How to Monitor Your Company Expenses in Real-Time

When you are running your business every day, it is easy to get caught up in the moment. All your to-do lists getting checked off each day can make you think your business is doing well but is that reality?

The only way to know that your company is doing well is to know all aspects of your financials.  Income is something that is pretty easy to see - you either have it or you don't. Expenses are very different and must be approached differently. They must be tracked with a lot of detail so you can know your financials are accurate.

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The Importance of Tracking Expenses

SCORE states that 82% of businesses fail due to cash flow problems. Many businesses make money, but if they don't keep an eye on expenses, they can easily run out of cash. 

You have to know exactly where your business is with its finances. Having accurate numbers of your expenses will be the key to knowing if you are making enough income or not. It can show you the strengths and weaknesses of your systems and what needs to be changed.

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Organizing Company Expenses

Your company has many different types of expenses and you need to keep track of them all. Here are a few key ways to organize your expenses so they don't get out of control.

Set a Budget

Even if you aren't sure what your budget should be at the beginning, go ahead and set one using Google Sheets or Excel. This will give you something to work with and help you decide how to prioritize your money.

Have Separate Business Accounts

Have a separate business banking account that is used for all of your transactions. You should also have a separate business credit card for expenses to keep them organized.

Take Care of the Accounting

You want to pick a good accounting software like QuickBooks or Xero for your business to use. You will also want to connect your bank account to it. You also want to use good spreadsheet software to easily see your full financial health.

Review and Categorize Expenses Regularly

You must have a regular plan for reviewing your expenses. This will help you see the categories you need for expenses by seeing the patterns that your expenses have.

Make Reporting Easy

Some expenses are easy to track, like regular bills. Other expenses fluctuate, like employee expense management. You have to work to create easy systems to report expenses so you can keep up with them and they don't surprise you.

The best business expense tracker is one that connects all your information and stays up to date. You can create an easy-to-use system that updates across all your accounts and fills in your spreadsheets automatically with a plugin like LiveFlow Google Sheets Add-on.

Monitoring your company expenses can be complicated, but with the right tools, you'll have it under control. Make sure you follow the steps above and your numbers are organized properly so nothing falls through the cracks.