I have a confession to make…
Like most business owners I go through a bit of a love-hate relationship with what I do.
My natural state is to love accounts but when I have too much pressure to file the accounts and returns by a certain time, which is usually too close for comfort, I start to fall out of love. The reason being, is that I become a machine processing data in order to produce compliance based accounts and tax returns as opposed to analysing the data and reading the stories it has to tell me then sharing these with the business owner.
November, December and January are the worst times for this and yet it annoys me because it doesn’t have to be this way. I used to complain with other accountants that it’s that time of year again, where all the popular 31st March year-end company accounts & sole trader accounts for self-assessment start drip feeding in. But three January’s ago I vowed to change this.
I knew there was another way for me, for my clients and for all other business owners out there. I wrote 12 Steps to Improve your Cashflow and Successful Business Minds to encourage all business owners to improve their relationship with their finances and I coach people too.
I asked you last week: What needs to happen for you to get on top of your accounts, if anything? I wonder what your answer was. I wonder if it was any of the following I recommend in my books and coaching,
- Scheduling in regular days or mornings/ afternoons to catch up with your accounts ‘friend’.
- Have fun whilst doing your accounts by listing to music or playing your favourite film in the background.
- Change the way you capture your expenditure and sales, by either using a spreadsheet, notebook and pen, downloading an app to your phone or a cloud based software to your laptop. Choosing whatever suits you and how you like to work.
- Rewarding yourself with a book or a cinema trip once you’ve done them.
- Looking forward to discussing them with your partner, and how they fit in with your personal financial goals, once complete/ up to date.
However, maybe you are hiding from your accounts. Perhaps you are you not checking in with them because you don’t want to be reminded of how little you have made, or much you have spent. This is common. I did too and I share why in Successful Business Minds and what can be done about it.
Or maybe there are lots of creative and exciting tasks you would rather be doing for your business that will generate sales and make you feel better. But what if I told you that once you are in control of your expenditure, once you know what sales you have made, once you know how much tax you have to pay, once you know how close you are to your financial goals (personal and business), you feel really good. Furthermore, you get more sales too because you know what you need to do and by when. Being creative is good but it doesn’t always lead to revenue. You need to know when to stop dreaming and start taking action.
We don’t often think of the last two points and that is where I come in because I recognised this over the last 20 years working with business owners from many different industries and a variety of how much money they had in the bank, from none to millions. Know that if you are not motivated to do your accounts (or as least review the summary once the task has been delegated) then there is something in your subconscious that is not serving you when it comes to your business finances (and possibly even your personal finances too).
Get your copy of Successful Business Minds to find out more. And if you have already read it, then re-read it and do the exercises this time 😉 and download the resources. I’ll also soon be adding The Successful Business Minds Workbook to these.
Love Helen x
© HM Coaching Ltd
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