I hate accounting. There, I said it.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve learned to dig numbers and I like finance more than I used to, it’s just that I’d rather be doing anything else than sending invoices or reconciling bank statements.
Unfortunately, as a freelancer, I can’t get away without learning how to manage business finances. In fact, it’s my duty to make sure I can manage business finances as my brand grows and as I hire contractors. People need to get paid – including me.
Here are some of the ways I’ve learned to manage business finances even though I can’t stand most aspects of accounting.
Use online tools to help you.
In this day and age, there is really no need to create invoices manually on a Word processor, mail them out (or send as an email attachment) and then manually run the numbers for accounts payable and receivable. That’s what we did at my last job and I couldn’t stand it.
There are a plethora of online tools that can help you manage business finances, starting with Due. Due can help you track your time, send invoices and see how much money people owe you. This is far more efficient than doing it all manually.
Hire some help.
At this point, it’s no secret that I’m on Team Get an Accountant. I’d rather pay someone else to reconcile bank statements than do it myself. Additionally, my VA handles a lot of stuff like sending invoices or creating new client profiles so I don’t have to do it. This helps me save time which I can then spend on finding ways to make more money.
However, I want to make a note of something extremely important here. Just because I outsource a lot of accounting stuff doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s going on. I know how to log into our software and run reports. I also keep detailed notes about how much money is owed. Additionally, I’m really the only one who can conduct a client audit.
Learn to love the numbers.
As I’ve already mentioned, one of the things that helped me manage business finances is to learn to love the numbers. Part of my internal dialogue is that I’m a creative person, therefore I’m not good at numbers. I’ve had to do a lot of work to overcome this as I build my business (because we cannot afford to ignore the numbers).
Here are some of the ways I’ve learned to love numbers so that I can better manage my business finances:
- Read books on money mindset. Reading books about money mindset has really helped me identify some of the more psychological and emotional road blocks I had when it came to managing business finances. This alone has been a tremendous tool in helping me overcome some of the fears I had about managing numbers.
- Go on a date with your budget. When I was just starting out budgeting and felt extremely uncomfortable, I would try to make the environment around me as pleasant as possible. I call it going on a date with your budget. The concept isn’t new (lots of people talk about this) but it does help you start rewiring your brain into thinking that crunching numbers can be a pleasant experience. Since I was already doing this with my personal finances, I decided to start doing it with my business finances as well.
Final Thoughts
In order to run a successful freelance business, you must learn how to manage our budget. By using these tips you’ll be better able to do so.
