CASH IS STILL KING

CASH flow is essential to prosperity and SMEs will need to structure their finances correctly to properly manage spending this year. This will mean separating personal and business spending.

Spectrum Financial Planning partner Adem Becirevic (pictured), says too many small business owners confuse company and personal finances, leading to poorly managed cash-flow.

“We’re asking our clients to come in and have a full review and make sure they’re structured correctly. The biggest thing is that they don’t separate their business life with their personal life,” says Becirevic.

“When people don’t get the right advice and structure their finances that way, they are constantly dipping into their business account to pay for personal things like holidays. I’ve had clients come to me and say ‘my tax accountant says I earned $100,000 last year, but I’ve got no money’.

“Once a separate bank account is created for business cash flow and personal cash flow, SMEs can start treating themselves like employees and their businesses like a business.”

Becirevic is confident of a strong recovery year and expects properly structured business owners could pay off mortgage debts, refine their superannuation and insurance agreements and potentially invest.

“A few years ago people used to draw funds from their businesses all the time, but now they’ve lost $15,000 from their turnover they need to change that attitude,” says Becirevic.

“Most clients are quite receptive to the idea. Gold Coast businesses have been hit very hard and nine times out of 10 they want help in how to do things properly.

“A fellow financial planner once summed up it in a good analogy. He said ‘I’ve been to the same hairdresser for the last 40 years and watched him cut my hair, but that doesn’t mean I can be a hairdresser’.”