3 Essentials For Your Firm

Read time: 2:58 minutes 

Sometimes I don't practice what I preach. 

As a fractional CFO, I know the importance of the fundamentals when it comes to the numbers. 

And I know you do too! 

We talk about them to our clients daily. But every so often, I realize that I'm not doing the basic things I tell my clients to do.

😢 QBO isn't up to date.
😢 My accounts haven't been reconciled in months.
😢 I haven't updated my cash flow forecast in, ummm, yeah...

Insert feelings of disappointment, embarrassment, guilt, and shame HERE.

And there is NO shortage of valid-ish excuses for it! 

In fact, I am remarkably skilled at telling myself stories about why it's ok. 

My two favorites are: 
1️⃣ I'm great at tracking my numbers in my head and
2️⃣ I've been super busy with (thing) so I get a pass this time

Ugh. 

I do webinars teaching about this stuff and here I am, acting like an amateur.

It's time to check the guilt and take action.

OK, awareness is the first step towards making progress.

If you're in the same boat, let's check the guilt at the door and take action!

Here are 3️⃣ simple action items (and one bonus!) you should take in your firm 👇

#1. The Books 

You know you need your books to be up to date.

But you also know it shouldn't be YOU that's keeping your books up to date! 

You would NEVER tell another CEO that they should be doing their own books. 
Because they need to be focused on CEO things.

And guess what, you're a CEO too!
So you need to be focused on CEO things. 

This is a best practice whether you're a solopreneur CEO of if you're a CEO leading a firm with 20 employees.

The action item 👇
Hire a bookkeeper (1099 is probably fine) or a firm to handle your books. Set and manage expectations with them just like you would for any other vendor. 

Oh, this is also true for taxes. 
Quit fooling with your own taxes!

#2. Cash Flow Forecasts

The obvious reason we need cash flow forecasts in place is so that we can make smarter spending decisions.

But I've found a non-obvious benefit to having them in place too! 

When I regularly update my own cash flow forecast
And I use the same templates that I use with my clients

I get a better understanding of my clients' experience with my tools.

Over the years, I've made countless changes to the templates that my firm uses. And most of them are based on things I've realized while updating them for my own firm.

🚫 Too busy
🚫 Too hard to read
🚫 Too complex to quickly make decisions

The action item 👇
Get a cashflow forecast in place for your firm.
Use the same template you use for your clients.
Critically think about how you're using it and iterate as needed.

#3. Goals with Projections

We spend a lot of time and energy focused on the financial outcomes for our clients.

A lot of times, that comes at the expense of us neglecting our own financial outcomes. 

It's time to stop that.

Write out your goals and then build out your projections so you can understand what it'll take to hit the goals.

Need help with goal setting? 
HERE is a video where I walk through how to set goals for your firm.

The action item 👇
Watch the video above and then literally write out your goals. Use your projections to determine how you'll get there. You know, just like you'd do for your clients! 

💥 BONUS ACTION ITEM 💥

"Ambition without a calendar sucks."
- Brendon Burchard
    - Michael King

Q: What's the number one reason - BY FAR - that I don't get these things done? 
A: I don't put time on my calendar to make sure I do them.

Put time on your calendar my friend.

Your coach, 
Michael King