5 Financial Skills for Small Business Owners

Small businesses are vital to the U.S. economy. In fact, almost half of all private-sector workers in the U.S. are employed by small businesses. 

Unfortunately, almost half of all new businesses also fail within the first 5 years. Staying on top of your finances can help you beat the odds and guide your small business to success.

Here are 5 key financial skills that can help keep your business on track.

1. Sticking to a budget

At the heart of every successful business is the ability to budget. Knowing how much money you’re making and spending each month is absolutely essential for your business’s health. 

Monthly budgeting helps you know if you’re making a profit — and if so, how much. It also helps you track client spending habits from month to month and year to year. 

Finally, good budgeting is essential in making sound business decisions. Many companies have to tough it out through lean months during certain parts of the year, for example. Tracking your finances shows you what you can and can’t afford to spend — and when you might need a business loan to survive a cash crunch. 

That’s why many small-business owners invest in budgeting software to get a clear, up-to-date view of their finances. Quicken Business & Personal imports your revenue and transactions automatically to give you a complete picture of your financial health.

2. Setting realistic goals

Successful small-business owners set SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-based, and Time-limited. 

• Specific — Be specific about what you want to accomplish.
• Measurable — Make sure you have a way to measure your progress.
• Achievable — Keep your goals realistic and celebrate each success.
• Results-based — Tie your goals to business objectives, like reaching a certain revenue in a given quarter.
• Time-limited — Set a time limit for your goals to help you stay focused.

Quicken Business & Personal can help you make, track, and achieve SMART business goals. 

Knowing where you are today helps you set specific, achievable goals for tomorrow. By keeping your finances up to date, the software also lets you measure results anytime, anywhere, and display them across any timeframe.

3. Separating business & personal finances

If you’re a startup or solopreneur, it’s all too easy to run your business from your personal bank accounts. This causes confusion when you’re trying to measure business revenue and expenses, which can also cause trouble at tax time. 

To keep your finances clear and simple, run your small business from a separate bank account, and keep other financial accounts like PayPal or Venmo separate too. (Having a separate bank account and business email makes this easy.)

4. Keeping great documentation and receipts

While record-keeping might not be the most exciting part of owning a small business, it’s definitely essential. Keep a record of every transaction so you’ll know how much you’re really making — plus, you’ll have all the documentation you need come tax time. 

That doesn’t mean you need to keep a gigantic stack of receipts. Instead, use the Quicken app’s Snap and Store feature to store photos of your business receipts with each transaction.

Quicken Business & Personal also makes it easy to track home expenses separately, so you can also use the budgeting software to keep track of home-office deductions.

5. Understanding your survival metrics

Every business has its ups and downs. That’s a natural part of small-business management. The key to surviving the “downs” is knowing your survival metrics.

For example:

• What’s the minimum revenue you have to bring in each month to meet your monthly expenses?
• If your revenue falls beneath that minimum for a few months, how long can you weather the shortfall?
• What expenses could you cut today if you saw trouble ahead?
• How much revenue could you bring in quickly if you had to, such as by offering early-payment discounts, or putting your products on sale?

Quicken Business & Personal makes it easy to see these kinds of numbers and more, so you’ll always know what you need to do to keep your business going.