October 2, 2023
Regardless of size and structure, a business’s financial health is a critical component to consider for its long-term longevity.
If a business mishandles its finances, the consequences can spill over to other aspects of its operations. When left unchecked, this can lead to the inevitable downfall of your business.
To prevent this from happening, it’s important to practise sound strategies when you allocate business funds to key aspects of your business.
That said, figuring out what strategies you need may be the big challenge you’ll have to face. Fortunately, there’s a way to shortcut this process: hiring a financial planner.
A financial planner is responsible for helping businesses manage their finances to further their clients’ objectives. Their client list is vast and varied, ranging from sole proprietors to large-scale organisations.
There are many benefits to enlisting the aid of a financial planner. This article will highlight six reasons why their expertise can help your business grow and prosper.
Let’s begin!
A financial planner’s bread and butter is managing their client’s finances, and one key aspect of financial management is debt management.
Businesses, especially small entities in their early stages, rely on debt acquired through bank loans and lending services.
This fact is true across various industries, and businesses can acquire quite a large sum of money through this means.
A financial planner helps executives and key decision owners by providing comprehensive insight on how to best utilise their loaned amount.
In particular, they can give business owners useful data on how much they can reasonably borrow without running the risk of overleveraging. They may even assist in the negotiations of acquiring favourable loan terms, helping their clients potentially reduce interest costs and get better repayment rates. They can also devise plans for how businesses can repay their debt.
Besides that, finance planners can also provide insights on how to use this debt to your business’s advantage. For instance, they can provide potential avenues for growth that the business can jump on based on their current financial standing.
If you’re having trouble with your taxes (as with most businesses), then hiring a financial planner can be a great way to take a huge weight off your shoulders.
Financial planners help their clients prepare their tax filings in a meticulous and tailored way. They review your financial reports and income statements first, and from that knowledge, they help you prepare your taxes or fix any tax-related recording problems.
Besides that, they can also potentially help you save money by identifying tax-deductible opportunities. This includes credits, business expenses, and salaries, among many others.
By increasing tax returns, business clients can have more money circulating in their business, allowing them to engage in more growth opportunities or pay off debts.
Furthermore, the taxpayer also gains more peace of mind knowing that their taxes are filed with precision due to being thoroughly reviewed by a professional.
While the big-picture perspective is critical for goal setting, the day-to-day operations are also a vital piece of the puzzle.
For a business to succeed, it needs to reach a positive net cash flow at a predetermined period. This, of course, is easier said than done—as over 45% of small businesses close shop in under 5 years.
If you want to avoid this devastating business outcome, then you’d benefit greatly from having a financial advisor at your side. While you ultimately call the shots of your business’s direction, financial planners can give you data-driven advice on high-stakes business decisions.
For instance, financial planners can help you optimise your liability and liquidity load for a certain project, typically by helping you secure your receivables and pay out your payables.
They can also notice ways you can optimise your current revenue streams, leading to long-term profitability and growth.
Above all, they also ensure that you have a good amount of money stored in your operational cash reserve. This can help them during daily operations and also in the event of future financial emergencies.
Financial planners like Curo's Sydney financial planners don’t only help you identify growth opportunities. They also play an active role in improving your expense outflow.
Businesses operating at a large scale can have several streams of expenditure costing the company hundreds to thousands of dollars each month.
From subscriptions to supply chain costs, these expenses can cost businesses a huge chunk of money without adding much value to the company at all.
One function of financial planners is to recognise these cost centres and find alternative ways to better allocate resources for business growth.
They can then present their findings to relevant decision-makers and help suggest new frameworks or courses of action to improve the status quo.
For instance, they can help reshape company spending patterns by suggesting strategic budget cuts or renegotiating contracts with certain departments and stakeholders.
With the help of these professionals, business owners like you can better keep expense management under control.
Business objectives are an essential component of any respectable company. These goals provide the framework that dictates how a business acts and operates.
A financial planner can help you make realistic wealth goals for your business using historical data and other relevant financial information.
These plans can have varying levels of sophistication. For instance, some businesses may want to earn quantifiable goals like six digits in revenue in a single quarter. Another long-term business goal may include expansions or acquisitions.
Regardless of the type of goal you have, a financial planner can be of great assistance. They help ensure that the goal is realistic, sustainable, and achievable, especially given the financial health of the company.
In talks with another company who wants to buy out your business? To ensure that you’re getting the sweetest deal, having a financial planner on call can be highly beneficial.
Financial planners also hold the responsibility of ensuring that your exit journey is done as smoothly as possible.
These professionals know how to take care of all aspects of the exit—from the technical side to the communications side. This is regardless of whether you’re selling, merging, or even acquiring and absorbing a new business.
One admirable trait of financial planners is their negotiation prowess. They know how to get a good deal. And with their oft-vast network, they likely have a couple of leads that they can call if you’re still at the starting phase of making your sale public.
Regardless of the size and type of business you have, a financial planner can provide some useful insights on how to successfully exit your company. They also support you every step of the way and ensure that your tax records are clean post-exit.
