This week’s featured affiliate is famous for being the only free, online bookkeeping software available in the United States for self-employed entrepreneurs. They are Outright and today they’d like to offer you 3 Reasons Why You Aren’t Looking At Your Business’s Bottom Line as our guest blog posters.
One of the most popular features of our bookkeeping software at Outright is the little green number at the top of the dashboard that tells our users how much profit they have made over the year. Outright users – like many small business owners –love being able to see their bottom line at a glance.
But sometimes small business owners aren’t aware of the bottom line. Are you one of them? Here are three reasons you might not be aware if your business is flourishing, losing money, or breaking even:
1.) Fear – You’re working hard every day, but there’s a nagging feeling at the back of your skull that perhaps your business isn’t profitable. Sure you cash checks, but the expenses that go along with running your business make you groan. Believe it or not, fear that the business isn’t doing well – i.e. that your dream isn’t working out like you planned – is one of the major reasons that people fail to look at their bottom line. If this is your problem, go ahead and do your books. Knowing whether you are profitable or losing money will take one less worry out of your head as you try to fall asleep at night. And if you are in the red, knowing your bottom line will put you on the right path to correcting your business’s course of action.
2.) Disorganization – Who has time to enter all those invoices and receipts into a bookkeeping system? You’re too busy working hard for the money! But this presents a problem at tax time, not to mention during the year. Imagine if you were spending a whopping $600 a year on your office supply addiction? Keeping good books – and a close eye on your bottom line – could alert you to the problem and allow you to curb it before you see your annual profits dip into the red.
3.) Lacking Bookkeeping Skills – Just because you’re a small business owner doesn’t mean that you automatically know how to keep your books. What’s a ledger? A debit? These aren’t concepts that most people learn in college, much less in the school of life. Just because you’re an excellent freelance writer, or landscaper, or salon owner doesn’t mean that you can balance a ledger. If this is your problem, it’s time to learn the basics of bookkeeping, hire a professional, or use a service like Outright, which automates your bookkeeping for you.
We understand business owners – you are busy running the day-to-day aspects of the business. Bookkeeping is difficult, confusing and time consuming. But knowing and understanding your bottom line is one of the key aspects of being a business owner. If you don’t know whether your business is raking in the dough or in the red, take the time to find out. Your business is your dream, and knowing whether you are profitable – or a need a small change of course – will put you back in charge of your business and your future.
This guest post was brought to you by Outright.com, the simplest way to manage your business bookkeeping. Sign up for a 90-day free trial ($9.99/month afterward) with Outright today and put your business bookkeeping on autopilot!
Interested in becoming an affiliate with MyCorporation or finding out more information about Outright? Contact Cindi Sokoloff, Affiliate Manager at MyCorporation at (818) 746-2264 ext 320.