Simple Finance Guide for Your Home Business
Question about finance
Where to find free start-up finance spreadsheet to show potential investor eg 3yr revenue projection, etc?I co-founded a start-up. Business plan is in the work. I still need to work on the financial section. I know I should have a CFO work on it. But I don't have $$ to pay/hire a CFO. So I get to wear the finance hat too among other roles. Do you know of free finance spreadsheet templates I could download to use? Need to finish biz plan to show potential investors. Can't show current biz plan as is without figures. Biz plan doesn't mean anything to investors without 3 year financial planning such as revenue projection, dev't cost projection, marketing budget projection, potential # of people for hire, other related finance figures of interest to potential investor. Tks for your help in advance!
Have you recently started your own home business, but aren’t sure how to handle the finances? Are you nervous when it comes to business debt, budgeting for the future and balancing your gross/net figures? Below are some helpful tips to guide you through some of the most difficult tasks of business finance. You can accurately and consistently manage your business finances without a lot of stress if you’ll implement the simple principles below.
Finance Starting Point
In order to manage your home business finances, you need a definite starting point. This will be a summary of your entire financial assessment for your business. Note of Warning: Often, a home business finance plan mingles with personal finances. Try to keep these as separate as possible for tax purposes and to avoid confusion. Even if you buy something personal with business money, write it down so you’ll be sure not to include it as a business expense.
Your Starting Point Assessment Should Include the Following:
*Most Current Gross Profits/Loss of the Business
*Most Current Net Profits/Loss of the Business (your bottom line)
*Cash on Hand
*Checking Account Balance
*Debts/Loans for the Business (include payments due and balances)
*Assets
*Advertising Funds
*Miscellaneous Items having to do with your business finances
Once you have an assessment of where you stand financially with your home business, you can move forward. The assessment is not your budget, but it allows you to create a budget based on realistic figures. Budgeting on a dream is not wise with a business. You might reach your goals, but what if you don’t? Set your goals, but only budget for those amounts when you’ve actually reached them.
Creating a Home Business Budget
Most home businesses have a tremendous advantage over larger businesses because operating expenses are normally much lower. There’s no building rent to pay, additional utilities, etc. If you stay at your desk most of the day, you will save on gas, car maintenance, etc. For this reason, it’s usually easier to budget for a home business. Based on what your business has profited over recent months, or your start-up cash if your business is brand new, write down all of your business expenses that need to be paid for each month or year to get a monthly estimate. What about your salary? The salary must be determined only after your expenses are paid. If there’s any left, you’ll still want to keep extra cash in your business account for emergencies or unexpected slow times. You should determine your salary on the low end at first while building your business and stick with your salary amount to maintain a steady budget. For example, if you’re able to take a $350 per week salary in a brand new home business, that’s great! Many home business owners work a full time job while building their business and take very little (if any) salary. If you have a business checking account or some form of online account for finances, you should deposit all funds into this account and pay your salary out of the account as well as your expenses. Checking accounts make budgeting a simple process if you keep your checkbook well balanced at all times.
Create a Budget Based on the Following Categories (more if necessary):
Some of these items will be broken down into weekly figures, some monthly and some yearly. However, you should calculate a monthly average in order to create a general monthly budget.
*Business Expenses (include supplies, equipment, phone, etc.)
*Insurance (business and personal health insurance can be included)
*Taxes (estimated figure from your accountant based on profits)
*Debt Repayment for any business loans
*Advertising (amount will vary, but you can set a minimum or maximum amount)
*Your Salary
Once you have a list of expenses for each month, write down due dates for each, and pay bills as they come due. Pay on time, but not too early. Your money can sit in your bank account and draw interest in many cases while waiting on due dates.
Budget with Slow Times in Mind
Just because you have tremendous profits one month, this doesn’t indicate that you can raise your salary. Leave money in your account for those slow times. Also, budget in advance for payments which are due yearly. It’s much easier to save a little each month than to be surprised with a large bill later. Following the simple budgeting guide above will enable you to keep an even pace while managing your business finances. Handle your finances with care because this is the lifeline of your home business.
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From the greatest moments in west wing history the wonderful few scenes where Bruno explains that you can lead the charge against loopholes in campaign finance law while still utilizing the benefits until the laws are changed. And to not do so is not only stupid, but it could cost you
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Tags: Business, English, ESL, finance, Vocabulary
Posted on January 22nd, 2010 at 1:02 am
@hurzak says “You could at least tell us the band sounds great as the ship sinks to the bottom of the abyss.”
LOL!!!!
Posted on January 22nd, 2010 at 1:15 am
Prepare or prepare to die.
Posted on January 22nd, 2010 at 1:17 am
Set up a basic credit criteria, in which based on your clients credit score or certain qualifying options that you create, you base your credit line. Ok to make this easier, you could for example use a 90% credit line for clients whose credit score (or other certain criteria because companies sometimes don't look for a certain score but more or less other items they deem necessary) is 800 or more and it goes down from there…so as if a new client you have has a 500 score you could issue them only a 10% financing line. Second, after you set your standards, go ahead and work out your governing contracts, what is your interest rate (check with other similar companies in the field)? What is your late fee and when are payments due..how about penalties? Boy, that's enough for now huh!
Posted on January 22nd, 2010 at 1:20 am
how can we spend our way out of the recession, without jobs. Recover I don’t
think so hang on the ride is going to get real scary. If your starving neighbor see’s you eating, never know what he does. Remember we are only humans.
Posted on January 22nd, 2010 at 1:52 am
I've been in Finance for so long that I've decided that I wanted to do a different degree that was along the lines of my future goals… Law. I did my BBA in Legal Studies. I was a Finance major at first. I will suggest that you stick with the Finance Major vs the Business Administration. I mean if you think about what exactly is the B.A. offering you when the bottom line of the degree is in Business Administration? To have a specialty gives you a 'know-how' that makes you more adept in taking on positions that offer stellar pay as Finance and Accounting is known for. Each person is different in terms of what they want to do with their future goals. I normally see students minor in Business Administration if their Undergraduate Degree is in a totally different realm. This is only to signal to the employer that you are versatile and have business skills. If you are a business student I suggest Finance if this is what you want. Finance is definitely interesting and keeps you on the toes not just in the sense of performing statistical analysis but also conducting market and financial research including technical analysis which keeps you in the loop of world news as much as national news. You begin to witness the chain in global commerce & media and how it effects one another and inevitably effects the market as well as consumers far and near.
Another point that comes to mind is the institution that is granting the Finance degree. What is their reputation in the Finance Department? Are they first class? Are they top-rated? Usually the "glamourous pay but slave to your job" are firms off of W-Street which hit Ivy league schools to join their Associate or Summer programs. These programs, once selected ..highly selective, gear you up for positions such as equity or fixed-income analysts. Again, the pay is here, the perks are there, but you get no life. If you're looking to have that lifestyle then ensure your alma-matter can deliver. Your grades will obviously have to stand on its own and well .. if you have connections then use them.
If you want something more exciting in Business then go for Marketing. I'm leaning to the Marketing aspect in my MBA program which will play instrumental in my Entertainment Law (Law, Marketing, Finance (Budgeting)).
Good luck with everything.
P.S. I suggest you take a few finance classes (required and as an elective) before you decide.
Posted on January 22nd, 2010 at 4:03 am
I hope it doesn’t get better too quickly. We need to change our economic system to prevent this from happening again. If everything turns around we’ll forget this and go back to the way it was before.
Posted on January 22nd, 2010 at 11:51 pm
and how many of us will really be shocked when china moves on in and takes over? Not just behind the scenes as it is now, but right up in your face, in your home, etc.
hold on tight and cover your asses folks.
Posted on January 23rd, 2010 at 10:44 am
There is no such thing as a Finance generalist or Finance specialist. Here are some sample job titles:
Financial Manager
Financial Controller
Financial Adviser
Posted on January 23rd, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Please be aware of what you are proposing on getting yourself into. Please do more research first.
Reminder: We are in a World-wide Recession.
Warning> Jobs in the field of Law are drying up fast!! This is just not a good field to invest time and/or money into. This is a SHRINKING vocational field. Many reasons. Many people today (mistakenly) think they can do their own legal work, thanks to the Internet. Also, we simply already have way too many Legal Professionals – we have an absolute glut!! ("Legal Professionals" includes, but is not limited to: Attorneys/Lawyers, Paralegals, Legal Assistants, Legal Secretaries, Bailiffs, Court Reporters, etc, etc)
Regarding being a Paralegal: Employers (usually law firms) in the field of Law today want employees with Bachelors degrees from traditional colleges/universities. Those "certificates" you see advertised aren't worth the paper they are printed on – they are generally scams. (I found this out the hard way.)
Cost of law school to be lawyer, approx $150,000+.
Be prepared to take on a lot of debt.
Even if you finish law school, you won't be able to find a job when you are done. Since this vocational field is shrinking, many new attorneys/lawyers are, themselves, having to work "down" as Paralegals, Legal Assistants, Legal Secretaries, Bailiffs, Court Reporters, etc, etc, to simply try to keep some of their bills paid <<this would be your competition. And the competition is fierce!!
Now… the law schools know this, but they won't tell you the truth >that the job market/economy is just saturated with way too many Legal Professionals. Instead the schools will feed you a fairytale and will lie to you. The root of the problem is we have too many law schools. We are in a recession, and the schools are fighting for their own survival – they will tell students anything to get to the students' money. (Which is why they won't tell you the truth about the job market for the field of Law.) And these schools continue to recruit and churn out even more graduates………….
If you don't believe me, then just do a search here on Yahoo Answers to see what other posters are saying about the current status of the field of Law. Call some local law firms – ask to speak to the Manager of Human Resources – ask them if they are hiring; ask them what they think about job availability in the field of Law………………
In the book "So You Want to be a Lawyer?" by Marianne Calabrese and Susanne Calabrese (ISBN 0-88391-136-1): "The United States has more lawyers than any other country in the world. About 38,000 students graduate >each year< from the 200+ law schools in the United States. The competition is very keen for jobs and clients." – Even Associate Justice Antonin Scalia (who served on the U.s. Supreme Court for more than 20 years) says there are too many lawyers. (9/14/2008)
Check out these websites: http://informeddecisionmaking.blogspot.com
http://calicocat.com/2004/08/law-school-big-lie.html
http://abajournal.com/news/triplt_bad_news_for_law_students_three_firms_aX_summer_associate_programs/
http://abajournal.com/news/as_rio_tinto_saves_millions_other_corps_will_outsource_too_counsel_says/
(A link to a website does not constitute endorsement.)
If you want a job when you are done with your studies, consider and look into the field of >>>Healthcare! I spoke to a career counselor from Jobs and Family Services, and HE told me that this is where the jobs are, and future job availability! and scholarships!
Good luck.
(This is based on my current knowledge, information, and belief. This was intended as personal opinion, and not intended to be used as legal advice. Please be careful and do your research.)
Posted on January 23rd, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Traditional financing means your payments are the same every month for the life of the loan, e.g., $500.
In balloon financing, your payments will be lower, except at the end; this will be several times higher. In such an arrangement, your payment may be $350, but your final balloon payment might be $7000.
The latter type of financing is what trips up people, as they're able to make the smaller monthly payments at least until something happens – they lose their job, the economy turns sour, they have huge medical expenses, etc. Then they find themselves unable to make that balloon payment.
When exploring your options, have you crunched your numbers to be able to afford that car? (This is an important step in preparing for a big-ticked purchase.) Next, do you have enough money saved to be able to cover that balloon payment?
Posted on January 24th, 2010 at 2:30 am
I wish I could teach the world:
Don't ever carry credit card balances – it ruins your credit
Don't even think of leasing a car – its moronic
Don't ever rent furniture
Don't ever buy a time share
Don't even think of financing furniture – save up for things.
Save to buy a car, as much as possible.
Put 20% down on a house – even if you think your friends will make fun of you for having a small house.
Put money away in a ROTH, 401K – as much as possible
Become as self- insured as possible – stop making insurance companies rich
Always have 6 months worth of living expenses socked away.
/
Posted on January 24th, 2010 at 8:20 am
I am sorry i dont know.
Posted on January 24th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
World Factbook info, California as an independent state, it would have had the 10th largest economy in the world in 2007.
July 09 California #1 foreclosures at 108K
U.S. 360,000 for 1 month!
Go To: Google maps, select REAL ESTATE @ right options box. Check FORECLOSURES, zip code 91739 and watch the search area w/PINS of homes in foreclosure. MINDBLOWING! zip 91739 the Inland Empire. Ground zero
CA CML RE @ 30% vacancy rate! 5 yr bloodbath more at: CaliforniaRE2009 blogspot
Posted on January 24th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Very few preachers start a church on their own. They spend some time learning the practical details while working in an established church.
As to how they make a living, did you imagine that what comes in by way of the Sunday collection plate is all they get? The larger donations come from people who are solicited personally, people who can donate thousands, perhaps even millions, in a single check. Those large donations are then invested in real estate and other assets, against which the church can borrow as necessary.
And those are just the relatively honest ones.
Posted on January 24th, 2010 at 11:54 pm
There are a lot of different opportunities. You can work in commercial banking, as a loan officer, and work your way up. You can work for the government as a financial examiner or something of the sort. Also, finance is a fantastic degree if you want to do something with insurance, i.e. a claims adjuster, claims representative, or an underwriter. Finance will also give you the necessary knowledge to go into Real Estate too. So, obviously one of the benefits of having this degree is flexibility. It also easily transitions into an MBA (although not required or necessary.) Another benefit (depending on your school) is that finance is sometimes seen as an applied math degree, just depending on the difficulty of the major at your school. Hope this helps!
Posted on January 25th, 2010 at 6:47 am
3:14 beautiful
Posted on January 25th, 2010 at 8:04 am
You have a very bad attitude guy. You need to sound more positive. you could at least tell us the band sounds great as the ship sinks to the bottom of the abyss.
Posted on January 25th, 2010 at 9:58 am
ROFL, Dollar TP. is that your one “green shoot ?”.