BABY STEPS - STEP 3 OF A 3 STEP ACTION PLAN FOR MANAGING CASH

"Gross revenue means nothing if, at the end of the day, you have no operating cash." ~ MIKE MICHALOWIZ

For a good twenty plus years, I managed cash daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly at the privately held companies I worked for.  Consistently working cash flow so we were prepared for anything.

Step three for managing cash is using a 52-week cash flow projections.

This is a 52 week spreadsheet that tracks cash receivables coming in and cash payables going out. Cash Receivables are listed at the top. You can create a variety of categories for cash coming in.  Examples, receivables from various areas of the business, coaching, products,, events, and seminars, etc.  Cash going out categories, inventory, then list your various vendors if that is how you want to track purchases. Commissions, payments to contractors, weekly or bi-weekly payroll, plus normal monthly expenses, rent, utilities, electricity, natural gas, phone, internet, water, lease payments, car payments.  The 52 week cash flow spreadsheet is a cash story book, it tells you where you have been, how you performed and the variances that have occurred, which will allow you to realign how you are managing cash.  At the end of the spread sheet it tells you if there is lots of cash left over for the following week, or not enough to cover you, so then you can plan to borrow or adjust what will go out.

Why manage cash weekly? This is the path that provides knowledge and direction for your financial goals for your business and life. This is a tool used to see where you are and where you are heading at all times. Knowledge is power. Mapping out cash coming in and going out weekly, allows you to see and plan what is needed.

A question I am constantly asked - Why do I need to manage cash flow daily when I use QuickBooks.?

Great question - the answer - CASH is KING. Cash is worked daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually.  Cash is the lifeblood of every business. If you don't manage the cash coming in from accounts receivable and going out, accounts payable you run the risk of putting yourself out of business.  When you don't manage sales and accounts receivable you run the risk of missing income. (See previous post ) If you are not managing your expenses. i.e. accounts payable you can run the risk of negative circumstances where you have to scramble.  The numbers are only information, with that information, you make choices and decisions how to move forward.

Business's fail with poor cash flow management, so why run the risk?

As I have shared in earlier posts, create that new muscle, a new habit and learn how to work your cash flow differently.  Cash happens right now, in this very moment when you receive a payment or are purchasing goods or services. Working cash daily and weekly forces you to look at and plan.  You are the CEO of your business and the CFO. Lead your finances as you lead your business.

Remember, CASH is KING, so you need to know where you are at all times.

Creating simple, easy baby step habits opens the door to new possibilities for you and your business.

Get in to action, and get cracking on managing your cash every single freaking day. Do you get my drift.  Your business will grow, grow, grow and so will you when you manage what matters.  CASH is KING!  If you have any questions or need help with managing your cash, reach out and ask for help, e-mail me at d.rosenfelt@cfomadeeasy.com to set up an appointment to discuss your needs.


Warmly -
Debbie Rosenfelt
President / CFO / Leader-of-the-Heart

BABY STEPS - STEP 2 OF A 3 STEP ACTION PLAN FOR MANAGING CASH

For a good twenty years, I managed cash daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly at privately held companies I worked for.  Consistently working cash flow so we were prepared for anything.

Step two for managing cash is using a weekly cash management tool.

This is a 52 week spreadsheet that tracks cash flow going in and coming out of your bank accounts. General checking, payroll account (If you have a separate account) savings account, and line of credit. In addition, this spreadsheet tracks accounts receivable, account payable and any credit card debt you may carry. 

Using this tool will have you looking at your accounts consistently and the tool allows you to manage and plan, when you need borrow from a line of credit, pay down the line, and or transfer money into savings.
For the gym, we have a savings account and we sock $500 to $1000 each month to cover the semi-annual real estate property taxes.  In addition, if there is more than enough we will put additional funds aside to cover new equipment for the gym.


Why manage cash weekly? This is the path that provides knowledge and direction for your financial goals for your business. This is so you know where you have been, where you are and see where you are heading at all times. Knowledge is power. Mapping out cash coming in and going out weekly, allows you to see and plan what is needed.


A question I am constantly asked - Why do I need to manage cash flow daily when I use QuickBooks.?


Great question - the answer - CASH is KING. Cash is worked daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly.  Cash is the lifeblood of every business. If you don't manage the cash coming in from accounts receivable and going out, accounts payable you run the risk of putting yourself out of business.  When you don't manage sales and accounts receivable you run the risk of missing income. (See previous post ) If you are not managing your expenses. i.e. accounts payable you can run the risk of negative circumstances where you have to scramble.  The numbers are only information, with that information, you make choices and decisions how to move forward.


A short story about cash flow. Back in 2008 I was working with a company that sold goods wholesale to large retailers.  There was one company that we had to constantly monitor as there were rumbles of bankruptcy in the air. Frightening, especially when there was over $500k in outstanding receivables. They continued to make promises to pay, however at the end of June we were notified they filed for bankruptcy protection. 


The good news, we had one advantage, our product the business was selling, was their best seller. They needed our product.  I immediately created a letter to the President of the company that filed bankruptcy stating all sales will be paid in advance by a wire. The President agreed. How did we do with cash flow? The cash sales from the bankrupt company funded our growth as the business grew 74% that year. You need cash to grow.


Your business will fail with poor cash flow management, so why run the risk?

Create that new muscle, a new habit and learn how to work your cash flow differently.  Cash happens right now, in this very moment when you receive a payment or are purchasing goods or services. Working cash daily and weekly forces you to look at and plan.  You are the CEO of your business and the CFO. Lead your finances as you lead your business.


Remember, CASH is KING, so you need to know where you are at all times.Creating simple, easy baby step habits opens the door to new possibilities for you and your business.

Next is step three - Cash Flow Management - Planning and mapping out sales i.e accounts receivable, expenses, i.e. accounts payable and credit card debt weekly.


Get in to action, and get cracking on managing your cash daily. If you have any questions or need help with managing your cash, reach out and ask for help, e-mail me at d.rosenfelt@cfomadeeasy.com to set up an appointment to discuss your needs.

Warmly -


Debbie Rosenfelt
President/CFO

BABY STEPS - STEP 1 OF A 3 STEP ACTION PLAN FOR MANAGING CASH

I was reminded back in the summer of 2012 in a blog post by Jeff Walker, creating success happens in baby steps.  I needed that reminder today, to remind myself I am on a journey to building my business and it doesn't happen overnight . . although I would LOVE the success to happen yesterday. A heartfelt YES, and you?

So I thought, why not create a post that supports you the leader, entrepreneur, business owner, CEO, a baby step action plan for managing the heart of your business, cash.

Step #1 - Manage cash daily. 

How you ask?

With the daily, 12 month cash register.

Why manage cash daily? This is the path that provides direction for your financial goals for your business. This is so you know where you are at all times, and so you see where you are heading. Mapping out cash coming in and going out daily, allows you to see and plan what is needed. You know when monthly recurring bills and loan payments happen, so map it out and plan how much cash you need daily..

A question I am constantly asked - Why do I need to manage cash flow daily when I use QuickBooks.?

Great question - the answer - CASH is KING. Cash is worked daily, you need to know how much cash you have on hand at all times. YES, that means creating a new muscle, a new habit if you want to figure out how to work your cash flow differently.  Cash happens right now, in this very moment when you receive a payment or are purchasing goods or services. Working cash daily forces you to look at and think of what is coming up next. If it is next week, the end of the month, next month or next quarter, etc.

When I was working with the privately held corporations, as the CFO I worked and planned cash daily, always looking at each day, each week, each month and each year. My team worked on and updated the financials in the accounting software used. AR, AP, monthly transactions, etc were worked on thru out the month.  Cash and financials are two different animals, cash is cash and financials are the whole picture of the financial story for the business.

Even now, with our gym business, we manage cash daily with the daily cash register. IT's like a checkbook in Excel, that holds 12 months of info in one workbook. Each month has it's own tab, and each worksheet is linked to the next. Every day we look at cash and manage it daily. Each day's deposits are mapped out and updated daily at the end of the day or the next morning. Recurring payments such as payroll, trainers commissions, monthly loan payments, purchasing supplies and advertising. By doing this we are able to make a decision how much to transfer to savings each month.  We put aside the bi-annual property tax payments or plan for additional equipment purchases.  I also balance the bank statement to the daily cash register which is a check and balance system for balancing cash to QuickBooks at the end of the month.

Remember, CASH is KING, so you need to know where you are at all times.

Creating simple, easy baby step habits opens the door to new possibilities for you and your business.

Next, I will share step two - Managing cash weekly with the cash management register.

Get in to action, and get cracking on managing your cash daily. If you have any questions or need help with managing your cash, reach out and ask for help, e-mail me at d.rosenfelt@cfomadeeasy.com to set up an appointment to discuss your needs.

Warmly -


Debbie Rosenfelt MBA CPCC
President / CFO.

BABY STEPS - STEP 3 OF A 4 STEP ACTION PLAN FOR MANAGING CASH

"Gross revenue means nothing if, at the end of the day, you have no operating cash." ~ MIKE MICHALOWIZ

For a good twenty plus years, I managed cash daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly at the privately held companies I worked for.  Consistently working cash flow so we were prepared for anything.

Step three for managing cash is using a 52-week cash flow projections.

This is a 52 week spreadsheet that tracks cash receivables coming in and cash payables going out. Cash Receivables are listed at the top. You can create a variety of categories for cash coming in.  Examples, receivables from various areas of the business, coaching, products,, events, and seminars, etc.  Cash going out categories, inventory, then list your various vendors if that is how you want to track purchases. Commissions, payments to contractors, weekly or bi-weekly payroll, plus normal monthly expenses, rent, utilities, electricity, natural gas, phone, internet, water, lease payments, car payments.  The 52 week cash flow spreadsheet is a cash story book, it tells you where you have been, how you performed and the variances that have occurred, which will allow you to realign how you are managing cash.  At the end of the spread sheet it tells you if there is lots of cash left over for the following week, or not enough to cover you, so then you can plan to borrow or adjust what will go out.

You can purchase the weekly cash flow management tool to your right for $225, equal to $4.33 a week, which is equivalent to less than one Vente latte.

Why manage cash weekly? This is the path that provides knowledge and direction for your financial goals for your business and life. This is a tool used to see where you are and where you are heading at all times. Knowledge is power. Mapping out cash coming in and going out weekly, allows you to see and plan what is needed.

A question I am constantly asked - Why do I need to manage cash flow daily when I use QuickBooks.?

Great question - the answer - CASH is KING. Cash is worked daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly.  Cash is the lifeblood of every business. If you don't manage the cash coming in from accounts receivable and going out, accounts payable you run the risk of putting yourself out of business.  When you don't manage sales and accounts receivable you run the risk of missing income. (See previous post ) If you are not managing your expenses. i.e. accounts payable you can run the risk of negative circumstances where you have to scramble.  The numbers are only information, with that information, you make choices and decisions how to move forward.

Business's fail with poor cash flow management, so why run the risk?

As I have shared in earlier posts, create that new muscle, a new habit and learn how to work your cash flow differently.  Cash happens right now, in this very moment when you receive a payment or are purchasing goods or services. Working cash daily and weekly forces you to look at and plan.  You are the CEO of your business and the CFO. Lead your finances as you lead your business.

Remember, CASH is KING, so you need to know where you are at all times.

Creating simple, easy baby step habits opens the door to new possibilities for you and your business.

Get in to action, invest in yourself and your business. Purchase the weekly cash flow management tool and get cracking on managing your cash. If you have any questions please leave below or e-mail me at d.rosenfelt@cfomadeeasy.com

Warmly -

Debbie Rosenfelt

Chief Heart Officer

BABY STEPS - STEP 2 OF A 4 STEP ACTION PLAN FOR MANAGING CASH

For a good twenty years, I managed cash daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly at the privately held companies I worked for.  Consistently working cash flow so we were prepared for anything.

Step two for managing cash is using a weekly cash management tool.

This is a 52 week spreadsheet that tracks cash flow going in and coming out of your bank accounts. General checking, payroll account (If you have a separate account) savings account, and line of credit. In addition, this spreadsheet tracks accounts receivable, account payable and any credit card debt you may carry. 

Using this tool will have you looking at your accounts consistently and allows you to manage and plan, when you need to borrow from a line of credit, pay down the line, and or transfer money into savings.

We have a savings account for the gym and we sock $500 each month to cover the semi-annual real estate property taxes.  In addition, if there is a little cash left over we will put additional funds aside to cover new equipment for the gym.

You can purchase the weekly cash management tool to your right for $175, equal to $3.37 a week, which is equivalent to less than one Grande latte.

Why manage cash weekly? This is the path that provides knowledge and direction for your financial goals for your business. This is so you see where you have been, know where you are and plan where you are heading at all times. Knowledge is power. Mapping out cash coming in and going out weekly, allows you to see and plan what is needed.

A question I am constantly asked - Why do I need to manage cash flow daily when I use QuickBooks.?

Great question - the answer - CASH is KING. It is the lifeblood of every business. If you don't manage the cash coming in from accounts receivable and going out, accounts payable you run the risk of putting yourself out of business.  When you don't manage sales and accounts receivable you run the risk of missing income. (See previous post REVENUE PATROL ALERT ) If you are not managing your expenses. i.e. accounts payable you can run the risk of negative circumstances where you have to scramble.  The numbers are only information, with that information, you make choices and decisions how to move forward.

A short story about cash flow. Back in 2008 I was working with a company that sold goods wholesale to large retailers.  There was one company that we had to constantly monitor as there were rumbles of bankruptcy in the air. Frightening, especially when there was over $500k in outstanding receivables. They continued to make promises to pay, however at the end of June we were notified they filed for bankruptcy protection.

The good news, we had one advantage, our product the bankrupt business was selling, was their best seller. They needed our product.  I immediately created a letter to the President of the bankrupt company stating all sales will be paid for in advance by a wire. The President agreed. How did we do with cash flow? The cash sales from the bankrupt company provided cash in advance and funded our growth as the business grew 74%that year.  You need cash to grow.

Your business will fail with poor cash flow management, so why run the risk?

Create that new muscle, a new habit and learn how to work your cash flow differently.  As I shared in Step One, Cash happens right now, in this very moment when you receive a payment or are purchasing goods or services. Working cash daily and weekly forces you to look and plan.  You are the CEO of your business and the CFO. Lead your finances as you lead your business.

Remember, CASH is KING, so you need to know where you are at all times.

Creating simple, easy baby step habits opens the door to new possibilities for you and your business.

Next is step three - Cash Flow Management - Planning and mapping out sales i.e accounts receivable, expenses, i.e. accounts payable and credit card debt weekly.

Get in to action, invest in yourself and your business. Purchase the weekly cash management tool and get cracking on managing your cash. If you have any questions please leave below or e-mail me at d.rosenfelt@cfomadeeasy.com

Warmly -

Debbie Rosenfelt

Chief Heart Officer.

BABY STEPS - STEP 1 OF A 4 STEP ACTION PLAN FOR MANAGING CASH

I was reminded today in a blog post by Jeff Walker, success happens in baby steps.  I needed that reminder today, to remind myself I am on a journey to building my business and it doesn't happen over night . . although I would LOVE the success to happen yesterday. A heartfelt YES, and you?

So I thought, why not create a post that supports leaders, entrepreneurs, business owners and CEO's a baby step action plan for managing cash.

Step #1 - Manage cash daily. 

How you ask?

With the daily, 12 month cash register. (You can purchase it to your right for $150, equal to $12.50 a month, which is equivalent to approximately 3-4 latte's)

Why manage cash daily? This is the path that provides direction for your financial goals for your business or life. This is so you know where you are financially at all times, and so you see where you are heading. Mapping out cash coming in and going out daily, allows you to see and plan what is needed. You know when monthly recurring bills and loan payments happen, so map it out and plan how much cash you need daily..

A question I am constantly asked - Why do I need to manage cash flow daily when I use QuickBooks.?

Great question - the answer - CASH is KING. Cash is worked daily, you need to know how much cash you have on hand at all times. YES, that means creating a new muscle, a new habit if you want to figure out how to work your cash flow differently.  Cash happens right now, in this very moment when you receive a payment or are purchasing goods or services. Working cash daily forces you to look at and think of what is coming up next. If it is next week, the end of the month, next month or next quarter, etc.

When I was working with privately held corporations, as the CFO I worked and planned cash daily, always looking at each day, each week, each month and each year. My team worked updated the financial information in the accounting software. AR, AP, monthly transactions, etc were worked on thru out the month.  Cash and financials are two different animals.  Cash is cash managed daily and financials share the whole picture, the financial story for the business every single month.

Even now, with our gym business, we manage cash daily with the daily cash register. It is similar to a checkbook yet in Excel, that holds 12 months of info in one workbook. Each month has it's own tab, and each worksheet is linked to the next. Every day we look at cash and manage it daily. Each day's deposits are mapped out and updated daily at the end of the day or the next morning. Recurring payments such as payroll, monthly payroll taxes, quarterly payroll taxes, trainers commissions, monthly loan payments, purchasing supplies and advertising are mapped out in advance and updated as needed. By doing this we are able to make a easy financial decisions on the spot. One example, how much to transfer to savings each month.  We use the cas placed in savings for the bi-annual property tax payments or plan for additional equipment purchases.  I also balance the monthly bank statement to the daily cash register which is a check and balance system for balancing cash to QuickBooks at the end of the month.

Remember, CASH is KING, so you need to know where you are at all times.

The key to success for your cash is to create simple, easy, baby step habits that will open the door to new possibilities for you and your business.

Get in to action, purchase the daily cash register and get cracking on managing your cash daily. If you have any questions please leave below or e-mail me at d.rosenfelt@cfomadeeasy.com

Warmly -

Debbie Rosenfelt

Chief Heart Officer

HOW CASH IS KING

My husband and I are business partners with my son, Bryan.  He purchased a franchise, in October 2007 and started the business from the ground up.

The first couple of years were financially and emotionally tough.  This was during the downturn of the economy and my son Ken, (Bryan's brother) passed away. 

The business opened in February 2008 with enough cash to operate for the first 8 months, or so we thought with the projections we created.  Revenue was not pouring in as we had projected.  With revenue not supporting the business expenses, Bryan had to stop taking a pay check in June 2008.

The challenge - growing a business to be cash flow positive.  2009 sales were growing at a snails pace and rent was increasing 3%, beginning March 1st.  OUCH!

Bryan trimmed expenses down to the bare minimum.  For this franchise business, there were not very many expenses.  Yet the rent was running at about 45%.  YOWZA!!  That was the only expense left to trim down.

In February 2009, we went to our landlord (at the time, that's another story on a different day) and asked for a reduction in rent. 

YES, you ask, if you don't ask, you don't get.

He said "No", "however you can pay us half rent, and then pay us back with interest at the second half of the year."  We explained that Bryan stopped paying himself in May of 2008 and we needed his help.  The landlord explained times were tough for them as well.  That was the best they could do at the time.  We said, OK, we will make it work, sales needed to grow.

Sales were growing, yet not fast enough to pay the increased rent and salary for the owner.

When July rolled around, the business started paying back the landlord in increments of $1,000 a month, or more when the cash was there.  However, when cash was still tight, my business was able to provide a loan when bills needed to be paid.  I'm not talking much here.  $1,000 here or there. 

In November 2009 when the property taxes were due, there was enough left over at the end of the month to pay the taxes. Here comes December 2009 , at the home stretch of paying back the landlord.  We were not quite there, so one more time we provided a small loan to pay off the balance to the landlord.  I sent him a letter explaining the business was not in a financial position to pay the balance of the interest, yet the principal was paid off.  Whewwww. What a relief. It felt good to ahve that behind us.

We went back to the landlord again in January 2010 requesting a reduction of rent, he conceded and lowered the rent to a very reasonable amount.  From then on the business has been carrying itself with Bryan receiving a pay check again.

In 2011 the business began paying back the loans my business provided.

So last night, Bryan and I sat down to review January's cash #'s to balance the cash account, compare sales from the previous year and see what was left over to pay down the business credit card.  Once we confirmed the cash ending balance, Bryan took a HUGE sigh of relief and said, - let' put $1k in savings, pay down the credit card by $2k and leave the balance in the account for February.

What are the benefits for managing cash daily; peace of mind, the facts jack, (knowledge) the ability to know what is needed to pay down your business credit card or vendors and place money in savings.

Here's how to get started, track cash daily with the 12 month check register tool, and cash management map.  Enter in deposits daily, NO slacking, and transactions daily.  Once you build rhythm and see common recurring monthly charges, such as rent, utilities, loan payment(s), commisions and payroll, make it easy for yourself and copy over to the next month.

What will you learn about your cash needs for your business?

Was this tip helpful?  Leave your questions below or e-mail me directly at d.rosenfelt@cfomadeeasy.com

Warmly -

Debbie Rosenfelt

Chief Heart Officer