The NY resolutions you must make…and keep for financial wellbeing

If the first of January has come around and if you’re looking to make some resolutions for how you run your business, we’ve got just three easy resolutions that will add to your businesses’ financial success this year.

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If the first of January has come around and if you’re looking to make some resolutions for how you run your business, we’ve got just three easy resolutions that will add to your businesses’ financial success this year.

Although they’re not super sexy resolutions, like getting a six pack or travelling to the Maldives, they will no doubt make managing your finances more streamlined, organised, ordered, efficient, consistent….did someone say financial resolutions weren’t sexy….(remember I am a proud numbers nerd).

Resolution 1: Record and manage receipts weekly
Put aside 30 minutes weekly and use tech to support you to manage your receipts. Weekly is the key word here. 

There are a number of ways that this can be made simple, that you could do it in your sleep. With the use of apps like hubdocs or Receipt bank it’s really as easy as taking a photo and forwarding via email so your Bookkeeper has the documents in their fingers in minutes. Or you can take a picture of your receipts and store them in a monthly folder – January, February etc – in your phone’s camera roll, and send your Bookkeeper the folder at the end of the month. So no more chasing bits of paper around for weeks because you can’t remember where you put a receipt. Or for the more hands on approach, most accounting platforms, for example Xero, QuickBooks or MYOB, have a tool in place that you can upload the document and code it yourself directly into the app from your phone.

If you’re not the techy type and this stresses you out, then find a Bookkeeper who understands and will help you by doing it all for you. All you need to do is write details on your receipts and put them in a folder – then post them to your Bookkeeper each month/quarter so they can do the rest! Trusty Kmart has an accordion folder for just $4. So, for the cost of a small coffee and the 5 minutes it takes each week to file your receipts, it will be money well spent. 

Managing your receipts weekly will save you a huge headache each month/quarter, or worse at the end of the year as you madly search the office, house and car for receipts for the bookkeeper, and then try to remember what they were for!

Resolution 2: Review your subscription and memberships
God bless the convenience that is direct debit, but as humans we are collectors. We collect things over time – magazines, news sites, tech platforms, stock image accounts, that video making website that you used once!

Many subscriptions rely on the forgetfulness of subscribers to cancel, so the new year is the perfect time to review what you use and don’t use and get rid of wasteful spending. A good way to do this is to run a report to see what you are spending and then talk with your team about what subscription platforms are adding value.

Resolution 3: Diarise your bank statements 
It’s as simple as adding a recurring reminder to your calendar. Diarise the first of the month and send your bank statements to your bookkeeper so they can keep on top of your finances. This is a blessing for bookkeepers as well. It also means any new patterns in spending and income will be noted and acted on in good time. With monthly updates to your bookkeepers, they can quickly and easily prep your accounts and BAS at the end of each quarter, which means faster refunds and some extra time buffer if you need to pay BAS. 

Have a go at these three simple financial new year resolutions, they may not be sexy, but if you follow them, you’ll have more time to work on your abs and plan that trip to the Maldives.

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