Making Wise Financial Decisions: 6 Simple Steps

Hand moving chess pieces on a chess board

Money is a stressful and often emotional topic for a lot of us, which makes smart financial choices particularly difficult to make. And that doesn’t go away when trying to make wise money decisions for your business! Here we’re sharing our top six tips for making smart financial choices.

6 Tips to Make Wise Financial Decisions 

1. Look at the numbers at least once per week. 

Whether you are a business owner or managing your personal income, you need to check on your finances regularly. How else will you know your cash flow’s health? Unfortunately, ignoring financial issues does not make them go away, and they’ll get worse the longer you ignore them. Be proactive.

2. Use financial tracking software.   

Manage your money via budgeting software or an expense tracking app. Some useful money management resources include:

Mint

Personal Capital

PocketGuard

Quicken

QuickBooks

You Need a Budget

Using financial tracking software and apps makes tracking your money easy. With a quick glance, you can see where your money is coming from and where it is going.

3. Create a spending plan.

Are your finances coming up short each month? Or do you just want to make sure you have more money left over? Writing up a spending plan or budget will help.

Make an itemized list of your monthly spending and view it against your monthly earnings. Write it all out and make spending categories. From here you’ll have a clearer picture of areas where you can potentially cut back on spending.

4. Set savings goals.

Whether you are saving for retirement or establishing an emergency fund, saving money is always a good idea. Start now if you haven’t already, and contact a financial coach if you need help planning.

5. Hire a financial coach or tax strategist to help you. 

Remember learning all about taxes and budgeting in high school? Yeah, me neither. Unfortunately, we often don’t get any kind of training on how to be good with money as kids, so when we’re suddenly graduated and expected to take care of ourselves, we’re lost.

That’s where a financial coach, fractional CFO, or tax strategist can come in. Having someone who understands the financial systems and tax code can help you to make sure you’re getting the most out of your earnings.

6. Focus on the numbers, not the emotions. 

Put your concerns regarding how much or how little you have aside and focus on your strategy. A financial coach can help you with this. If you are in debt, you’re certainly not alone. Approximately 62% of Americans carry credit card debt.

Whether or not you are a high wage earner, working with a tax strategist can help you make responsible money decisions. Hired professionals like the Paragon Accountants team give you one less thing to worry about in your business, while also telling the truth regarding what the numbers say. We give you the confidence to say yes or no to a business decision. We are strategists integrated into your business, helping you make financial decisions all year long, not just a tax preparer you meet with once a year.

Further reading:

Ways to Increase Profit for Your Small Business

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