Virtually Perfect Bookkeeping Ltd.

Financial forecasting. I know some of you are looking at that and emotions are coming up, or you're straight-up confused. I mean, we're talking about money and how it relates to your hopes with your business! It can all seem so overwhelming and scary. But even though some of those emotions might be fear, it is important in figuring out your business needs. Financial forecasting takes your past data and uses it to make predictions about your financial future. For example, i...f you know you have your utilities, your payroll, your subscriptions, and you know you have regular business that comes in from Sue or Bob, then you can make a reasoned prediction about what November and December will look like for you financially. This allows you to make choices about where you go with your business, based on real information. We want to follow your instincts, yes, but we want your instincts to come from a place of clarity, particularly when it comes to numbers. When you know what your past has been, and where you are now, it empowers you to make choices about where you want to be. Maybe you're looking to try new things. Maybe you're looking to grow. Maybe you're just wanting to get a better handle on your cash flow. All these things are made possible with financial forecasting. What are you envisioning for your business in the next 2 months? What are you envisioning for the next year? How might your numbers help you get there? #financialforecasting #whatareyournumberstellingyou #financialplan #virtuallyperfectbookkeeping #yvrbookkeeping See more

Can we talk mindset for a minute? I know this is where I work the hardest to grow, and it's because it has such a massive impact on the rest of my life. We've been talking goals for a while, and it's all been somewhat straightforward (though we can always get more skillful at creating SMART goals). What's not straightforward (at least to me!) is mindset.... I will confess I've had massive fears about committing to goals. I'm an absolute perfectionist (and incidentally, do you want anything less touching your finances?). My perfectionist tendencies also mean that I fear failure. I fear missing the mark. I'm working on getting comfortable missing the mark. Because the thing is, it's an opportunity to tap into curiosity and to learn more. What worked? What didn't? What could be better? How's your mindset? Is it as big of a challenge for you as it is for me? What strategies have helped you?

Hopefully, you did some recent reflection on your goals and have figured out how to make them SMART. You've made them specific, measurable, attainable, reasonable and timely. For this week, can we talk about that measurable piece? It's such a cliche, that 'what gets measured gets done piece. Forbes claims that the original is, "if you can measure it, you can manage it." (As a side note, this Forbes article provides a lot of food for thought!). [https://www.forbes.com//what-g...ets-measured-gets-done-or-/] I like that second piece because it speaks to our choices. We grow because we make choices, and we know we grow because we've decided how we will know. As you're looking at your goals, think about what you could measure to track growth. What are you going to measure? Are you going to look at absolute numbers? Are you going to compare it to previous performance or outcomes? And do you have a plan for how often you're going to look at your data? This might not be the same for each goal! But look too often, and you'll probably heighten your stress. Don't look often enough, and you may miss an opportunity. On a personal note, while I love looking at outcomes, I also take a lot out of investigating my 'lead indicators,' those actions you take that bring you to your outcomes. And connecting the dots between the two gives me a lot of information about where my choices might take me. What do you notice about how you measure your goals? Are they quantitative (numbers) or qualitative (words)? Are they lead or lag indicators? Is it a goal you check in on more frequently or less?

In one of our conversations recently, Bree mentioned how September brings her new year feels. I remember how significant that time was for me not too long ago either. It was the perfect time for looking at hopes and dreams, and doing some goal setting. Those of you with children might be able to relate to this. Something about September makes it feel like a fresh start. 2020 has thrown us all for a loop, and if you haven't done so already, now's a perfect time to revisit your... goals. Are you on track? Do you need to adjust them? Do they still resonate? Are they SMART? Haven't heard of SMART goals? Click here for an article about them! [https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm] Tuesday, September the 22nd marks 100 days before the end of the calendar year. What will you accomplish in the last 100 days of 2020?

I'm making more money, but I'm still just scraping by! I hear this so often. And I can hear the frustration, because increasing your revenue is work! Who wants to work without reaping the benefits? However, it is easy to get into a position where we're not seeing profit, and we're worried about cash flow. We get caught up in figuring out how to increase income, assuming that profit will come. The problem is that it doesn't just happen.... I spoke with a landscaper who was wanting to out a loan to invest in additional equipment. A client of his had asked about doing a big project, and so he was trying to figure out how to get the loan to get that revenue. We looked at the revenue, and then the costs he was looking at, including the time involved. Plus we looked at what he enjoyed, because who doesn't want to make money doing what we like? His greatest profit came from regular lawn mowing services, and that's what he liked doing. This is not to say you shouldn't expand your services! Just be sure you have clarity over why you're expanding. What additional expenses are involved? And how do the additional expenses relate to your increased income?