While money isn't necessarily the root of all evil, it can be the cause of sleepless nights and nasty migraines in business owners. Commenting on the recent global economic downturn, Juan Somavia, director-general of the International Labour Office, observed: “This is not simply a crisis on Wall Street,” adding: “This is a crisis on all streets.” Managing money is a way to chart our course through the economic downturn. Therefore, simplify your business and handle your money better with these 5 tips:
  1. Don't pay tomorrow what you can pay today. Can you pay smaller bills ahead of time? If you have a monthly bill, but choose to pay for six-months of service up front you can save money on stamps and avoid the risk of incurring late fees ever. Plus, you save time by doing it once, instead of six times.
  2. Head to the bank and ask them for a bank analysis statement that shows the basic service charges in your monthly statement. From there you can decide if you actually need all the services you are paying for. If you don't ask your banker to get rid of unnecessary services and reduce the cost of having the account. Then, use your cash as the asset it really is by investing your savings in ways that can advance your business.
  3. Know the goal. Ask your accountant for industry profit information and overhead statistics; you want to know how you stack up to other businesses in the industry. Keep these on file for when you need to analyze your business' strategy.
  4. File electronically. Filing taxes electronically saves time, money and paper! Ask your accountant how you can keep your business more organized so that when tax season comes around electronic filing is a breeze.
  5. Get your insurance in line. While you might pay slightly more by renewing all your policies at the same time with the same agent, you have the advantage of sitting down just once a year to review insurance for the entire business. You save time, and your agent will do a better job because he has the whole picture.

Getting your money managed in a way that saves you time and headaches is one way to simplify your business and make your time count. How have you been able to make more time for your small business?

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