A small business owner’s management of key financial initiatives is directly tied to it’s level of success.

Business owners wear many hats, including that of the chief financial officer (CFO).

Be sure to manage these key financial initiatives as a CFO would, or you could be putting your business in peril.

The owner of a growing company has plenty on his/her plate, but it’s important that a few key financial initiatives don’t get lost in the jumble:

1.   Make sure you have access to company bank accounts

And are monitoring cash flow regularly, and anticipating and mitigating any shortages by securing additional funding before it’s needed.

2.   Take charge

Of the annual budget to keep your company’s spending on track.

3.   Manage risk

by ensuring that the proper insurance coverage is in place and creating a process for contending with unforeseen financial impacts.

Any business owner knows that entrepreneurship is about wearing many hats. Even though your title may technically be CEO or President or Partner, as the owner of a growing start-up or a smaller company in the growth stage, you are responsible for taking certain steps that in a larger company would normally be handled by other executives.

One such are includes key financial initiatives that are typically overseen by the Chief Financial Officer, particularly in the area of treasury management.

Key financial initiatives business owners need to be on top of: 

1.  Have access to all of the company’s banking information

While your company may have a bookkeeper or controller that prepares the financial statements, it is imperative that you, the business owner, have access to all of the company’s banking information. Even more importantly, you should be monitoring the company cash account on a regular basis, reviewing the transactions and balance online every several days or at least weekly.

Safeguarding the business is a key financial initiative that is the responsibility of the owner – you absolutely must make sure that the business has adequate cash to meet its monthly obligations.

By monitoring incoming and outgoing cash activity, you will have the data and foresight needed to successfully manage another key financial initiative:

Next- key financial management initiative 2 and 3