As George * related his story, his disappointment was palpable. He was out of time and out of options. It was too late to have done things differently. The best thing he could do now was to clean up a nasty surprise. You see, George received a tax bill that made his stomach sink. He had recently made some significant purchases, and now he was sick. As we explored the situation, the real cause of the disappointment was evident. Although the tax bill was indeed a nasty surprise, it was actually just a symptom that something was seriously wrong. If you’re like most small businesses, that something was wrong in the trade George might be disappointing to your business too.
Remember that sinking feeling you experienced when you find a nasty surprise in your business? Maybe for you it was an unexpected tax bill, or bank overdraft, or sales were down, or maybe for you it was something else. That sinking feeling can be a thing of the past business with the right system of reporting in place. Just system will not prevent something bad happen, but they can make sure you are ready. The funny thing about preparation is that if you’re not ready, you’re likely to wish that you had been, and if you are ready, you will often find that things go so much better. Avoid nasty surprises.
Let’s see how accurate reporting system can help you avoid nasty surprises in connection with common situations described above. Regular monthly monitoring Profit & Loss Statement can help you avoid unexpected tax bill shock. Weekly monitoring fee deadline rights (AR) and accounts payables as well as bank balance will ensure that you are not surprised a bank overdraft. That sinking feeling of flat or negative sales figures comes from a place of powerlessness. By monitored weekly, since your sales and leads are coming from, you will be aware of changes in the market as soon as you are affected by it. You can not change things that are beyond your control, but with the proper reporting system in place, you will not get those nasty surprise and then stuck playing catch-up.
Avoid disappointment
Have you ever kicked yourself (figuratively, of course) for a decision in hind-sight looks rather stupid? Fortunately, a lot of disappointment that we experience can be avoided by making informed decisions. In other words, we had known more information at the time we were to make a decision, we would have preferred to do things differently. Again, to have the right system of reporting in place can help you avoid kicking yourself over poor decisions.
Let’s see how having the right reporting in place can help you avoid the disappointment of poor choices. Reviewing monthly and year-to-date profit and loss consolidation allows you to see the tax bill. It also gives you the opportunity to consult an accountant or financial planning partner to ensure that you are applying the best tax strategies. Timely review of this report can easily save you thousands. If you are truly looking at your requirements, payables and bank balance, buy your decisions will be informed that knowledge – allowing you to make decisions that will keep you from overdrawing your account. Weekly monitoring where your sales and leads are coming from you not only know what is happening in the market, it also gives you a chance to quickly respond to changes. In other words, your choice of marketing, advertising, and new product / service development are all informed of timely information.
Having the right reporting system in place in your business is all about positioning the company so that you are ready for what lies ahead and decision-making is informed of timely information. Uncomfortable fact is that the engineer most of their disappointment through our own unrealistic expectations. Unrealistic expectations are simply expectations that are not based on facts. Putting the right reporting system in place in your business will allow you to be much more prepared for what’s happening in your business now and in the foreseeable future.