As a business owner, staying in the black is important. You want to be profitable, and you want to grow your business. The key? Being organized so that you have complete control of your expenses and making sure you get paid!

We’re now into Part 4 of our 5-part series on exploring how delegation of tasks can alleviate anxiety and give you more time to focus on what matters the most for you – managing your business. I encourage you to check out last month’s blog if you haven’t yet, where we explored how delegation of your calendar and scheduling can allow you truly master your busy calendar. This month? We’re tackling the tax man – and being organized and ready for questions from your accountant or your client.

Dealing with money also means dealing with a lot of paperwork! As a business owner it’s imperative to keep detailed records of expenses, invoicing, and payments. Whether it’s expense tracking (and filing those receipts) to making sure clients are being invoiced, and that you are being paid, there’s a lot of legwork that is required. How often has your accountant asked you for your files only to have a last-minute scramble to prepare the documents for tax season? Or have you ever forgotten to invoice a client only to find out months later?

When it comes to dealing with the ins and outs of expense management, it’s important to be involved, but the execution can absolutely be delegated to someone else. This way you can spend more time where it counts, focusing on your business.

Expense Tracking

Making sure the money is coming in is important, but it’s also important to understand when, and where you are spending money on the business. But with so many emails and paperwork, it can be difficult to find the time to do so and keep on track. And you never want to be in a situation where you can’t remember if you paid a bill, or you can’t find that receipt that will help with your tax deductions at the end of the year!

Being proactive and implementing a simple filing system will all but eliminate these concerns. By being able to provide your accountant with organized records at any given time of the year, you can easily adjust and evaluate your expenditures, without waiting until year end to figure out where you sit financially.

To do this, you should be actively saving all bills and receipts you receive from emails into folders. You should also be scanning all expense documentation not received digitally into those same folders. Getting into the habit of actively filing your expense documents when you receive them will alleviate a lot of stress and anxiety around expenses and profitability. Having someone to help organize and implement this simple expense management system will ensure you have information ready at your fingertips when it’s time to discuss the state of business with your accountant and for when the tax man comes calling, and all without you having to worry about managing it.

Invoice Management

It’s important that you are invoicing correctly, and on time. You want your invoicing process to be smooth and painless for your clients. By having someone to track and execute invoicing, they can create consistent branded invoices, ensure your clients understand what they are being invoiced for, and keep detailed records in your system so that you never have to question if a client has paid again! This person can be the point of contact to discuss issues and concerns and they can also follow up on unpaid invoices. This leaves more time in your day to continue to build those client relationships, and not have to deal with the paperwork and record keeping of invoicing. Tax Season

Keeping a thorough ongoing record of expenses will also help immensely when it comes time to file your tax return. There are many business expenses that can be deducted and keeping a record of these expenses throughout the year will stop the last-minute panic just before tax season. Having someone to help document and categorize your expenses will make it so much easier to calculate and properly file your taxes. You want to ensure you’re not only getting the necessary deductions, but that you’re also accurately filing your tax return to avoid any possible audits. I hope that this month’s blog gives you the insight into how proper expense management and delegating these tasks will help you be more aware of your finances, without you having to manage it. This gives you more time to explore new opportunities and build your business.

And, if you find yourself struggling with who to delegate these tasks to you, or you are a one-person show, let’s have a chat! At ROSAPEL, we have been working with our clients to help manage their tax organization, invoicing, and payments for over 35 years. Our proven methodologies will simplify your financial organization, which in turn enhances your business, and while maintaining a level of professionalism that you deserve. We have been making business owners look and operate as the true professional CEO’s they are. Need it done? We’re the one!