• Contact the major credit bureaus and order a copy of your credit report and score. Ask them for a list of the major factors that influence your business credit and how you can repair your credit rating.


• Review your credit reports and look for any mistakes. Typically 70 percent of credit reports have at least one mistake on them and this can be detrimental to your credit score. It is important to review your credit reports often to check for any signs of identity theft and fraud.


• Another reason to review your credit report is to make sure your vendors are reporting your payments. Your business credit rating will increase if your vendors will report your payment history.


• Pay off your old debts as quickly as possible. This is the best way to improve your credit rating. You should never carry more than 20-30 percent of the total balance on a business credit card.


• Ask for an increase in your credit limit if you have a good credit rating. This is the easiest way to improve your credit rating quickly. Having a higher limit and lower balances will reduce the total percentage amount used and this immediately impacts your credit rating.


• Don't close credit cards that you hardly use. Keep the account open because it helps to increase your available credit available. You should only close it if you have a bad payment history with the company.


• Always pay on time. To reduce the amount of money you pay toward interest, start paying your credit card bill when you receive the statement instead of on the due date. The lower balance you have, the lower the daily interest rate will be.


• Have patience. Negative factors that lower your business credit score will remain on your credit report for up to 7 years. This means you need to spend a lot of time monitoring your credit and controlling your spending if you want to improve your score.


• Control your personal finances. Since lenders are cracking down on the amount of business credit cards they issue, they want to loan the money to an individual that is able to control their personal credit. They don't want to see a person that has struggled with their personal finances because they normally run their business finances in the same way.


• Avoid applying for too many business credit cards and loans. This lowers your business credit score and it can take months to repair.


• Have a goal for the credit score you want to obtain and the date in which you want to achieve it. Remember that it takes upwards of 4-5 years to pay off $45,000 if you only pay the minimum payment on your credit cards each month. For some companies, it will take 20 years or longer to re-pay the debt because of the money they spend in interest.


• Watch the key financial indicators on your credit report and compare them to your competitors. This is a great way to indentify areas you need to improve and benchmark your company.

Here are some of the different types of funding that is available for you to choose from.

Traditional:
This is probably the most commonly used method of obtaining funding for your small business. Traditional funding is usually supplied through a bank in the format of a loan either directly to the company or in the form of a personal loan to the business owner. If you are going to be opening a small business and wish to take out a business loan, you are going to need to create a cash flow forecast and a business plan. You are also going to need to have a good personal credit score, this is especially important because your business will not have any type of credit history so you are going to have to secure the loan personally until you can obtain a credit history for your company.

Commercial mortgage loans:
When trying to purchase property for your business you can run into problems with banks wanting to lend you money for certain types of properties, which are known as special purpose properties. These kinds of properties can include funeral homes, churches, sheet metal shops, etc. Banks try to avoid giving loans to these types of purchases because they are not as safe as other loans. Another thing that banks might try to do is to attach a balloon and/or recall provision to commercial loans. This means that the bank can require you to pay back the loan early under certain conditions. These can both be avoided if you look for non-traditional lenders, who tend to be a bit, more understanding when giving commercial loans.

Life insurance:
If you have a whole life policy in place, you can borrow against this policy. If you have term, life insurance this would not be feasible. If you are going to borrow against this policy, you should only do so if you have had the policy for several years so that the policy has some cash value. Insurers are known to let policyholders borrow up to ninety percent of the policy's value. Be sure to keep up on your payment obligations so that the policy stays intact, otherwise you will have to pay everything back at once.

No matter what type of funding that you choose for your business you should prepare a cash flow forecast and a business plan. This will show your investors how you plan to make money and how you plan to pay back your debt.

Second mortgages:
This is a drastic option because if your business does go under you can lose your house. Some people will take out a second mortgage on their home rather than a regular loan because the interest you pay on the second mortgage is tax deductible and the interest you pay on it is usually lower than a credit card or an unsecured loan. Second mortgages are best for people who want to borrow a lot of money all at once and get a fixed monthly payment.

Always provide lenders with a detailed list of how much money you need to start your business and where you plan to spend that money. You must then provide them with information on when you think you will need more financing in the future and how much financing you will need at that time.

Look at alternative financing options instead of just a bank. Since most lenders will ask for a great deal of collateral for a first-time borrower, it is important to check all your options. Angel investors and family investors may be able to provide you with the necessary funding. You will need to come up with most of the money out of your own pocket in order to attract some of the other investors.

To convince a lender that you know what you are doing, hire some good employees. Find people that have skills in different areas like marketing, finances, and human resources. Since you probably don't have the money to pay them yet, you need to obtain letters of intent from them. These letters will provide the lender with information on what the terms and conditions are for their job and that they intend to quit their current job once they receive the necessary funding to get started.

One of the most important things you need to discuss with a lender is how you plan to raise money for the business outside of loans. Prepare some fundraising efforts like company run/walks and include this information in the business plan. Provide realistic expectations of what you will receive from your fundraising efforts so the lender knows you are not in over your head.

Review all the legal aspects of your business to make sure you are in compliance with everything. You should do this before you enter the lender's office or else this may hold up your application. Some of the legal documents you need to be concerned about include the following:

• Legal rights to your property in the event that the business fails


• Employment terms


• Management rules


• Securities laws

If you are denied the loan, you need to start networking your business to find investors. Angel investors are often found through good networking and they can easily help you raise all the money you need to get started through their network of contacts. If you have a large list of investors, they can actually improve your chances of getting more funding in the future from a bank. Investors will be known as members of your management team and this helps to boost your reputation.

Besides getting the money to increase their cash-flow, businesses also use factoring to increase their market share. They have more money available to produce high-quality products that meet their customer's expectations as well as money to advertise with.

What do you need to use factoring?
To use a factoring company, you must demonstrate a high credit rating and a balance sheet. The factoring company will also check to see if your clients are one-time customers or repeat customers. Some of the best customers are government agencies because they take 30-60 days to pay their invoices, giving the factoring company plenty of time to collect interest.

Why should you use factoring?
One of the benefits of factoring is that you no longer need to deal with collections. Once your invoices are created, you can sell them to the factoring company and they will handle the rest. Exercise companies like Gold's Gym and Lady of America often use factoring as a method to collect on their past-due gym members.

Factoring provides you with money immediately, which you can use to pay your employees, increase your advertising, and keep your business afloat. Since you are paying a small fee for factoring, it is an expense and it is tax deductible.

Another benefit of factoring is that it allows you to outsource your bookkeeping. Since the factoring company is handling all the past-due bills, you no longer need to keep track of payments and invoices. This can save the business a large amount of money and time, especially if you have a bookkeeper.

Factoring can also help your business fix its cash-flow problems, which can increase your chances of getting future funding for the company. Since your money is not tied up in invoices, you can use this money to invest as a down payment for a larger loan that can be used to purchase new equipment to help the company expand.

Who offers factoring?
Your current lender may offer factoring, but it is wise to use a factoring company. Factoring companies have more experience and expertise with past-due collections and they are able to help the company expand easier. Some lenders that provide factoring services are unable to collect on the invoices so they end up charging their customers higher fees to make-up for the difference. Do a search in your area to see if there are some local factoring companies available. There are some good factoring companies you can hire and they come with all the service you need (bookkeeping, past-due collections, bankruptcies, court fees) so you can focus on growing your business.

As you can see factoring is a great way to re-gain control of your cash-flow and help your business during hard times. When your lender denies you for a loan, turn to a factoring company so they can help you find the money you need to get your business back on track.

On top of harsh restrictions, most banks do not like to lend money to a company that has been in business for less than 5 years. This is because small businesses tend to fail and declare bankruptcy. The banks tend to lose out on most of their investment in the business so they have become picker in the recent past.

To figure out which lender you need to use, determine which type of business loan will fit your needs. Perhaps you need an unsecured loan over a secured loan. Secured loans are offered by independent lenders mostly because they require some type of collateral in order to obtain them. The lender wants to make sure they can collect their money from somewhere if you default on the loan. An unsecured loan is offer through banks and other types of lenders, but you will not be able to borrow as much.

Newer lenders are more likely to take on risk, so it is a good idea to search for new lenders in your area. They are willing to look into financing a start-up or offer a large loan to a business that has been around less than 5 years.

If you find yourself struggling to get approval from a bank or another lender, contact a business loan broker. The broker has access to different lenders and they will be able to review your financial information and talk about the different types of business loans you qualify for and which lenders they can work with to help you get the financing you need. Brokers have established relationships with these lenders so they can get you a loan that you probably couldn't get on your own. If you use a broker, be prepared to pay for them. Brokers charge pretty high fees, but they may be your only hope if you find it hard to obtain a business loan.

Since the recession, lenders are hesitant to take on risk. If you really want to obtain the loan, be prepared to offer up some type of collateral or find a good co-signer. Consider looking at larger lenders if you need a loan that is greater than $100,000. Smaller lenders just can't afford to take on this amount of risk and they have tighter restrictions on their applications.

Do your research about the different lenders to find out what type of loans they specialize in. Companies that deal with mortgages and leasing are better equipped to invest in the real estate aspect of your business while a company that primarily issues lines of credit can help with the purchase of new equipment. Ask some of your business associates which lenders they have used, this will give you a good idea about the type of risk this lender is willing to take on.

• Business Plan


• Taxes


• Credit report and score


• Financial documentation (profit/loss sheet, cash-flow, income statement)

Another thing you need to bring to the lender is a copy of your taxes. Taxes give the bank an accurate reading of how much money the business makes. Business taxes are complex and there are numerous reasons to hire a tax advisor to handle them for you, one of them is so you can avoid an audit and have proper documentation of all your records. Another is to help you get all the tax deductions you qualify for. Several business owners improperly file their taxes and pay too much money in taxes. Lenders will take a look at your taxes to determine if you are paying properly and if you have any past problems with the IRS like tax avoidance.

Even if you have already started your business and you have a business credit score, your lender will still ask for a copy of your personal credit report and score. This is used to help the lender determine if you are a good candidate for the loan. Your credit report will provide information about potential risk factors like your percentage of available credit and if you have personally defaulted on the loan. Although your business may be a separate entity, you must personally demonstrate good credit worthiness to qualify for a loan.

Lenders will also ask for a copy of your business profit and loss sheet, cash-flow statements, and your income statement. They need to determine if you are a risk and if you are able to re-pay all your loans in a timely manner. Lenders will need to see how well your sales are doing in order to determine if you have a steady cash-flow to support the money you borrow. You should always have more going out than coming in when it comes to financing your business. The income statements will help the lender determine how close to going into the red your business is. If you are struggling to make your monthly payments, they may not offer you financing because your business is at risk of closing its doors.

If you are just setting up a new business, you need to make sure the location in which you place your business is litigious. Banks need to see records that this area is profitable in order for their investment in your business to be worthwhile. They also need to see records of how you plan to handle some of the stresses that come along with your business like legal implications and a poor market.

Expense # 3 - Payroll
An easy cost to reduce is your payroll. You can do without secretaries and other individuals that are paid to do basic jobs. Divide their job duties out to other employees. If you are hesitant to fire people, consider reducing their hours. Some companies will cut back 8-10 hours per employee to save on payroll expenses.

Hire temporary employees or college interns to get you through the busy season and rely on your normal staff for the rest of the year. It's a simple way to save money on payroll and potentially find future employees.

Another aspect of payroll is paying a company to handle it for you. If you can calculate your own tax withholdings and understand how to successful calculate payroll, do it on your own. While a payroll service is nice, they do cost a lot of money.

Expense # 4 - Meetings
The internet can help businesses reduce their gas costs because you can conduct a meeting online. Travel expenses can take a lot of money so it's much easier to host a webinar instead of flying or driving to have a face-to-face meeting with your customers.

Another meeting cost you can cut is meals. Quite often business will spend hundreds of dollars to provide food for the meeting, while this is a nice gesture, it is unnecessary. Ask your employees to contribute to a pot-luck if they want to have food for the meeting or switch to cheaper foods like muffins instead of an entire meal.

Expense # 5 - Bills
If you consistently wait to pay your bills, stop! You can save a ton of money if you start paying your bills as soon as possible. Paying as soon as possible will reduce your average daily balance which will reduce your finance charges. Enroll in automatic bill pay to prevent late payments with high penalties.

You can also reduce the amount of money you pay toward interest by paying more than the minimum payment. If you have loans, check to see if there are any penalties for paying the loan off early. Increasing the frequency of your payments will also help to reduce the interest amount and help your business get out of debt sooner.

Expense # 6 - Healthcare and incentives
If you are still struggling to get by with your monthly expenses, take a look at cutting some incentives. Retirement plans and healthcare are normally some of your biggest expenses. You can switch to a high deductible healthcare plan to reduce costs or you can consider cutting it altogether although this is normally riskier strategy.

Office supply costs are another area that you will need to evaluate to help reduce your business costs. Many business owners do not realize how much money is being wasted on office supplies because they are usually minor costs compared to other areas of your business. When looking over the money spent on office supplies you will see how much money is being wasted, in tough times saving a little can make a big difference. Office supplies end up costing a lot of money because people usually buy them on as as-needed basis. Instead, what you can do is buy the items in bulk at an office supply store or a warehouse store to save money. Just before buying in bulk shop around for the best prices, not everything is going to be a great deal. You can also reduce your dependency on office supplies to help you cut costs further. For example, do not hard file copies of everything that you do, computer files will serve the same purpose as long as the files are properly backed up.

Another expense that you can look at to see if it can be reduced is your internet service. If your internet service is not bundled with your telephone service, it can end up costing you a lot more money than it needs to. If you can bundle the two charges together you can save money on both bills. You also need to evaluate the speed of your connection. Many times businesses are paying for the highest speed they can get, when they can use a lower speed to get the job done. The higher speeds can cost twice as much as the lower speeds, and in some cases, there is not much difference between the speeds except for the cost. If you do go with a bundled package look over your bill each month to ensure that, you are not paying for services that you are not using.

Having a business phone line is going to be more expensive than having a home phone line, but when running a business you need to have the business line. Make sure that you shop around to find the best rates for your business, check to see if there are any business packages that company's offer, which can combine local service with long distance service.

The key to reducing your business costs is to look over what you are spending and see what areas you can cut back in.

If you cannot break your lease to get into a smaller location or think, the spot, your business is in a prime location you can look into talking to the property owner about subletting a portion of the building. Subletting the portion of the building that you are not using can cut down on your indirect costs because you will be sharing the rent expense with another business. In addition to sharing rent, you can also look into sharing the cost of a receptionist and billing department, if it is feasible.

Utility expenses are another indirect cost that you can look into cutting down on. Regardless if your business is expanding or reducing in size, utility costs usually remain about the same. The only way to cut down on these costs is to make some changes in your business that allows you to reduce the amount of electricity that you are using. For example, convert to fluorescent lighting to save money on electricity, use a high efficiency air conditioner to reduce the amount of energy that you are using, turn off lights and machines that are not being used, etc. You can also reduce your heating costs by installing high efficiency furnaces. You can also adjust your thermostats to help save on heating and cooling costs all year long.

Shipping costs for your business is another indirect cost that you need to look into cutting down on. The more your business ships the higher this expense is going to be, so you want to ensure that you are getting the best shipping rate for your business needs. If you only do a limited amount of shipping it will be beneficial to just pay as you go based on the weight of the item that you are shipping. If you do a lot of shipping, you should look into paying a flat rate for the items that you ship. To lower your shipping costs you will need to talk to your account representative at the company that you are using for your shipping needs. You can also look into other shipping companies to see if you are getting the best deal possible.

Equipment is also a money waster for businesses. Rather than purchasing your equipment outright, you need to consider renting the equipment that you need. Renting the equipment can help cut down on your costs because you won't have to spend a lot of money replacing broken or out of date equipment. Renting your equipment allows you cut costs because you can simply trade in your equipment when an upgrade is needed rather than having to buy all new equipment each time. You can also cut down costs on repairing your equipment; if it is rented the company you are, renting it from will need to fix it, as long as it is being properly used.

Your employees are going to be your highest direct costs, to cut down on this cost you are going to need to make sure that you hire the correct number of employees for your business. By having the right number of employees for your business you will not be paying too, much in employee wages or taxes, but you will also reduce the amount of money that you are spending on employee benefits.

To ensure that you do not have too many employees working for you, you need to look at your busiest times and your busiest days. To determine how many employees you need you are going to want to average the two times. Start with the fewest amount of employees' necessary, but watch closely so that you are not cutting back on the amount of customer service that you offer your customers. You also want to watch to make sure that you are not working your employees too hard. If you happen to notice that holidays are busier than other days or evenings are busier than days you can always hire seasonal employees or part-time employees.

Your employee benefits are another area where costs can be cut down. Look at the benefits that you are offering your employees to ensure that you are getting the best prices. You also want to make sure that you are offering the same type of benefits that your competitors are offering. Employees should also be earning the benefits that you are providing. If they are not performing up to standards you can eliminate some benefits or even cut them back, which will cut down on costs for your business.

Step two:
Review program and management achievements and fiscal performance for the year that has just ended. When doing this you should compare your budget from last year to your actual figures to see how close you came to following your budget and to see if any changes are necessary. You also need to review your objectives and goals from the previous year to see if they were all meet or if not, why they were not meet. After reviewing your prior year's goals and objectives you should start discussing what your new goals and objectives for the upcoming year are.

Step three:
You will need to estimate what your new costs are going to be in order to reach your new goals and objectives. When you are estimating your costs, you need to take in both fixed costs and variable costs. Sometimes fixed costs are overlooked in the budget process because regardless of what is going on we still have to pay those costs. Although our fixed costs are not tied to our current goals or objectives, such as building our customer base, they still need to be accounted for because they are an integral part of running the business. Each cost should be listed separately. For example, wages should have its own line item; raw materials should be on a separate line, etc.

Step four:
You will also need to estimate your income for the year. You can do this by comparing the last few years' income to get a general idea. If one of your goals is to increase your sales, you should add in some extra income but always estimate on the conservative side.

Step five:
You need to compare your expenses and income that you have budgeted. Not all budgets have to balance but you must understand why they do not balance. For example, do you plan to purchase a major asset this year to help increase your business over the next year or two? If so you might be running on a deficit this year, but once your sales increase you will no longer be running on a deficit.

To help make an accurate [prediction of your business income you will need to ask yourself some basic questions about your business. You will need to figure out how much you can realistically sell next year and how much you will charge for your products or services. To figure out how much you will charge for your products or services you need to know how much the product costs to make, plus how much your time is worth. You add the two together and then mark it up for your final selling cost. How much you sell the product or service for is going to figure in to how much money you will make for the year.

Since a business plan is basically a map for the future, you can prepare for some of the larger business expenses like investing in new equipment or hiring more manpower once your business reaches a certain number of sales. Review your business plan often to make sure it is accurate and can help your business obtain the financing it needs for new equipment.

Step # 2 - Know your products
One mistake many businesses make is that they start offering a product without knowing if the expense is adding value to the company. Look at the manufacturing phase of your products and search for ways you can cut out some additional expenses as long as they don't impact the quality of your products. Several businesses waste money on test runs because they do not recycle the products. Always know everything about your product before you sell it so you can find ways to reduce waste and save money.

Step # 3 - Declare the right business
You may find that you are paying too much in taxes because you have not declared the right business type. Investigate different business types like Corporations, Partnerships, and Limited-Liability Companies (LLC) to make sure you are getting the right tax savings. You also need to protect yourself from losing everything if the business fails, a sole proprietorship will cause you to lose it all while a LLC will protect your personal assets from the business.

Step # 4 - Outdated machinery
Once place that businesses need to look when they are cutting costs is their outdated machinery. Old computers systems can cost your company lost money in wages and in output. If you are trying to load an Adobe program on a 1998 or 2000 computer, you have probably experienced the frustration of using an outdated computer. Although you may need to invest more money now in new machinery, it will save you a ton of money in the long run. It may even allow you to cut back on some of your staff members, reducing your salary costs.

Step # 5 - Combine Jobs
A simple way to control your business costs is to start combining jobs. If you have 10 employees and you only need 7, divide up the jobs of the other 3 staff members among your remaining staff members. It's as simple as adding the Distribution Coordinator to be on the Marketing Team to add input about shipping supplies and packaging of products. Encourage your employees to pick up the slack where they see fit. If they notice a co-worker is struggling, ask them to step-in and help them out. This is an easy way to keep your company running effectively.

Controlling costs is not easy but you can find ways to do it by simply walking around the office and observing the ways your employees work. Look for ways they can reduce the time they waste doing their jobs.

Tip # 1 - Don't pile the bills

Tip # 2 - Separate business finances from personal finances
One of the common problems business owners run into is that they use their company credit card to purchase personal items. Business finances and personal finances must be kept separate from one another. This will help when it comes time to file you business taxes and personal taxes. Using business money to pay for personal items can get you into trouble with the IRS and it can also cause your business to go under if you cannot control what you're spending.

Tip # 3 - Reconcile your accounts
Always make sure your bank statements and account balances match up regularly. If you don't do this often, you may have a small error that turns into a bigger problem and it can be the cause of over-drafted accounts or missed payments. Keeping your accounts updated on daily basis will let you know exactly which checks have cleared the bank and which ones you are still waiting on. Spend some time to input your cash transactions into the ledger and make sure to deposit them in the bank, not your pocketbook.

Tip # 4 - Software
One of the best things you can do for your business is to purchase some good accounting software. Software programs like QuickBooks will handle all your business needs from invoicing to payroll taxes. This will make your business run better and it can remove some of the stress you may be feeling. If you don't have time to spend organizing the data, hire a bookkeeper. Hire the bookkeeper to come in part-time to manage your accounts so you don't fall behind and end up in trouble with your lenders. The benefit of using a software program like QuickBooks is that it is easy to learn so you don't need to pay thousands of dollars to hire a professional accountant.

Tip # 5 - Notifications
Set up some email and phone notifications when bills are due. Using a timing method will help you avoid late payments and it can help you pay your employees on time. Ask your bank to base your statement on a calendar basis so it can correspond with your software program.

Tip # 6 - Automatic Payments
One of the best things you can do for your employees and creditors is to enroll in automatic payments. For a low fee, your bank will automatically transfer the appropriate amount to each of your employee's bank accounts on payday. They will also do the same for your lenders. You can easily set this up through your bank's web site. If they do not offer direct deposit, hire a payroll company to handle this for you. Payroll services will handle all of your tax information also and it will be much easier for you and your staff members.

Accounting software should be able to provide you with the ability to enter and mail invoices, complete payroll, tax reporting, and the day-to-day needs of the business. Consider the size of your business before you purchase an accounting program. Some small businesses by larger software programs like Peachtree and they quickly become confused with all the additional features they do not need.

QuickBooks is a commonly used accounting program. This is because of its ability to grow and adapt to the changes within the business. Growth is always expected so it is important to seek a program that is able to grow with your company so you don't need to purchase new software down the road. The only thing you will need to do is update your software every year or so. When you are considering the growth of your company, look for a program that offers discounts for upgrades. Seek out a company that has a solid reputation in the industry so you know they will be around when it comes time to upgrade your software.

Some accounting software takes up a lot of room and you need to have computers with the capability to handle this. Upgrade your computer to the latest versions of Window's and other programs to avoid any problems with the new software. If you have an older accounting program installed, see if it is compatible with the new program so you can transfer all your records. This will save you hours of data entry work and it will eliminate any mistakes on your part.

Accounting software is expensive. The more features you need, the more expensive your software will be. Cost should always play a role in your ability to choose good accounting software. Several companies have made simplistic versions of their software for their clients with budget concerns. QuickBooks has an online version of their software that is much cheaper than purchasing the full program, although it does have its limitations. Do a cost comparison between all the programs to see which ones you can actually afford before you start comparing their capabilities.

Another concern with accounting software is their support system. Since it may be difficult to teach yourself how to use the software, you need to pick a company that comes with excellent customer support and training information. One of the biggest complaints with customer support services is that they are not available 24 hours and that it is difficult to actually speak to an agent. Make sure you investigate this before you purchase the software so you are not frustrated when you run into problems.

The last thing you need to know about accounting software is that they normally have a limited amount of users. If you need to have 10 people viewing the software, you may only be able to create 3 accounts and each employee will need to sign-in through that account. This can cause problems for your employees that need to input credit card information and for your employees that are trying to run reports.

Tip one:
Financial statements are the actual records of a business' financial activities. Financial statements provide an overview of a company's profitability and their financial condition in both the short and long term. Financial statements are used by both internal and external users. Something else that you need to know about financial statements is that if you are a publicly traded company then you are going to need to file your financial statements on a quarterly basis so your investors can examine the finances of your business. But even if you are not a publicly traded company by preparing your financial statements on a quarterly basis you are able to perform a financial assessment of your business four times a year which gives you a lot of insight into how well your company is doing.

Tip two:
As a business, you are going to need to have a separate checking account for your business. Many big businesses already have their own checking accounts, but many people don't think about opening a separate checking account for their business when they first start their business because they think it is o.k. to run the business with their personal checking account. There are numerous reasons that you want to avoid this including tax purposes.

Tip three:
If you are not comfortable with creating and maintaining your own spreadsheets, you can find computer software that you can use to simplify the business finance process. With all of the advances in technology, there is plenty of software to choose from that is easy to use.

Tip four:
Finance trackers can be a great asset to any business. This provides you with an easy way to help keep track of all of your expenses, tax deductions, and income that your business is generating. You can buy business finance trackers for palm pilots and computers. This software is an easy way to keep all of your business records in one place. This is a huge advantage when tax time comes around. This is not to say that you should not keep your receipts, credit card statements and other papers for proof of your expenses.

Tip five:
When it comes to running a business there are numerous things that you are going to need to worry about and unfortunately two of those things are embezzlement and business finance fraud. Nobody wants to think that they can become a victim of these two types of financial crimes because they tend to think that everybody is as honest as they are and for the most part this is true. With the advances in today's technology, you not only have to worry about your own employees when it comes to financial fraud but you have to worry about outside forces as well. You are going to want to take all of the steps necessary to protect your businesses finances from fraud and embezzlement.