Financial support for entrepreneurs.Finances are crucial. But many business founders don’t know where or how to manage their money, especially in the beginning stages of entrepreneurship. Business founders who are just starting need to be financially prepared.
Entrepreneurs Josh and Kristy Alballero founded IOOGO, an accounting company that leverages technology and tax planning expertise to help business owners succeed with their finances. Their unique technology makes managing finances easier so that the on-staff accountants can spend more time planning and strategy. The team conducted the research portion of business planning. They found that 94% of entrepreneurs confused the roles of accountants, tax planners, and CFO.
This is why the Alballeros created a technology that allows their CPAs and FFOs to become more than bean counters. Kristy and Josh share their top financial tips for founders based on their vast experience in the financial aspect of entrepreneurship.
Accounting starts with basic math.
Accounting is all about bookkeeping in the first six months of your business. This means you’ll take most of your time tracking revenue and expenses. You’ll see costs more often than you see revenue. While they always recommend consulting an accountant or tax professional for advice, this doesn’t mean that you should hire them every month. Before you can give that responsibility to someone else, you must first learn about your business numbers. But, you will likely need to know basic accounting at the beginning.
Know when it is time to let go, and allow someone else to take control
Now that you are at a critical point in your company, you can celebrate your successes. Now it’s time to decide whether you should focus on growth or continue to wear all the hats. As your business expands, your accounting requirements will grow more complex and demanding. It doesn’t matter if you need to prepare investor reports, do financial modeling for the products, or take on debt to grow the company. You don’t have the skills or time to do this type of accounting. This is where many founders end up stuck. They want to control every aspect of the business and therefore don’t know when they should let go.
Be aware that an expert can help achieve your goals and remove the financial burden to concentrate on other aspects of being a founder.
You need to know when you have a CPA and CFO.
What does a CPA do? Let me tell you; it doesn’t include thinking about the long-term strategic plan of your company. CPAs can help with accounting and tax filings. But, in sporadic cases, they are qualified to take on the role of Chief Financial Officer. Many founders make the error of hiring a CFO early. This means that the CFO is often responsible for bookkeeping and payroll. However, it is even more critical to have someone to help plan, forecast, and strategize. CPA’s role is to prepare your numbers for the coming year. On the other hand, CFO’s job is to ensure the financial health of your business aligns with the business’ vision.
Your success will be more tremendous if your focus is on maintaining order in your finances from the beginning. Next, you should use strategic methods to ensure that documents, payroll, bookkeeping, and other financial records are filed quickly and correctly. Being an early-stage entrepreneur is essential to be aware of the financial steps that are most crucial. A solid foundation will help you know when to call in the professionals and when to let the experts take over. A solid foundation is a key to financial success in business finance. Now you have one.
