“I don’t know about you, but finances aren’t really my strength. I’m an entrepreneur — a big picture guy. I like to tackle big problems and develop big visions. I don’t like to sit around staring at a financial spreadsheet while I spend hours upon hours entering expenses by hand.” Does this line of thinking sound all too familiar?

The sad reality is, whether we like them or not, finances are a necessary part of running a small business. To get some insight on effective procedures that entrepreneurs can adopt to improve their own accounting practices:

Avoid Procrastination

One of the biggest mistakes Nobel Thomas Bookkeeper Melbourne see new entrepreneurs make is that they put off their bookkeeping needs. If you aren’t financially-minded, programs such as Xero can make small-business accounting seem completely unmanageable, especially if all you need to do is send out a few invoices and track a few expenses. Of course, you can always opt to hire a reliable accountant and bookkeeper to update the books for you and enjoy peace of mind.

Understand Your Cash Flow

Another cautionary tip Nobel Thomas Bookkeeper Melbourne gives to young startups is to understand seasonal cash flow — and that pointer comes directly from his personal experience.

You need to know your sales cycles as well. If you’re a business-to-consumer retailer that sells $20 items, your sales cycle is likely fast enough that having a cash buffer on hand is less of a concern. But if you’re a business-to-business company whose sales cycles last months, or even years, having extra capital in the bank can mean the difference between being able to weather the long periods before revenue from past sales manifests and having to fold early because your cash has dried up.

Focus on Core Strengths

One issue that we see  far too much is startup owners, particularly software-as-a-service providers, believing that they need to create everything from scratch. If you’ve already got a coder on your team, it can be seriously tempting to have him or her build internal apps and products rather than investing in existing solutions.

The problem with this approach is that it wastes your time. It might save you a few pennies at the end of the day, but the cash you’ll save is peanuts compared to what it cost you to take a key employee away from those activities that drive revenue for your business. Instead, it’s far more cost-effective to work with existing providers and use the tools that they’ve already perfected, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel on your own.