How Can a Business Improve its Cashflow
                     How Can a Business 
Improve its 
Cashflow
Positive cash flow (and plenty of it!) is what businesses 
strive for. It eases the financial pressure and offers up 
opportunities for growth, research, development and 
reward.
Wouldn’t that be nice?
Yet it seems to be unattainable for so many. It is a fast-
moving world. Consumers are picky with high 
expectations and with the advent of the internet and 
social media, they are exposed to more purchasing and 
transaction opportunities than ever before.
Competition is fierce.
The global financial downturn many years ago impacted 
many businesses. A survey conducted by the Reserve 
Bank of Australia found that business owner’s 
perceptions of cash flow challenges married with the 
economic climate.
All sounds a bit gloomy doesn’t it? But it doesn’t have 
to be. Increasing your cash flow comes down to simple 
and effective financial and operating procedures.
A survey conducted by accounting software firm CCH 
and global information service group Wolters Kluwer 
found that 31% of small business fail due to insufficient 
time management of the books!
Now THAT is something that is entirely avoidable with 
simple, operational processes that you must make part 
of your business culture and daily goals.
Here are three simple ways you can improve your 
business cash flow:
Invoice at the end of every job
This is an all too common mistake. Don’t wait for the 
end of the week or worse (!) the end of the month to 
pump out all your invoices. The sooner an invoice is in a 
debtor’s hand the sooner you can chase them for 
payment. I was working with a photographer the other 
day who had an invoicing app on her phone. She 
invoiced another client for work that she had done that 
morning right there and then. Proactive AND punctual, 
that’s what you want to be with your invoicing. Check 
out our blog on best cashflow apps for your business.
Use accounting software that tracks invoicing activity
Traditional methods of accounting, especially for small 
business and start-ups, often mean creating an invoice 
in a word document and emailing it to a client. Now if 
you haven’t transferred a record of that activity to say 
another spreadsheet, you might lose track of who you 
have sent an invoice to and when.
Cloud accounting software takes this issue away. For 
example, Xero’s online bookkeeping software can see 
who sent the invoice and when it was opened. It can 
also automatically send reminders to your debtor 
saving you time and getting that money in your bank 
account where it rightfully belongs, sooner! Ever had 
someone say to you, “Oh I didn’t receive that email.” 
Not anymore. You’ll identify the clients who have an 
affinity for tall tales.
Modernise your payment options
It’s 2019 so if you aren’t working with online accounting 
software and using payment options that make it EASY 
for clients to pay you, you need to get with the 
technological program. With so many options available 
such as Electronic Funds Transfer, PayPal, eWay and 
Secure Pay, there really should be no excuse for accepting 
“The cheque is in the mail” as a justification for why an 
invoice hasn’t been paid. Traditional methods of payment 
such as cheques impact your cash flow negatively. Make 
it easy for clients to pay you and watch your bank 
balance grow. Here are some 
invoicing ways to increase your to increase your cashflow.
Being proactive about cash flow is the key to keeping it 
positive, from a cash perspective and also a 
management perspective. Putting your head in the 
sand and neglecting the books will not work.
Use technology for good, not evil and get the money 
you deserve. You and your team have worked hard for 
it. It belongs with you.
For more tips on how to improve your cashflow check 
out our post on manging cashflows for small business.
 If you are looking for professionals to help you take 
control of the financial health of your business speak 
with one of our team members today.