Virtual CFO | How To Review Balance Sheets For Errors
Itís extremely important when business owners are making decisions in their business, to be doing so by utilizing all of the information have at their disposal says virtual CFO. Because of this, itís important for business owners to be able to read and understand their balance sheets. Important financial information is contained in the balance sheet, even more than on their income statement. When business owners are making decisions in their business, they should always consult, to get an idea of their business is a mental health, and how that decision impact it. One of the more important aspects of how to read their balance sheet is how to see errors in their balance sheet. While the statements that they get from their accountant at their fiscal year end are arithmetically correct, the interim financial statements that business owners pull for themselves, are more likely to have mistakes on them. They burning how to read the balance sheet first, and look for errors second, business owners can help themselves make better financial decisions in the business that can help the business grow.
Information business owners will be able to find on the balance sheet speaks to their financial reserves, and what is coming into the business. A business owner will be able to determine the liquidity of their business and how much cash they have. Virtual CFO says that if a business owner is only looking at their income statement, they only will be able to determine what type of month they had, and when good month or when bad month isnít enough information for a business owner to make a financial decision on.
When learning how to read a balance sheet, virtual CFO says that business owners should be looking at the six month comparative statement. What this is going to do, is help a business owner see any deviances that exist on one month that doesnít exist on others. If entrepreneurs see these anomalies, it should trigger them to look for errors. Sometimes anomalies exist for valid reasons, the business owners should rule out mistakes first. Business owners are also going to be able to use the six month comparative statement to see if their business is starting to end up, or trend down. Using the information to be proactive if they see that their business is starting to become less profitable in the six month period, they may want to revamp their marketing efforts. If their business is starting to go up over six months, they can verify their marketing works, and continue or double their efforts, or even plan to hire staff based on this information.
By being able to understand their balance sheets, business owners cannot only help themselves make better financial decisions in their business can help them avoid cash flow problems, but it can also help them keep their accounting records current. These are all extremely important for businesses, especially when so many entrepreneurs end up failing business because they have run out of money.
If entrepreneurs are making financial decisions in their business without consulting their financial statements, they may be making poor decisions says virtual CFO. Not only should entrepreneurs be reviewing their financial statements, but once they review and how they review it is important. The learning statistic says that 50% of all businesses close their business within five years, and out of those failed businesses, 29% will say that the reason their business failed was because they ran out of money. Using financial statements and balance sheets to make financial decisions can help business owners avoid cash flow problems, which can help the business become more successful, or avoid running out of money.
Virtual CFO says that business owners should look at their balance sheet because thereís more financial information about the business as a whole on the balance sheet and on the income statement. Many entrepreneurs review only the income statement partly because they can understand how to read it, and partly because they donít understand how to read balance sheets. It can be simple to learn, but very powerful once entrepreneurs get the hang of it. Business owners should also understand that they can glean more information from their balance sheets if they look at them six months at a time rather than by month. A six month comparative statement will be able to draw the business ownerís attention to any variances, or trends.
Itís also important that business owners can clearly understand why their cash is going to look different on the balance sheet in the bank statement. Virtual CFO says that the balance sheet will show all of the money a business has once all the payments that are scheduled to come in, and all the payments that are scheduled to go out go out. On the other side, a bank statement is only going to show a business owner what has currently come in or going out. If a business owner is waiting for a check to clear, or money from their interact machine to be deposited into their account, their bank balance is going to be very misleading. Itís very difficult for business owners to make decisions based on their bank statement. This should always ensure that they are reviewing their balance sheet in order to verify how much cash they actually have in their business.
By being mindful of which financial statements are the most important to review, and how they can review them, business owners can ensure that they are utilizing the right information to its best ability in order to help them make decisions. When business owners make great decisions, they can help grow their business, and avoid running out of money in their business. Since so many entrepreneurs fall into problem, business owners can make a significant impact on the business simply by learning how to read and correct their balance sheets.