The Budget

The Budget

The dreaded BUDGET...I hate doing this kind of work.  In fact, I imagine HELL is freezing cold, there are no beaches, the only food is MacDonald's, and all I am allowed to do is budgeting and accounting.  

Many businesses fail because the leaders don't have a good accounting system in place and they don't do a budget.  This has been my biggest source of failure in business.  I have tried to do my own bookkeeping, and I have tried to hire a friend as my bookkeeper.  Neither way worked.  I just would not do the work, and my friend didn't seem to know how to organize the accounting for a business my size.  And I kept her far too long after I realized she wasn't a good fit for the job, because I didn't want to hurt her feelings.  In the end, I did both of us a disservice, and hurt her feelings anyway.  

Hire An Accountant  


If you are not the nerdy type that gets turned on by crunching numbers and glaring at large spreadsheets all day, just find someone that does.  They are out there.  I remember my Accounting 101 professor at VA Tech.  This man was on fire for accounting.  He would jump around, shout and get so excited when he would balance a budget.  It was hilarious.  He was such a great teacher! I was so inspired by him, I actually tried to major in accounting.  That didn't work out, but what I learned was, some people are wired for this type of work, and they should be involved in my business.  

I hired a CPA, shortly after my bookkeeper friend graciously and voluntarily left my company.  He comes in for a couple hours every couple of weeks and confirms, and reconciles Quickbooks.  He charges a very reasonable rate, and the net cost is far less than carrying the salary of a full-time bookkeeper.  

Quickbooks online is a great tool for small businesses.  I have heard there are other systems, but most I have looked into are more expensive and more cumbersome to use.  Quickbooks has a budget tool that is easy to use and modify.  

Quickbooks Budget

For me, I have to schedule the appointment with my CPA first, then I get to work on the accounting.  The appointment gives me a deadline, and that forces me to do the budget and accounting work.  

If you are operating without a budget, then you are sailing in the dark, on the ocean, without a compass.  I know because I did it for years.  I always thought there would be more time later, but my company continued to grow, and time became less and less available.  


You need to know where every dollar is going in your business.  If you don't tell your money where to go, it goes wherever it wants, or worse, wherever everyone else wants it.  (Dave Ramsey, Financial Peace) It seems to disappear when there is no plan for how you allocate it.  A budget is a plan for your money.  It takes a ton of energy and time at first, but it gets easier and easier as you get in the habit of creating budgets.  Take advantage of the lulls, and work on this stuff.   


I have to credit Dave Ramsey for the lessons learned above.  Though I am not as articulate as he is, maybe the essence of what I have gleaned from him, will come through.  

"A budget is a plan for your money."