilst expenses management tools are highly effective, as we have discussed, they often look at past data, i.e. last month or last quarter. This can sometimes mean that you may not have a full appraisal of your current daily, weekly or monthly costs.
Using a prepaid business expense card ensures that small business owners are able to view and track their expenses in real time, all whilst being integrated with platforms including Xero. Using such cards can assist you in keeping track of your current expenses within what you can afford, which means that the chances of overspending are drastically reduced.
Equals Money offers a card like this. Using it successfully, it will ensure your team have a pre-approved budget at your hands, which you can use and spend as needed within various departments. It costs just £50 per year; there is no monthly payment, also ensuring that the costs associated with it are manageable and transparent.
You can find more information about the Equals Money prepaid business expense card here
Using a prepaid business card can help you to simplify how you and your team spend, which in turn can assist you in successfully growing and scaling your small business.
By automating expense tracking, setting clear financial practices with your team, and leveraging tools like prepaid business cards, you can simplify your financial processes and scale with confidence. The right strategies and solutions can put you on the path to steady growth, no matter what the economic landscape holds.
Whatever the size of the business, there are several common financial challenges for business owners to keep track of as they start the scaling and growth process.
We look at some below and provide you with a number of new processes that can be introduced into your business. We also look at how you can ensure existing financial processes are simplified. Throughout any scaling exercise, your financial procedures need to be robust within the scope of your business growth.
Automate your expenses tracking systems and processes
A key part of owning a small business is keeping track of your expenses. Don’t shy away from scrutinising your bank statements, no matter how difficult it might feel! Keeping track of your business expenses is key, and there are many online management tools that can help you.
Are you using an expense management system within your business? Systems such as Xero, QuickBooks or Sage Online all offer varying price plans that suit businesses of any size. They are intuitive to use and enable you to track your business expenses by storing your expenses receipts.
You can reconcile your bank account transactions within such tools too, which can be an easy way to keep on top of your costs. Each of these systems will also provide you with easy-to-view reports, which can be downloaded daily, weekly, monthly or annually.
Tracking your expenses via an expenses management system is a proven way to effectively review your business expenses. Having such a system in place will help you to keep on track of expenses against your budget too, which is particularly important when you are scaling your business.
Expenses are likely to increase as you grow, so ensuring that you have a robust expense tracking process and/or tool in place is key.
Setting best practices within your team
As you scale and grow, your team is a vital part of the process. Without them, it would be very hard to successfully scale! It’s important to communicate to your team effectively at all stages of the scaling process, but especially so when it comes to expense tracking. This would help to ensure that they understand why it’s so important that business expenses are tracked effectively, particularly whilst scaling.
It’s likely that some team members may have responsibility for their own department budgets. Make sure you’re setting time aside to regularly review their department expenses and budget with them.
It’s vital that the process is two-way; your employees need to be able to come to you with any budgetary concerns or details of an increase in expenses, but it’s also important that they are aware that you have the final overview when it comes to your business and its financial controls.
Using prepaid business expense cards to simplify your spending
As you scale your business, tracking your expenses in real-time can be incredibly important. Whilst expenses management tools are highly effective, as we have discussed, they often look at past data, i.e. last month or last quarter. This can sometimes mean that you may not have a full appraisal of your current daily, weekly or monthly costs.
Using a prepaid business expense card ensures that small business owners are able to view and track their expenses in real time, all whilst being integrated with platforms including Xero. Using such cards can assist you in keeping track of your current expenses within what you can afford, which means that the chances of overspending are drastically reduced.
Equals Money offers a card like this. Using it successfully, it will ensure your team have a pre-approved budget at your hands, which you can use and spend as needed within various departments. It costs just £50 per year; there is no monthly payment, also ensuring that the costs associated with it are manageable and transparent.
You can find more information about the Equals Money prepaid business expense card here
Using a prepaid business card can help you to simplify how you and your team spend, which in turn can assist you in successfully growing and scaling your small business.
By automating expense tracking, setting clear financial practices with your team, and leveraging tools like prepaid business cards, you can simplify your financial processes and scale with confidence. The right strategies and solutions can put you on the path to steady growth, no matter what the economic landscape holds.
