Business Finances and Personal Finances

Are you a business owner who makes their personal finances as important as your business finances?  No business owner is typical, but most spend considerable time, effort, and money ensuring that they have their fingers on the pulse of their business.  One of the main arteries of a company is its financial records and bookkeeping, and a successful business owner will keep a close eye on their financials or hire someone to do so and regularly report to the owner.  Key questions the business owner should be able to answer are:

1. How much cash is in the bank?
2. What are my short-term accounts payable and receivable?
3. How quickly are our receivables usually paid?
4. What is our monthly overhead cost?
5. How quickly does my inventory turnover and need to be re-stocked?
6. How much revenue can I expect to receive in the next period?

Business owners often know the answers to these questions with very little effort.  What we find surprising as Financial Planners and Investment Advisors is that many business owners are reluctant to take the same approach with their personal financial affairs.  These questions are sometimes harder to answer at home than they are in the business because of the extra time and effort it takes to be able to answer them. These important questions can be rephrased and applied to anyone:

1. How much cash do I have in my checking and savings accounts?
2. When are my bills due and will my paycheck arrive in time to cover everything? Or how much of a cushion do I need each month?
3. What is my normal monthly budget for required fixed expenses such as rent, mortgage payments, or car payments?
4. How much do I need to allow for buying food, gas, clothing other items that change from month to month?
5. How much will my paycheck be this month?

Household finances may not require as much attention as business finances, but it does require regular monitoring to be able to answer these important questions.  We find that many business owners simply don’t have the time to focus on both their household and business finances, and thus their household finances may suffer.

CCMI is here to help our business owner clients make sense of their household financial picture and make long-term plans that can be monitored on a regular basis.  This often leads to reduced anxiety about money and allows the business owner to continue to focus their efforts on the business while having the tools in place to monitor their personal finances.