Page 31 - Tropic Magazine Issue 18

PROFILE • VBA
INDUSTRY • HEALTH

Switching on your

business brain

As business owners we have so many demands on our time;
keeping customers happy, managing staff and dealing with
the day-to-day aspects of running our business.
To successfully grow our business and take it to the next
level we need to step out of the daily grind and think like a
business owner. Where is the business currently at? What
are our plans for next year and beyond? What investments do
we need to make to set ourselves up for success?
In this article we share our thoughts on how we can switch
on our business brains and successfully manage the financial
aspects of our business.

KNOW YOUR NUMBERS day to the next, so what’s the point?”
The most successful businesses have a A forecast is never perfect, and things will
clear line of sight over their numbers. change throughout the year but if you Adam Volcov from VBA Accountants &
They know exactly how much revenue don’t have a plan for growth your results Business Advisors
they are generating, their major costs and will be inconsistent, and you will find it
cash flows. difficult to grow.
Accurate and regular financial reporting performance of our business. Using
is the foundation for making better DEVELOP BUSINESS INSIGHTS cloud accounting software, we can view
business decisions and an essential Armed with accurate financial reporting our financial results in real time.
requirement for a healthy and growing and a forecast for growth, we can use this Sounds easy, in theory, but with so many
business. information to develop further business demands on our time, implementing
Fortunately for us we are spoilt for choice insights. and managing a financial reporting
when it comes to financial reporting By measuring our financial performance system can be a challenge for most small
packages, with software providers such with results achieved in previous months, business owners.
as Xero (www.xero.com), MYOB (www. quarters and years, we can identify trends VBA has solved this problem by
myob.com/au) and other cloud based and focus on the specific areas of our developing a forecasting and reporting
technologies, providing us with the business that require attention. program called My Business Brain. Using
financial reports we need to successfully We can also compare our results with the cloud technology, we extract the financial
manage our business. forecast, providing us with an internal data from your accounting system and
benchmark as to whether the business is create financial reports that provide you
CREATE A FORECAST on track to achieve its plans or needs to with the insights you need to manage
Just relying on actual results, while adjust. and improve the financial performance of
useful, doesn’t provide us with all the Developing business insights allows us, your business.
answers. It’s like driving a car looking as business owners, to switch on our
in the rear-view mirror; at some point business brains and answer the following COLLABORATE
we are going to crash. We need to be key questions: Of course, no one person is an island
looking forward and benchmark our • Is our revenue growing? and success is a team sport. To bring all
performance based on our future plans, • Am I gaining or losing customers? this together we need to collaborate with
not on what we achieved last year. • How much are my customers our team and enlist the support of our
To take our business to the next level, we spending? mentors and professional advisors.
need to create a forecast for what we want • Are my staff costs reasonable?
our business to look like. Don’t look too • Is my business profitable?
far ahead; just start with next year and • How much free cash flow is my There’s a lot to consider when
use that as your baseline to assess your business generating? growing your business – but you
financial performance. don’t have to figure it out alone.
Many small business owners don’t have EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY Reach out to VBA today and take
a business forecast and there are many With the prolific development of your business to the next level.
reasons why this might be the case financial software and applications
ranging from “not enough time in the over the past decade, it has never been MORE: vbabusiness.com.au
day” to “my business changes from one easier to measure and track the financial

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