How to Manage Small Business Finances

Abacus sitting behind stacks of coins. Represents effectively measuring and managing your business finances.

Kody Wirth

2 min. read

Updated January 4, 2024

How often do you review your financial performance? Once a month? Quarterly? Annually? Hardly at all?

If you don’t do a financial review at least once a month, you’ll struggle to understand your business’s performance, and growth will constantly be out of reach.

Luckily, you can strengthen your financial skills—even if you’re not a numbers person. This guide collects resources covering small business financial topics critical to growth. 

Everything you need to know about cash flow

Learn why cash flow is vital to your business, how to create a cash flow forecast, and how terms like burn rate and cash runway impact your business.

Dig Deeper: Cash flow basics for small business

How to conduct a financial performance review

Learn how to stay on top of your financial performance by reviewing your financial statements and comparing actual results to your forecasts.

Dig Deeper: How to analyze your financial performance in 4 steps

How to minimize business costs

Every business can benefit from saving money. These tips will help you reduce costs within your business, whether you’re well-established or just starting to grow.

Dig Deeper: 27 cost-cutting tips for small businesses

Understand your business metrics

Tracking the right business metrics is crucial for understanding the health of your business. Here are the data points we recommend you keep an eye on.

Dig Deeper: 12 business metrics that you need to know

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Learn the basics of budgeting and forecasting

New to creating, measuring, and tracking business finances? Check out our other guides to learn how to set up your finances and create valuable budgets and forecasts.

How to set up your business finances

Before you think about budgeting and forecasting, you need to set up your business finances. This guide covers mapping your startup costs, opening a bank account, setting up accounting and payroll, and much more.

Dig Deeper: Setting up and organizing business finances

How to create a financial plan and forecasts

Many business owners feel intimidated by the financials when writing their business plan. However, it doesn’t require a business degree or advanced math skills to create accurate financial statements.

Dig Deeper: How to write a small business financial plan

Apply your financial knowledge to grow your business

Becoming more familiar with your finances will lead to business growth. You’ll understand the health of your business, more easily identify opportunities, and have a process to navigate any issues that may arise.

Plus, you can apply your financial knowledge to other areas of your business. Check out our other business management and growth guides to learn how:

Templates and resources for better financial management

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Content Author: Kody Wirth

Kody Wirth

Kody Wirth is a content writer and SEO specialist for Palo Alto Software—the creator's of Bplans and LivePlan. He has 3+ years experience covering small business topics and runs a part-time content writing service in his spare time.