Financial Awareness Month: South Dakota Ranked Number One for Most Accessible Financing
January 25, 2022
January is “Financial Wellness Month,” the ideal time for small business owners to assess their finances and determine areas for improvement. Some key factors for financial wellness include:
- Having control over day-to-day finances.
- Having enough cushion to handle most financial emergencies.
- Planning for responsible debt management.
- Setting and following retirement goals.
WalletHub ranked South Dakota #1 for Most Accessible Financing in 2021. The Faulkton Area Economic Development Corporation can help business owners determine what is available by directing them to the information and resources that can help with fiscal management including a local Revolving Loan Fund with low interest rates.
The South Dakota Small Business Development Center (SD SBDC) is a business management consultant entity providing connections to assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Financial experts assist entrepreneurs and small business owners with essentials such as how to create an initial budget, develop financial projects, and manage cash flow.
Technology Assistance
Technological applications have made it easier than ever for entrepreneurs and small business owners to manage their finances. The following tools offer many advantages for solopreneurs and small business owners managing company finances on their own.
Keeping track of business expenses is not always easy, especially for business owners who are busy with daily operations or on the road a lot. Expensify allows for integration between the app and credit cards and debit cards. This way, expenses can be uploaded and managed without manual data entry.
Service-based businesses will find the customizable invoicing features of FreshBooks offer significant advantages. Beyond invoice management, the cloud-based bookkeeping integrates with many other financial software programs to make FreshBooks a program worth investigating to help streamline daily operations.
This app allows companies to manage their payroll, tax, and benefits. The app reports any new hires to the government, ensuring that nothing is accidentally missed during the onboarding process. Plus, they handle state and federal taxes and even email digital pay stubs to employees. This allows a business owner to manage everything from their phone late at night or on the road. The need to print out paystubs or worry about tax filings is eliminated.
QuickBooks is still a popular tool for small business accounting. It can sync with your bank accounts to make it easier to reconcile the books at the end of the month, manage invoices, keep track of vendor payments, and more. Many businesses can benefit from using this software daily, or at least monthly. Since QuickBooks is a full accounting software, it can take time to learn how to use it. Fortunately, QuickBooks offers support through articles, community discussions, video tutorials, and more.
Accepting payments is easier than ever thanks to Square. They offer a card reader that plugs into any smartphone so that business owners, salespeople, and employees can all take payments on the spot. This can improve cash flow by providing quick access to capital, rather than waiting for invoices to be mailed and paid at a later date.
Small businesses looking for free accounting software can investigate the features offered by Wave. Accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning is made simple with its mobile app that can seamlessly incorporate multiple businesses into one account.
Micro-businesses are defined as those small businesses with only a few employees who often wear multiple hats to keep operations running smoothly. Xero accounting software can work well for these circumstances at a subscription rate that makes sense for small businesses. Its cloud-based platform offers flexibility with a mobile app, payroll integration with Gusto, and inventory management.
In-person Help is Available
New tech is changing the business landscape by making it possible for business owners to do more with less time. Still, technology cannot replace the benefit of sitting down with a knowledgeable expert in your region. Contact SD SBDC or reach out to us at the Faulkton Area Economic Development Corporation for help finding resources. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Linkedin!