| Q.I HAVE A SMALL PRACTICE AND I CAN'T SEEM
TO BE 'BOTHERED' WITH THE FINANCIAL NEEDS OF
MY COMPANY. HOW DO I GET AN UNDERSTANDING
OF WHERE I AM FINANCIALLY AND THAT I AM
MAKING THE RIGHT DECISIONS TO GROW MY
PRACTICE? HOW DO I FIND A BALANCE BETWEEN
TAKING CARE OF MY CLIENTS AND MANAGING THE
FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF MY BUSINESS? A. The answer is always the same; the client comes first
and you must play second fiddle. The rub is that both must
be served or else both will suffer in the long run. There
must be a plan for getting all the work completed, for the
client and for your business.
Finding the balance requires that you design a financial
management system that works without your full
participation. Here is the WCM solution:
1. Set up a budget and bookkeeping system that provides
for a true and accurate snapshot of where you are, today
and where you expect to be in the future.
2. Subscribe to a service that will provide budget updates,
monthly bookkeeping, payroll, taxes, accounts payable and
receivable information that can be updated every day and
reviewed by you. You merely scan the day's activities; time
cards, invoices or sales records and debits and send them
daily. The updating and processing of financial data is
performed by someone else, outside your office and is back
in your system the following business day.
3. Discipline yourself to monitor this information in one or
two coaching sessions that may require a combined total of
one hour per month.
Understand and take control of your financial life.
Outsourcing this task will simplify and allow you to focus on
what you do best; taking care of your clientele and growing
your business. Without accurate and timely financial
information, business owners who cannot find the time or
be bothered to manage the finances of their business may
find themselves losing control and going out of business.
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