Taking control of your finances can feel like a part-time job no matter whether you are a new entrepreneur or a more experienced business owner. We have given here some simple tips by the help of which you can streamline your time, organize your finances and also reduce the stress of business money matters.
1. Keep Your Bills in One Place
When you have got any mail, you should make sure that it goes in one place. If you have misplaced any bills than it can be the cause of unwanted late fees and it can also damage your credit rating. 
Whether you are putting your bills in a drawer, a box, or a file, you should be consistent about the place where you have kept your bills. Size is also an important factor. If you receive a lot of mails, then you should use an area that won’t get filled up too quickly.
2. Pay Your Bills on Schedule
If bill payment is done at scheduled times during the month then bill paying can be simplified. It is possible for you to establish set times each month when none of your bills will be late, but that depends on how many bills you receive in a month.
If usually you pay bills as you receive them, then probably there are chances that you are spending too much time in front of the checkbook. There’s always a grace period for the payment of bills, although the statement “Payable upon Receipt” may be written on bills. You can call the creditor to know when they need to receive payment before the bill is considered late.
3. Read Your Credit Card Statements
Advantage of low interest credit card offers are taken by most of the people but they never read their statements when they pay the bill. In the beginning the low interest rates offered by credit card companies is just a method of attracting more and more people but after a few months they charge higher rates. You should make it a habit to look at your statement carefully so that you may know what interest rate you are paying each month and are there any transaction fees applied. If you find that the rates have been increased or a transaction fee has appeared on your statement, then to resolve the matter sometimes just a simple call to the credit card company can be beneficial. If not, then you should try to switch your money to a more favorable rate.
4. Take Advantage of Automatic Payments
A method is offered by most banks in which the bank will automatically deduct money from your account to pay creditors.
In addition to this, usually when you sign up for this payment option the creditors offer a lower interest rate because they get their money faster and on-time. You may consider it as one fewer check to write, envelope to lick and stamp to buy. Just make sure that you have maintained a proper record of the deduction when the automatic payment is scheduled or you are running the risk of bouncing other checks.
5. Computerize Your Checkbook
A handy way to organize your finances is to use a software program. You can choose any programme for this purpose. Whether it’s Quicken(r), Microsoft Money(r) or another package, these easy-to-use programs will make bill paying and bank reconciliation a very easy task.
Almost anywhere computer checks can be ordered and they fit right into most printers. It is just that once the checks are printed, all of the information is automatically recorded in your electronic checkbook. Moreover, many banks have the facility of direct downloads into these software packages so whenever the money is deposited or withdrawn, the transaction is entered onto your computer on immediate basis. And, when it comes time to do taxes, it couldn’t be easier.
6. Get Overdraft Protection
This service is being provided by most of the banks in which, if you run the risk of bouncing a check, the money will come from another source. The bank will link your checking account to a savings, money market, or credit card so it will save you from the embarrassment of bouncing a check, and for this the banks charge just a nominal fee. You can call or visit your bank to learn about this convenient feature.
7. Cancel Unused Accounts
You should write a letter requesting that the account is formally closed in both the cases whether it’s a credit card or bank account. It will not only improve your credit score, but it is a useful way to avoid money from being scattered all over the place. Don’t get lured by department stores and credit card companies offering favorable interest rates and purchase discounts to open new accounts. It’s not difficult for credit to get out of hand if you start taking advantage of every credit offer that comes your way.
8. Consolidate Your Accounts
If you are having several credit card accounts and also have outstanding balance with them, then you should try to consolidate them into one credit card. You should be very careful and you must check the balance transfer interest rates and one-time fees.
You should also do one more thing and that is you should make a list of all your open Money Markets, Savings, CDs, IRAs, Mutual Funds, and other accounts to find out if any consolidation can be done. If you keep your money in fewer places then it will eliminate all of the guesswork involved and reduces errors.
9. Establish Automatic Savings
You should create a link from your checking account into a savings account that will not be touched. Usually this can be done through the banks and you will have automatic transfer of amount each month.
This is the practice of most of the people that they will not put money into a savings account on a regular basis. Instead of that they may wait until a large tax refund check arrives or some other event to actually deposit money into savings, retirement or other accounts. If an automatic savings deposit is established by you then you will see yourself that your accounts will begin accumulating money faster than you think.
10. Clean up Your Files
You must make sure that your paid bills are organized in a filing cabinet. For paid bills keep individual files. At the end of each year go through your files and those bills and receipts that are no longer needed for auditing purposes you just throw them. In order to know that for how longer records need to be kept for audits you can contact your local IRS office. Usually federal tax return audits can be done three years back but if we talk about cancelled checks, they may need to be kept for seven years. You can also consult the Internet for auditing and records-keeping procedures for your state or region.
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