brGetting a startup off the ground isn’t easy. Instead of focusing solely on your baby, as in the actual product or service that you’re selling, you’ll also have to deal with administrative headaches. Managing your startup finances is one of these necessary evils. Here’s everything you need to know about finances for your startup.

As a business owner, you’re going to have to get involved with the financial side of things. There are no two ways about it. Here’s what you need to know to steer your company’s finances in the right direction.

Manage Your Finances 

Entrepreneurs will generally do everything except manage their finances properly. Making money is obviously a major concern and often a big driver in starting the business, but actually taking care of the day to day finances tends to take a backseat. And that’s a recipe for disaster.

Managing your finances should be one of your top priorities. No “We need to focus on our product,” no, “I’m not a money person,” or “We’ll figure out the finer details later.” In short, no excuses. Manage your cash or you’ll go out of business, period.

Your Accountant is Important

I’ve already emphasized that managing your money is super important. Accountancy deserves its own headline, as it’s the crux around which your financial health will be measured. Without it, your paperwork will be a mess, the IRS will start sending you threatening letters, and you won’t have a clue about how much money you really have.

Of course, a startup doesn’t always have the cash reserves to spend money on a fancy (and generally quite expensive) accountant. In the beginning, you’ll be able to do it in-house. You’ll need to brush up on your skills, however, and a course that covers the accountancy essentials should be plenty for Year one, either for yourself or for one of your designated employees. Once your numbers start getting a bit more complicated, hire a pro.

Expensive Credit = Big No No 

You’re just starting out, which means you need money. And quickly. Trust me, as a former small business owner, I get it. When banks and credit card companies start sending you leaflets offering you a bunch of money and all you need to do is fill in a form, it’s easy to fall prey to temptation.

I’m going to spell it out with some big letters (just to put some extra emphasis and also to be slightly annoying): NEVER GO FOR EXPENSIVE CREDIT.  It’ll (almost always) end in tears. If you’re relying on credit to get your business off the ground, you’ll likely run out of money before you can start paying it back.

Keep Your Expenses Low

Working out of your basement or getting a cool office? Hiring a battalion of employees or working 18-hour days and hiring freelancers? Logo designed by expensive hipsters or something you got off Fiverr?

These are choices you’ll be faced with, and while I’m not saying you should cut corners at every opportunity, keeping costs low, to begin with, are key to survival. You don’t want to burn through your finances in the first few months, nor do you want to get saddled with long-term contracts you can’t get out of. Spend money when you need to, but don’t be frivolous.

Don’t Merge Personal and Business 

There’s business, and then there’s personal. They always say you should never mix the two, and ‘they’ are right. When you launch your startup, you’ll need a commercial bank account. For any business expenses, use this account only. 

Never, ever, use your personal bank account to cover any expenses. Even if it’s a short bridging loan or a matter of convenience. There are simple reasons for this:

1) You won’t be tempted to make it a regular occurrence and
2) It makes doing your taxes a lot more straightforward.

Know Your Tax Deductions 

Tax deductions can seriously lower your expenses. You should know them inside out, or hire an expert who does. You’ll be surprised by the type of things you can include:

• Utilities. You can deduct electricity, gas, cell phones, internet connection, you name it. And yes, you can even claim this stuff if you work out of a home office. 

• Travel. If you need to go to a conference or on a business trip far from home, make sure you keep all of the receipts.Fully tax deductible. 

• Advertising. Whether you try and get the word out through the Google Ad network, Facebook ads, or traditional snail mail, the costs are fully deductible.

• Business lunches. The government will pay 50% of your business lunches, as long as the expense can be substantiated (just check the small print first).

Aim for Market Rate Pay 

Most entrepreneurs won’t give themselves a salary. They’ll work day in, day out, and take a little bit of money when they desperately need it and the company can afford it. It makes sense; you’re just starting off, why waste cash?

The problem with this ethos is that it creates an unsustainable business model and an unworkable financial picture. Long term, it just doesn’t work. You should either pay yourself what your role demands or fit it into your short-term financial plans.

Expect a Rainy Day 

You have a fantastic idea. The buzz seems promising. People are buying what you’re selling. It’s all looking good. Until it doesn’t. No matter how good you are at your job or how rosy things look, there’s almost always a bump in the road somewhere.

Budget for a rainy day. Keep a buffer for the times when cash flow isn’t good. Retain quality employees even if you’re going through a rough couple of months. Keep your doors open while you weather the storm. Having a rainy day fund will get you out of the tough spots, so make sure you build a decent one.

Even If You Know Everything, It’s Still Hard! 

Startups are exciting, liberating, and have the promise to give you professional satisfaction and making you (potentially) millions of dollars. On the flip side, running a business isn’t a cakewalk.

Even if you know everything there is to know about startup finance, it’s not going to be an easy ride. With that in mind, equip yourself to deal with those difficult days. Keep learning about the dollar side of things as often as time allows. And don’t be afraid to call in the experts when you need to.

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Technology has facilitated all aspects of life – transport, cooking, shopping, studying, entertainment, you name it. Long gone are the days of going through much trouble to do. You can watch a movie with 3D characters stepping out of the screen and cook a healthy super fast meal in under ten minutes. Then, you’ll need to add about 60 seconds for googling the recipe online. You can do your shopping online, in two clicks. You can take online courses whenever you like.

Do you even want to drive anymore without satellite assistance?

AI personal assistance is now your trusty companion wherever you may go, with a sole purpose of making your life much more comfortable. Furthermore, now you can stop wasting time in a painfully long queue in a bank to pay your bills.

With online banking, you can do everything on the go, or in the comfort of your own home just by having the right app and an internet connection. Finally!

The perks of online banking.

What online banking can do for you is amazing. Besides paying your bills, you can save, transfer, borrow, calculate. The banking industry has evolved so dramatically that now you have online-only banks which are becoming increasingly popular. This only goes to show that the future of online banking is a bright one.

So many have chosen to tap their screens to get things done, the need for an actual brick-and-mortar facility is slowly but surely fading away.

What makes this such an attractive option is the cost. There are no monthly fees to pay if you fail to meet specific criteria, which is often the norm with traditional banks.

It will even help you avoid fees altogether, especially those that can add up fast and sneak up on you. Furthermore, they offer mobile platforms where you can do absolutely all you need, from looking up your balance to taking out a loan.

Predict the future with online banking tools.

Well, online-only banks are indeed not the only ones that can offer such a user-friendly service. Almost every bank that wants to remain competitive in this fast-paced high-tech world needs to provide an e-option to its customers. Let’s say you want to take out a loan. There are so many factors to consider. How much you earn, how much you owe, your equity, predictions concerning your financial future.

Undoubtedly a time-consuming process, whether you’re doing it alone or with the assistance of a bank clerk.

Fortunately, now all that can be done for you, over the internet, by using online calculators and financial tools. All you need to do is go to the chosen lender’s website and select the calculator that suits you.

Should you wish to figure out what your borrowing power is, click on the icon and begin a short, step by step process towards your property goal. Calculate what your monthly home loan repayments may look like, find out how much you could save by having an offset account, or how much equity you might be able to access from your home loan.

Not only can you calculate your home loan, but you can also get it approved then and there – online, with detailed guidance.

Online mortgage buyers are indeed at an advantage since they do not have to spend time visiting different banks and flipping through countless portfolios of mortgage options. They have the freedom to browse, cross-reference and compare at their own pace, to make a well-informed decision in a short period of time. There are often fact sheets, how-to videos, FAQs and the like to help the whole process go smoothly.

Even if you experience some problems managing your finances and feel you could use some assistance at that particular moment, e-banking has got you covered.  

The evolution of the system has enabled customers to have a real-time client chat within the website itself. An AI chatbot will provide personalized support to clients 24/7, including consultations or advice anytime you need it. It can even answer hundreds of customers at the same time, so there’s no more waiting in line.

Mobile banking.

Today, everything is going mobile. There’s no other way for a modern bank to have a leading position on the market with only a website. A well designed user-friendly mobile application is a priority. This has many benefits for both customers and banks.

A winning banking mobile app has to be a versatile tool to suit all customers. There are certain fundamental features that you should be using in order to have a stress free online banking experience. Firstly, what you need is a simple, yet secure sign-in.

Biometric authentication technology can verify a person by recognizing voice patterns, typing rhythm, even gestures. With a good management feature, users can monitor their accounts, balances, transactions, and transfers.

 If you feel you can’t resist the urge to splurge, a saving goal option will do wonders for your budget.

An ATM locator will save you heaps of time, so you don’t have to wander around looking for a place to withdraw funds. These are only a few perks you get to enjoy by always carrying your bank with you on your mobile.

What the future holds for online banking.

You’ve heard the name blockchain enough to notice it is becoming increasingly popular, especially when it comes to banking. But what is it exactly? Blockchain is a system in which a record of transactions made in a cryptocurrency is maintained across multiple computers so it functions as a ledger that numerous parties can access at the same time; it can’t be altered and is almost impossible to hack thus it operates as a single source of truth.

As far as banking is concerned, fraud reduction would be one of its significant contributions to the sector.

Besides its indisputable security aspect, it minimizes the number of intermediaries which could reduce processing costs by billions. It has been speculated that blockchain technology will be the end of money as we know it since we’ll be using cryptocurrencies, which can spell the death of traditional banking.

A word of caution.

It all sounds incredibly appealing, having all you need online and managing your finances with a click of a button. However, you shouldn’t mindlessly throw yourself into the wonders of cyberspace without being aware of what might happen in a worst-case scenario. In other words, once your sensitive data like your account number are out there, they become a potential hacking target.

Hackers are tirelessly working on bypassing security systems, and it still is a seemingly never-ending game of cat and mouse.

Mobile apps can be compromised, and reliability of service is not 100% guaranteed. You never know when a bank’s online services might go down. The safest thing to do if you are using online banking is to regularly check for malware, use unique usernames and passwords and avoid checking accounts on a public Wi-Fi. You can never be too careful when it comes to your life savings.

Online banking will grow on you. Who can resist saving precious time by using a mobile app or a computer to do something that would otherwise take forever to complete?

Instead of doing your finance-related research on foot marching from bank to bank in order to find the best deal, you’ll be sitting at home, sipping coffee and clicking away to compare and contrast all the benefits banks today are competing to offer to you in particular.

Being well informed about all the benefits and drawbacks of online banking will help you make the right decision as well as prepare you for all that might occur. Whatever the future may hold, one thing is certain – it will be a better one for sure.

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