Everything You Need to Know About Business Financial Management

Have you ever stopped to think about the importance of corporate financial management? We can say that financial management is so important, that all managers and teams should take care of it all the time. Whenever any employee identifies flawed processes or suggests some new way of performing tasks that influence business costs, he or she is participating in financial management. The financial sector of a business is one that takes care of the health and survival of the business. He needs to identify how the flow of resources occurs, what the volume, what the main demands are, and the very viability of the business.

Business financial management begins in the business plan

When we talk about a private company, it is natural to understand that the people who invested money in the business want to make a profit. So, financial planning begins on the first day as soon as you begin to structure your business plan.

What do you need to identify when you will start a venture?

– What is the initial investment?

– What is the annual cost of the business?

– What is the required working capital?

– What is the estimated billing?

– What is the expected profit for the period?

– How soon will investors recover the investment?

All of these questions need to be answered already in the business plan. It is clear that only the history of the company can give greater precision to these estimates, but it is fundamental that the entrepreneur makes a very detailed study of the opportunity that generated the entrepreneurial initiative.

Annual Planning

In general, companies make their financial planning for a period of one year, which corresponds to the accounting year. All areas of the company are heavily dependent on the decisions of the finance department as they depend on their budgets and action plans. The main financial planning tool is the budget. It is the financial sector that, based on predictions of inflows and outflows of resources, determines the overall budget. It is up to the company’s management to identify in which available resources will be applied. The financial sector can also identify the need to cut costs, aiming at preserving the health of the organization, as well as the application of capital reserves in the financial market. Returning to the budget, it identifies expected revenues and expenses, including financial expenses, if there is debt. In addition, it identifies the payment of debts scheduled for the period. With this measure, it identifies whether the budget is a surplus or a deficit, whether there is a need to reduce costs or generate new revenues.

Cash flow

The annual budget identifies the inflows and outflows of financial resources over the period. There is, however, another important control, which is cash flow. Cash flow seeks to identify cash flows on a day-to-day basis. It is possible and necessary to do an annual cash flow planning. However, this tool should be used on a daily basis. Its purpose is to prevent the company’s cash flow from being discovered, harming the operation and / or generating indebtedness to replenish working capital. Budgeting and cash flow are financial planning and control tools, but they interfere in all sectors of the business. Therefore, it is quite correct to say that financial management has to be done by all managers and employees.

Risks and opportunities as factors of financial equilibrium

In saying that everyone should participate in financial management, we assume that this is a dynamic task. Planning serves to make events more predictable, but rarely will everything go as planned. The company can identify a great opportunity and increase the billing. Everyone is working for it. At the same time, unexpected expenditure may arise from a risk ignored in planning. An accident at work, poor supply chain, raw material enhancement, anything can happen, especially if the risks are not calculated. Therefore, financial planning must always be pessimistic.

Control Tools – ERP/Accounting

On the other hand, the company must also monitor the results. Accounting, as we know, is responsible for preparing the financial statements, which provide a financial picture of the company, which includes the result of the year, the balance between assets and liabilities and the equity situation. In addition to meeting fiscal demands and taking care of the proper collection of taxes, accounting contributes to financial control with powerful planning tools, including the annual balance sheet. At the other end of the process are ERPs, powerful management tools that allow managers to have real-time control over accounts payable, cash flow, revenue evolution for the month, and other business variables that impact on finance. Remember when we said that financial management is so important that it should be everybody’s business in the company? It is the IT and management tools that can make this possible, giving all managers a unique and up-to-date view of the business situation. The marketing department, for example, can better understand purchasing behavior and thereby improve the quality of the turnover of goods in the stock and on the shelf, in order to generate smaller cycles and less waste of resources. This will contribute to the improvement of the company’s cash flow.

The big step that all companies will need to take is the integration of business management software with the accounting office system. The idea of ​​accounting integration makes one think of the choice between going up 50 floors of stairs or taking the elevator. Through it, the accountant has remote access to all information and documents with book value. It migrates this information straight to your system, without having to leave your office.

This simple tool reduces to almost zero the risk of errors in the preparation of the financial statements and eliminates all the tasks of the company related directly to accounting. Most important, though, is that your demos can be published almost in real time.

 

An article by GestãoClick

7 management tips for all businesses

Some management tips are universal regardless of company size. It is important that managers are always aware of market trends and the needs of their customers, so that they can constantly adapt to the reality where they are inserted. In today’s article, we leave you 7 valuable tips to better manage your company!

Get to know the market and your customers

It sounds like a very basic tip and that everyone knows, but the truth is that it is here where many companies fail. It is crucial that companies are well aware of the market they are in, so they will not be surprised by unexpected fluctuations. Likewise, it is imperative that companies know well what the public is communicating and that they know the specifics of their target audience. Only in this way can you create a message that meets the needs of the target.

Always know everything about your business

To understand one hundred percent what you do and to know at every moment the state of the business is essential for it to have good results. A good option to stay abreast of what is happening with your business is to use a real-time monitoring tool such as Multipeers, as you will be able to find all the information about all areas of the company in a single dashboard.

Keep your focus on the Customer

The Customer is the most important of your business and it is up to him to work. Nowadays, consumers are much more demanding than in the past and are more informed, which means that they must make a greater effort to meet all their needs. Maintain communication channels across platforms and be concerned to address all your needs. Only in this way can you gain loyalty.

Set Goals

If you do not know where you are going, any way is good. It is very important to establish goals and work as a team in order to reach them. The objectives must be measurable and realistic, otherwise they will only contribute to demotivating employees.

Invest in internal communication

Internal communication is often neglected, but it is one of the most important areas in a company because it deals with the main public of an organization: its human resources. It is important that there is fluidity in the transmission of messages, as well as transparency in the work environment. It is essential to implement business management channels and / or applications that facilitate communication between the various departments.

Use the PDCA cycle

PDCA means plan, do, check and act. It is a management technique linked to the improvement of a company’s processes. Its purpose is to solve problems, pointing out the causes for potential deviations and productive failures. This process makes the organization of the company more efficient in the long run and it is essential that it be applied from the moment of creation of a business, so that the improvement can be continuous.

Use an ERP

ERP management systems are used to improve the management of business resources and relate the data and processes in one place. Through the use of tools of this type, it is possible to integrate all sectors of the company so that the decision making is easier and more objective. The use of an ERP also allows the reduction of non-strategic costs and the creation of a greater competitive advantage.

 

Top Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a Business

Starting a business of your own is a goal for many people, but you have to keep in mind that having a company requires dedication, planning and facing constant challenges. The temptation to start your own business is great, as it is becoming easier nowadays because of the simple tools that help entrepreneurs put their ideas on the ground. In today’s article, let’s talk about the top mistakes to avoid in setting up a company!

Not knowing the market where you want to act

Often entrepreneurs are so convinced that their idea is perfect that they don’t do an exhaustive market study to assess the competition or to see if consumers in fact need the product or service they want to sell. However, if there is not a need of your product, there is no point in starting a business. Thus, studying the market well in order to know all its particularities is essential to have a successful company in the short and long term.

To think that you can do everything by yourself

Even if you think you can do it all yourself, you are advised to surround yourself with a trusted team. Business can grow faster than you think and you will need support to respond to all requests. Likewise, if things don’t go so well, it’s better to have a team that helps you to deal with the difficulties because if you are alone you may feel discouraged and give up.

Too high investment

Even if you have studied the market and all the predictions are that your business will succeed in a short time, you shouldn’t invest more than what is strictly necessary at an early stage. The additional costs should be reduced as much as possible and investments should be made according to the commercial evolution of the product and not on the basis of future profit forecasts. Very high investments at an embryonic stage of the project are the main causes of business bankruptcy in a short period of time after starting a business.

Do not invest in communication from the first moment

Many entrepreneurs think that communication is only important from the moment the company starts to grow. However, this is an area of ​​the company that you should pay attention to from the beginning, because it is essential that the market knows that you arrived and that you are there to win. Pay particular attention to the name of your brand and the logo that illustrates it because they are the first elements that contact the public and should be coherent and differentiating. Having a good website and a strong presence on social media is imperative on these days and you should invest time in working these areas.

Lack of market segmentation

Communicating to everyone, in an undifferentiated way, is a mistake that should not be practiced, especially since the current consumer is increasingly informed and demanding. Starting a business without knowing who your target audience is and without knowing their main features and needs can be a real waste of time. As good as your business is, not everyone will need it, so you’ll be spending resources communicating with people who don’t need your product or service. So you should target your audience according to their main characteristics, so you can communicate in a personalized way with each type of person. In this way, it will be easier to reach people who really need you!

 

Extra tip: Business happens at a very fast pace and it is essential that you know what is happening in your company to make the most appropriate decisions for your business. Download our e-book and find how a BAM tool can help you!

The most common mistakes in customer management

Customer satisfaction is one of the primary goals of any business. It is often said that a satisfied customer tells their experience to one person, but an unhappy customer shares his discontent for 20 people! Therefore, it is essential for managers to know how to manage their clients, so as to provide them with the best possible service. In this article we will address the most common mistakes in customer management and give tips to avoid them!

Not knowing the customer and their needs

One of the worst mistakes in managing clients is treating all customers the same way. It is unkind when we are attended by an operator who seems robotic and who has a rehearsed speech and does not escape the script. CRM tools help companies to know each customer, their needs and preferences. They also provide information on the most appropriate time to act, either by sending a special campaign or a product sample. You can connect a CRM system to a business monitoring system such as Multipeers. In this way, you will have real-time and always up-to-date information about your customers.

Stalking customers

Some companies don’t know how to respect the customer and send repeated information over and over again. This type of attitude distances the customer from the company and causes it to gain even a certain dislike of the brand. Sending email campaigns should not happen every day or every week. After a request for information there shouldn’t be a constant chase over the phone until the customer decides whether to buy or not. This pressure will only cause the client to decide not to buy anything and will spread their bad experience to their circle of friends and family.

Unique sell

Many commercials are concerned only with the single sale and don’t work towards customer loyalty. Certainly, the first sale is, in theory, the most difficult, since the customer still doesn’t know the company and the products. Focusing on the single sale is a very common mistake that can cause the company to lose sales in the future. Business teams should be concerned about maintaining customer contact in order to guide them toward future purchases and this is achieved through good after-sales service.

Complicating customer service

Unfortunately, there are many companies specializing in this field, especially telecommunications and internet service companies. It is very annoying for a customer to have to repeat their problem to three or four different people. The customer service should always be as pleasant and short as possible because only then can you pass on an image of professionalism. If the customer needs to talk to four people before seeing their problem solved, they will get the feeling that the company is disorganized.

Don’t guide and educate the client

Providing relevant and useful content to the customer about the products or services is a way to educate customers and share important information so that they choose your product. Creating a FAQ section, creating a blog about the area of ​​your activity and having a regular presence on the main social media are good ways to educate the customer about your product.