Cash flow is essential to effective
business operation, and yet many companies struggle with their cash flows. This
can occur even if your books are in the black. How is it possible that you earn
more than you spend and yet still don’t have enough on hand to pay off your
bills? If your money is tied up in payment processing, customers aren’t making
it easy, or you have debt on top of outgoing payments, all these issues can put
you in the negative.
Cash flow refers to how much funding you
have access to in your accounts at any given moment. This money is used to pay
your employees, suppliers, utility bills, loan repayments, and so much more.
Many businesses operate in the negative for brief periods between payments, but
if you find that your company consistently struggles to pay bills on time, it’s
important to understand how you can improve cash flow. Delays in payments can
result in late fees, ruin your credit rating, and deteriorate the relationship
between you and your suppliers or employees.
Boosting cash flow simply means
understanding why the money you’re owed is being held up, and how you can free
it from those constraints. These tips cannot help if you earn less revenue than
your costs, however. If you have a negative profit margin, you’ll need to completely
restructure your approach so that your incoming trumps your outgoings
first.
It’s incredibly frustrating when your money
is tied up due to delays or difficult customers. Even when everything is going
smoothly, there can still be a wait before you get paid simply because the
invoice needs to be logged and approved before the money is sent. While in most
instances, this works out fine, it can be a challenge if you need to make
payments quickly.
The good news is that you can release cash
immediately by using your unpaid invoices. Invoice financing lets you get your
payment quickly so you can handle sudden costs or jump on unique opportunities
and then pay it back once the money from the invoice is sent to you. Like any
financing solution, the deal you get will vary based on the provider. To get
the best collection of deals, see fundinvoice.co.uk for invoice financing.
Automation takes care of two issues: time and error. You can automatically send out invoices, set regular payment reminders, and so on. Even a rudimentary system can help you to cut down on the time it takes to draw up invoices and send them out to your clients. Similarly, such tools can also help make it easier to make payments on time yourself. Don’t assume this tip is only available for large companies, either. While the most robust tools are a standard in many enterprise resource management packages, there are new solutions available that small businesses can take advantage of themselves.