Danielle Hayden | She Owns It

Learning to Overcome Challenges in collecting client payments by Danielle Hayden of @KickstartAcct

December 3, 2019 by Danielle Hayden 1 Comment

by Danielle Hayden | Featured Contributor

Let’s get real and talk about our fears over money and more importantly how do we get more of it back in our business.

This interview I did with our bookkeeping client provided her with so much clarity she asked me to share it with you.

Here is what we conquered:

Learning to overcome challenges in collecting client payments
Overcome mindset issues around money and why that contributes to your ability to collect payments from clients
Strategies to increase cash collections
Practical accounting strategies to use in your business

What are the mindset issues around money that contribute to our inability to collect payments from customers?

We all have mindset issues around money from our childhood. Some of us were taught not to discuss money and that asking for money would come off as rude or unprofessional. We lack the confidence to know our worth and that we performed the service or will perform the service and invoices NEED to be paid in order to perform the service. Take a moment to reflect right now on how your parents spoke about money? Did they speak openly? What was there overall tone?

What strategies can I use to overcome these mindset issues?

There are so many mindset books and strategies out there in the entrepreneur’s space so I want to keep this simple. Remember that you are in business to make a PROFIT! Yes, you heard me. There are so many business owners out there that are so passionate about what we do and helping others that we forget that if we only help other people for free we will not be able to create a sustainable business that generates profits and is able to support your family. You are worth the prices that you laid out for your customers, now hold firm to your mission.

How can I increase the profits and cash in their business?

I firmly believe in the 1% theory. If you can increase your prices by 1%, increase your volume by 1%, increase your collections by 1% and decrease your expenses by 1% can you imagine the amount of profit you would generate in your business? Start taking one action step every day to increase your profits. If you need ideas you can refer to the Profit Planner.

What are some practical strategies that I can use today to increase my cash?

Automate your bookkeeping systems, t ake payments or partial payments upfront before services are performed, accept credit card payments at time of service, automate monthly subscriptions so that they are billed automatically, send automated collection reminders, send out personal messages monthly to any clients who have not paid and stop servicing clients who are not paying their bills.

How do we overcome the mindset issues that creep up when clients do not pay?

This is something that we struggle with. We all know the value that we are providing to our clients/customers and most of us could never imagine not paying our vendors but there are people out there who don’t understand the value or do not have the ethics in themselves or their business to uphold their debts. This is not your burden to carry. That person has their own issues that they need to work through and it likely has NOTHING to do with you and your service or product. Remember to spend more time and energy on your ideal clients who value you and your service and less energy on the people who will not value. Terminate those relationships quickly!

Danielle Hayden

Danielle Hayden

As a Chief Financial Officer for over 10 years I loved accounting but felt like something was missing while just helping investors and board of directors of large companies.

That’s when I realized I had a certain thrill for helping entrepreneurs, especially women, who were breaking the rules of business in order to create something amazing – something the rest of the world didn’t expect them to do.

I left corporate accounting and formed Kickstart Accounting, Inc; an accounting firm designed to help female entrepreneurs understand their financials in order to grow their businesses and become more profitable.Our passion is helping entrepreneurs like you understand your numbers so that you can rock your business and grow the business of your dreams.

www.kickstartaccountinginc.com

Bookkeeping checklist-What do I need and when? by Danielle Hayden of @KickstartAcct

October 3, 2019 by Danielle Hayden Leave a Comment

by Danielle Hayden | Featured Contributor

Congratulations you are finally running the business of your dreams! As you may have realized by now as a business owner you have to learn how to understand your financials and how to use them. I know you didn’t go to school for accounting and that this can be very confusing for most business owners so we are here to help. We are asked by clients every day what needs to be done? How do I improve my bookkeeping processes?

No matter your stage here is your checklist for you:

New Business-No Bookkeeper

Separate business and personal expenses
Ensure you are set up as a business with your state
Establish your EIN
Open Business checking account
Set up Accounting Software
Choose the right point of sale system
- Sync your point of sale (where you are collecting payments) to your accounting software
Keep track of your inventory and costs by product-Choose the right system for tracking.
Determine your goals for this year and spend your business dollars strategically in order to grow revenue and increase profitability

You finally hired a bookkeeper so you can focus on your business. Remember you need to communicate with them, what do they need to know?

What do you need to communicate to your bookkeeper?

What are your goals for the next quarter and the next year?
What information do you need in order to help you determine if you hit your goals?
Do you have any new revenue streams?
How will you be accepting payments for any new revenue streams?
Example: You are a business coach who offers private coaching, this year you launched a new group coaching program and an online course. Next quarter you will be launching in a live in-person event. Determine how you will be accepting payments, make sure they can be differentiated and communicate this information with your bookkeeper
Report any new business credit cards
Congratulations on your new funding, this needs to be reported to your bookkeeper to be accurately tracked
Did you accidentally use your business credit card for any personal expenses? List those items so that they can be categorized correctly.
Do you have any large expenses or deposits that have occurred that are out of the ordinary?
Are you accurately tracking your inventory?
Are you ready to calculate your cost of goods sold within your accounting software

Do you need additional assistance? Consider taking your business to the next level with the following exercises:

Create an annual budget
Outsource invoicing and collecting from clients to increase efficiency
Improve your cash management
Use a weekly cash dashboard

I know accounting can be confusing and overwhelming for most people so please know I am here to help you. Let’s learn from each other and grow together.

I want to see you succeed and I cannot wait to see what you and your business do as you get a better understanding of your accounting and how that can grow your business.

Danielle Hayden

Danielle Hayden

As a Chief Financial Officer for over 10 years I loved accounting but felt like something was missing while just helping investors and board of directors of large companies.

www.kickstartaccountinginc.com

How do I get out of accounting overwhelm? by Danielle Hayden of @KickstartAcct

August 21, 2019 by Danielle Hayden Leave a Comment

by Danielle Hayden

Close your eyes and imagine a time where it is the end of the month and your bookkeeping is complete, accounts reconciled and you pull your reports and you actually enjoy the process of reviewing your numbers and you are excited to see how well your business is doing. This scenario feels so out of reach for so many business owners and it doesn’t have to be this way.

This year I worked with a client who was a very successful wellness coach, her business was scaling by leaps and bounds this year but she didn’t understand why she didn’t have enough cash to pay all of her contractors and bills every month. Jenna hid from her accounting because it was confusing to her and she didn’t have time to learn a new skill. After several months of the same circle of confusion, Jenna reached out to us for help. After 3 months Jenna has been able to confidently make more strategic spending decisions so that she can decrease spending and increase her profits (this also means Jenna is taking home a bigger paycheck). Now I promise you this is not magic.

How can you use these same strategies that we taught Jenna in your business?

(1 of 5) Set revenue goals
Determine your financial goal for this year?

For example, will you be increasing advertising costs in an effort to increase your revenue or will you be decreasing expenses in order to maximize your profitability?

Make business decisions with your financial data
Review your sales by asking yourself
- What percent did your revenue growth year over year?
- What product or service has the highest sales?
- What product or service has the highest profit or lowest cost of goods sold?
Review your expenses
- What percent did your expenses grow year over year? Why?
- What expenses are consistent month over month?
- Are your expenses growing faster than your revenue? What changes can you make to prevent this from continuing?

Use these questions as a guide to review your financials this month and every month. Share with us your success stories and contact us with any questions. We love to support other women business owners, let us know how we can be a resource to you.

You can find us here:

www.kickstartaccountinginc.com

Danielle Hayden

Danielle Hayden

As a Chief Financial Officer for over 10 years I loved accounting but felt like something was missing while just helping investors and board of directors of large companies.