Is disorganization costing you money?

Disorganization is not only a drag to deal with, but could it also be costing you money in your business. Disorganization can cost you money in actual dollars, but also in time spent not focused on the important, revenue-generating things you could be spending your time on.

Organization, especially within our financial systems, is so crucial as an entrepreneur if we want to be profitable, but especially if we want to scale our business in any fashion. Whether scaling to you means that you want to hire someone to help but still do the work, or if that means that you want to eventually replace yourself in the business to be hands-off; having a system to easily see your profitability, cash flow, and what is required to make all the numbers align with your goals- this is all important if you want to scale.

The question then becomes though, how do I get and STAY organized with my finances in business? And the answer to that is going to be very personal for you. So let's dive in with a few questions you should answer in order to get started.

Are you a paper lover or a digital guru?

Do you love file folders and the smell and feel of a piece of paper in your hands?

Do you gather all the receipts and keep them for when you need them?

Or, do you hate the idea of having paper around anywhere and tend to scan in everything or ask for digital receipts everywhere you go? Do you drop receipts in the trash before you ever even get out of the store?

The answers to these questions will determine whether you will want a paper or digital system to organize.

Or, do you hate the idea of having paper around anywhere and tend to scan in everything or ask for digital receipts everywhere you go? Do you drop receipts in the trash before you ever even get out of the store?

The answers to these questions will determine whether you will want a paper or digital system to organize.

Dedicated Time

Having dedicated time each and every week to do the financial things in your business (and in your home) can be helpful in avoiding overwhelm when it piles up after not dealing with it for several weeks (maybe even months...). I bundle this into my weekly CFO time for my business and deal with this during my money date with my husband.

The key here is to honor this time though. You can't set it and ignore it because something else "comes up" or you "forget". It needs to be an appointment with yourself that you honor.

I have even had entrepreneurs use this time to pay themselves weekly so it is an incentive to sit down and do the things.

Whatever is going to keep you accountable to honoring this time, do THAT!

Keep business as business and personal as personal

Having a clear separation of business and personal

finances is going to bekey to having an organizational system that is less time-consuming and easier to navigate.

Have a business bank account and don't run personal expenses through it. Don't run business expenses through your personal account.

If you have been doing this, start now to begin to unwind everything so it is separate.

With some dedicated time, focus and intention, you truly can create an organizational system that will work for you now and moving forward, and one that you can grow as your business grows, one you can hand off when someone else takes this aspect of your business over, but that you know so you can still oversee everything.

Every year in January I host an Entrepreneur's Financial Organizational Challenge geared towards helping entrepreneurs create an organizational system around finances, dedicate the time to do so, and have accountability for an entire month to do the things that need the doing done. You can check out information on that for active enrollment here.