If your small business is still struggling with cash flow, never fear, there are some quick and creative ways you can improve just by making a few tweaks in your  business.

I have recently published a new quick read book that can help you solve some of those cash flow problems. It’s available in Amazon Kindle format (you don’t need a Kindle to read it — just get the free Kindle reading app here).

In this book, you will learn eight creative tactics to get your cash flow moving in the right direction. Here’s a sneak peek:

1. Don’t Be An Invoice Laggard
2. Plastic Will Make Your Cash Flow Faster
3. Get Paid In Chunks
4. A Steady Paycheck Will Even The Flow
5. Double Up With A Joint Venture Partner
6. Keep The Dust Off Your Receivables
7. Focus On The Red Corvette
8. Forget Crystal Balls, Use a Cash Flow Budget

Michelle Dunn, credit and collections expert for small business says:

“This is a short little book but it is really full of new, helpful information that can help you improve your cash flow in this new economy – a must read for any business owner looking to protect their cash and their business.”

In addition to the eight ways to improve your cash flow now, I’ve included the transcript (and some really tough questions for you to ask about your business) of a Cash Flow Summit I led with small business cash flow experts Philip Campbell and Caroline Jordan. And, you get the MP3 recording of the summit for free once you have the book. Here’s what we talked about during the summit:

• The Causes of Small Business Cash Flow Problems
• Dealing With Payment Deadbeats
• Ya Gotta Be A Marketer or Your Business Will Have No Cash Flow
• Pricing Can Make or Break Your Company
• Avoiding the Payables Death Spiral
• Get Ahead of Your Cash Flow With Budgets and Forecasts
• Three Quick Tips to Get You Moving In The Right Direction

There are a ton of tips and value inside this short book that can help you improve your cash flow — now. And for a limited time, I’ve priced it at an insanely low 99 cents. Yep, it will cost you less than a buck. That’s a pretty cheap investment to get quick improvement in your business.

Click here to get your copy of Pump Up Your Cash Flow Now! 8 Quick and Easy Ways to Improve Your Bottom Line

Thank you in advance.

Have you ever had that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach that your small business has extended credit to the wrong customer?

It’s happened to plenty of small business owners and is becoming more frequent because of the impact of the economy.

Someone who had previously been a consistent payer all of a sudden disappears into never, never land. What in the world can you do when this happens?

According to Michelle Dunn, author of  The Guide to Getting Paid: Weed Out Bad Paying Customers, Collect on Past Due Balances, and Avoid Bad Debt, you open up the lines of communication and give them a call. Your job is to collect the money you are owed.

In this interview, Michelle shares a ton of tips you can use to 1) make sure your company has prepared properly for the day a customer doesn’t pay their bill, and 2) techniques you can use to get your money when it happens.

Just click the player to start listening (or you may download and listen later).

Michelle advises every business to find a collection agency before you need them — that’s the same way I feel about you having a small business accountant and attorney. And it makes a lot of sense. You’ll learn why about half way through the interview.

In addition to the tips and techniques Michelle shared when we talked, you’ll find her book full of useable forms that you can put to work in your business.

Here’s my video review of Michelle’s book.

If you can’t see the video, click here.

To get you started, hop on over to Michelle’s site and pick up your free copy of a credit application you can start using right now in your small business.

And don’t forget to listen to the interview!

Here’s that link to her book again — The Guide to Getting Paid

1. Be prepared – You know April 15th is coming. Every year it happens on the same date; 4/15. Keeping in mind that tax time is right around the corner will help to reduce some of that stress because you will be more prepared when it actually arrives.

2. Keep good records – Right along with being prepared, is keeping good records. Keeping your records organized and exact on a daily basis, helps keep you from stressing over the deductions you have been missing.

3. Start early – Starting at the end of January will always reduce the stress of tax season. Starting on April 10th, however, will most likely do the opposite.

4. Finish early – Even though you started early, in your effort to reduce stress, finishing early is another big component. If you start early, but put completing your tax forms, it will make it even more stressful.

5. Stay on task – Studies have shown that sticking with a task will reduce stress and also allow you to finish it up faster than if you tried to multitask. Decide to finish what you start instead of being distracted by another task.

6. Take breaks – Taking a short break every hour will help your body to reduce stress by staying loose. Taking a break does not mean sitting there at the computer and surfing the web. Stand up, get a cup of tea, look out into the distant horizon to relax your eyes, and breathe deeply. In other words, relax.

7. Double check – Once you have the weight of the world off your shoulders because your taxes are finally finished, you should probably double check to make sure everything is filled in correctly and signed. If you don’t take a second glance, chances are you will stress over that one thing you “know” you forgot to do.

8. Exercise – Getting up and moving around is good to get the blood flowing, but actually taking the time to exercise will greatly reduce stress. By increasing the oxygen to your brain by exercising your body, your mind will be able to focus on the task at hand.

9. Get professional advice – Getting a professional opinion on your tax return will greatly reduce your stress because you will have peace of mind that, in the eyes of someone who prepares taxes for a living, you have done everything correctly and in accordance with the latest laws.

10. Get a massage or facial – This doesn’t have anything to do with taxes, but it will reduce stress if you get a nice massage or facial. This is a great reward for yourself on April 16th, or sooner if you take the advise from above. Just imagine, while you are getting your massage or facial, how nice it is to not feel the stress.

While others are trying to beat the deadline, you’re being pampered. There is no better feeling than the absolute absence of tax time stress!

Interview Yourself

You need to find out who you are and what you want. Put yourself in your prospective accountant’s office chair. What will you expect from your accountant? What kind of things will be deal makers and deal breakers? It is a good idea to know who you are and what your expectations are before you begin the next step.

Ask Friends and Family for Recommendations

Friends and family are often a good resource, so why not ask them? Find out if their tax professional is taking any new clients or if they have time to give you advice. Be honest with them. If Uncle Al says his accountant is still using paper spread sheets, tell Uncle Al you need someone with a computer. Then move on to the next opinion. Get at least three good recommendations of accountants to interview. Don’t just ask friends and family for a recommendation, ask them why with a few tough questions like:

• Why do you like using them? Be specific.
• What kind of business advice and tax advice have they offered you recently?
• Was their advice helpful in saving money?

Interview the Accountants

Twenty or thirty years ago, accountants were often considered bookkeepers. Today, they are much more involved with business rules and regulations and many have specified training in small business and taxes to help set them apart from other CPA’s. The trick is to figure out exactly what you should look for in an accountant.

What kind of questions should you ask your CPA to keep yourself out of trouble come tax season?

• What kind of creative business advice will you offer me? – Sure they can crunch numbers but can they offer creative ways for you to save money now?
• Is your business tech-savvy? Staying on the forefront of technology, as a business, is a great indicator of keeping up with the times. As technology is able to produce info faster, your CPA should be the first to know.
• Who are your other clients? This indicates whether or not your accountant has dealt with businesses like yours and how busy they will be during tax time.
• Are you active in the local business community? Can your CPA introduce you to people who can help make business changes they suggest?

Make Your Decision

After you have done some soul searching, asked people you trust for recommendations, and interviewed at least three accountants or accounting firms with the difficult questions you needed to ask, it is time to pick your accountant. Sit down and go over the qualifications of each accountant or team of accountants. Weigh all the pros and cons and come to a decision on who would be the best accountant to hire.

Don’t forget to write each accountant you rejected a simple thank you note with one or two reasons why you did no choose their firm. This will show them that, although you appreciated their time, your decision was based on specific facts. Don’t burn bridges – you never know when you could be back in their office. Most professionals appreciate honesty, so don’t be afraid to tell an accountant why you didn’t choose their firm.

Now that your accountant has been hired, it’s time to get to know each other. With the difficult part over, take a few minutes to visit your accountant and find out what he or she will expect over the year, leading up to tax time. Maintain a close relationship with your accountant and you, and your small business, will benefit nicely for years to come.

What other suggestions do you have? Please leave a comment.

There are a few of them on the market, but my tool of choice for the last 10 years has been QuickBooks. It has served me well over time. I’ve used both the desktop and online versions.

One of the things I really like about QuickBooks is that they have a family of products to serve different maturity levels of business from their Simple Start version to Premier.

Recently I had an opportunity for a briefing on the new QuickBooks 2011. They’ve added some pretty neat (well pretty neat for financial software!) new features that will help you manage and track the money side of your business.

Three new features that will really be a time saver for small business are:

• Customer Snapshot — this is a widgetized screen that shows you all the important pieces of information about your customer like how much they owe, what they buy, and how long they take to pay. This is very cool! You can make informed decisions about what and when to sell to each customer just from looking at the snapshot page.
• Batch Invoice Processing — talk about easy. You can group customers by class, like those who make recurring payments to you and in a few keyboard strokes send all of them an invoice via email. This will save a ton of time.
• Collections Center — I hope you never have to use this function, but if you do it will show you who owes money, how much they owe and when the payment is due. If the payment is overdue, it will show that too.

There are some other tweaks in the new version that will make your life as a small business owner easier. If you’d like more information, take a look at my comprehensive review of QuickBooks 2011 along with screen shots and detailed information.

Do you have this new version? I’d love to discuss it with you. Please leave a comment.

It’s getting to be that time of year. When the weather begins to warm, flowers begin to bloom and the IRS comes to collect from you. Yes, it’s tax time… again. But it’s not all doom and gloom. In fact, your business credit card can make preparing your taxes easier than ever.

So before April 15 rolls around here are a few ways to use your credit card to help you prepare and file your 2008 taxes.

Check Out Your Statements
If you’re like most business owners, most of your business related purchases go on your credit cards. Who needs receipts when you have credit card statements that document every single purchase? So if you need to write off a business lunch from August and your gas from traveling to see clients, all your purchases are documented through your statements.

Get The Year In Review
What’s better than a monthly statement? A year end one. More and more cards companies are providing their members with year end statements that list all of your purchases throughout the year and categorize them accordingly. Completely convenient and a huge time saver, they can even be exported directly to your money management or tax software for immediate use.

Go Paperless
Speaking of your statements… have you gone paperless? Not only does it save trees, postage and space in your filing cabinet, but online statements give you instant access to what you spent last week, last month and even last year. Many credit card companies even give you the opportunity to export your statements to your money management software making the process of preparing your taxes that much easier.

Let Technology Do Your Taxes
Well almost at least. As previously mentioned, many companies allow you to export your statements to computer software programs. Use software like Turbotax or Quicken? Exporting your statements will save you precious time and energy. By exporting your statements into the program, the software automatically inputs the necessary information. No need to manually enter transactions that you want to write off. How easy is that?

You can find information on the most popular business credit cards at http://www.businesscreditcardsource.com. Exclusively focused on business credit cards, entrepreneurs and business owners can browse reviews, compare cards and apply online.

What do you think?

Photo Credit: Paalia

And although I encourage you not to sell to your customers on credit, I’m a realist and do understand it’s a must for many small business owners.

So I tapped into Ted Shalek, CFO of Smart Online, a company that specializes in technology based solutions for small business owners, who believes that the risks associated with selling on credit can be greatly reduced if the proper steps are followed.

“Since we do not all have the luxury of knowing and trusting each customer, we must take precautions to protect the cash flow of our small business,” said Shalek, an authority on small business. “If you do not know the customer, make sure that you obtain solid and confirmable information about the prospective customer by identifying their name, address, phone number, email address and business/credit references, credit card numbers if appropriate.”

Here are a few simple steps he recommends you take to significantly decrease the likelihood of future collections nightmares

>> Reminder Notice:

Send out 7 days before the original, agreed upon payment date, if you have not received payment.

>> Read Receipts:

In the email, let your customer know that you had an agreement, you provided the service or product on a timely basis and it is customer’s obligation to provide you with payment.

>> Stay Professional:

Place a professional call to the buyer and/or the point person at your customer’s office. During the call, be firm and remember to state the facts and identify specific payment terms and times.

>> Appointments:

If the amount owed is significant, make an appointment with the buyer to come by and collect the funds, and if they say the funds are not immediately available, keep the appointment and discuss specific payment terms and times.

>> Dramatic Impact:

If the customer/buyer refuses to accept your calls and does not reply to emails requesting an appointment, stop by the customer’s office unexpectedly and tell them that you are prepared to wait on their premises until you receive payment or have a meeting with the owner, buyer or financial officer.

>> Collection Agency:

Unfortunately, if the customer does not provide any positive feedback and refuses to acknowledge your communication, contact a reputable collection agency that will represent your company in a professional manner (remember that the collection company will retain a portion of the funds that collected from the customer).

Take care when selling on credit — and don’t forget you are not a bank. If it truly is necessary for your small business to grow, make sure you use proper care so you don’t set yourself up with collection problems down the road.

What do you think?

So here’s some timely advice from a new character on the scene — the Tax Ninja.

Here’s a secret. Alan Olsen of GROCO is the Tax Ninja. He says there is no way to completely avoid being selected for an audit, however there are tips that you can follow to minimize your likelihood of being audited. Below are six tips to lessen the chance of your return being selected for an IRS audit:

1. Be honest – If you live by the simple rule of honesty, it will save you a lot of stress. It is wise to see that all of your expenses and deductions are accurate when recorded on your tax return. Mistakes happen, but avoid intentional ones.

2. Be organized – It is important to keep good records. Properly record any expenses that you are deducting on your tax return. Business expenses such as travel, meals, mileage etc. can be deducted, as long as they have been recorded. If the expense is minimal, a simple note written in a notebook or on a spreadsheet will work, but if the expense is large, keep the receipt. A receipt will help to prove an accurate deduction.

3. Report all interest – Collect all appropriate tax documents when your tax return is prepared. If your bank or other investment companies have not sent you 1099s for interest on accounts, contact them. The IRS has record of these documents and so you need to record them on your tax return.

4. Be prepared if you are self-employed – The IRS realizes that self-employment also increases the likelihood of unreported income. You must have proof of your income and business expenses if you are self-employed. You should not record personal expenses as business deductions.

5. Watch your deductions – If you take deductions that are unreasonable for your income bracket, this may raise a red flag to the IRS. The process that the IRS uses to select returns to audit starts with the IRS computer. The IRS computer gives each tax return a Discriminate Function Score (DIF score). During this process, the deductions that you take are compared to other scores within your income bracket. High scores result from unrealistic deductions within certain tax brackets. If a return receives a high score, it will be passed on to an IRS agent for review to see if any additional tax can be collected. If your deductions seem a bit unrealistic, you should have proof to back them up.

6. Use a tax professional – A tax return that is prepared by a CPA or other accounting professional is less likely to be selected for an IRS audit than a self-prepared return. A professional knows the laws and can help you to make sure that all proper deductions are taken and that all income is reported.

Taking these steps in preparing your return can help you to avoid possible red flags that could lead to an IRS audit. And who wants that to happen?

What should you do?

Fueled by a troubled economy, increased accounts receivables from debtors, and reduced staff, many businesses are now turning to professional collection services. With more and more shady agencies popping up due to the demand, you must be cautious about who you bring on as a partner.

Tony Reisz, CEO of Ontario Systems – the preferred technology partner for nine of the 10 largest collection agencies – is educating business owners on what to look for when hiring a collections agency. Here are five things he feels are important to consider:

1. Reputation – No company wants to be involved in shady collections practices, so check the agency’s credibility with the Better Business Bureau, Secretary of State, etc. While the agency itself will face the consequences if they are not compliant, your name can easily be tied to the violation. Some agencies even utilize advanced technology with compliance and best practices built-in, ensuring their representatives can’t violate your customers’ rights while collecting debt.

2. Recovery Rate – Understand the collection company’s recovery percentages and rates. Remember that the commission rate by itself is meaningless – net return is the key.

3. Industry Experience – This may seem obvious, but an agency working mostly in student loan collections may not be the best choice if you’re in the medical collections industry. Experience is often a good indication of quality.

4. Costs – Be sure to balance the commission charged with the agency’s success rate. Carefully consider and evaluate how an agency will reduce your costs, while improving efficiency.

5. References – Check references, particularly from clients that are in a similar business. Call the references and ask their opinion of the collection services, if they have had any problems, and what their typical success rate is.

Use these points to guide your choice of collection agency should you need to go that route. Thankfully, I have never needed to hire a collection agency. What about you?

It’s a slow day in the little Texas town of Port O’Connor. The sun is beating down, and the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.

However, the whole town is now out of debt and looks to the future with a lot more optimism.

What do you think? Is this how it works? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.