Financial Guidance for Small Businesses

Your numbers are telling you something. Let’s figure out what.

Once your books are up to date, the next question is usually: Okay… now what do I do with this information? This is where I can help you see the big picture and make informed financial decisions, whether that means hiring more people, scaling back on supplies, or finding other ways to save money in your business.

What Is Small Business Financial Guidance?

Small business financial guidance helps you understand what your numbers mean and use that information to plan ahead. I offer financial guidance services to my monthly bookkeeping clients as an option for another set of eyes and a support person. I take your bookkeeping numbers and turn them into information you can use to make decisions about your business. We’ll look at what’s happening, talk about where you want to go, and figure out what the numbers are telling us about how to get there.

Who Is Financial Guidance For?

Financial guidance is for home service business owners whose books are current and who want help making sense of the numbers.

A lot of business owners don’t particularly enjoy the financial side of running a business. Some don’t fully understand it. Others simply never seem to have time to sit down and really look at it. That’s where I come in. We’ll set aside time to work on the business instead of just in it.

What Decisions Can Financial Guidance Help With?

Financial guidance helps with the real decisions you’re already facing in your business. Maybe cash always feels tighter than it should. Maybe you’re considering hiring another employee and want to know whether the business can support it. Or maybe you’re ready to grow and want to understand what it will take financially to get there. Depending on your goals, we might look at financial trends, cash flow forecasts, projections, or different “what if?” scenarios. A cash flow forecast is a look ahead at the money coming in and going out.

The point isn’t to create more reports. It’s to use the information you already have to make better decisions.

How Does Financial Guidance Work?

Financial guidance is built around the type and frequency of support that will be most useful to you.

For some clients, that means meeting once a month to take a deeper look at the financial reports, like the profit and loss statement and the balance sheet. We’ll go over what the numbers are showing and talk through recommendations, potential changes, or areas to watch. Other businesses need more hands-on support, such as weekly cash-flow monitoring, financial projections, or process development.

Either way, I’ll explain the numbers, help you connect the dots, and offer another perspective as you work through a decision.

What Can Financial Guidance Include?

Depending on what your business needs, financial guidance may include:

• Monthly financial review meetings
• Plain-English explanations of financial reports
• Cash-flow monitoring and weekly reporting
• Financial projections
• Financial process development
• Recommendations about expenses, pricing, or other areas to watch
• Ongoing support as the business’s needs change

Not every client needs everything on this list. The level of support is fully customizable and can change as your business grows or your priorities shift.

Do I Need to Be a Monthly Bookkeeping Client?

To provide useful financial guidance, I need to know the information I’m reviewing is accurate, current, and consistently maintained. For that reason, I offer financial guidance only to my monthly bookkeeping clients. If you’re not a monthly client yet, monthly bookkeeping is typically the place to start. Financial guidance is priced as a recurring monthly retainer based on the customized scope of the engagement.

Ready to Put Your Numbers to Work?

If your books are current but you want more help understanding what they mean and what to do next, let’s talk. We can go over where things stand and whether financial guidance is a good fit for you.