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Why Cash on Hand is Important to Your Business?

Cash on hand is a crucial part of running a business as it influences numerous choices and decisions a business makes. If you want to run a sustainable business, you might want to consider the concept of cash on hand. In today’s article, we define what cash on hand is and its importance to a business.

What is cash on hand?

Cash on hand, also known as cash or cash equivalents (CCE), refers to the sum of all available cash a business has. This includes actual cash as well as accessible balances in checking, savings, money market assets, and other such accounts. In some cases, available credit funds may also be included.

To put it short, cash on hand doesn’t include only cash. It also comprises any liquid asset that could be quickly turned into cash—typically within 90 days. These include:

Money market assets
Marketable equity securities (stocks)
Marketable debt securities (bonds)
U.S. Treasuries assets
Mutual funds
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs)

The key distinction between cash on hand and other sorts of assets is the immediacy of access. In general, it isn’t necessary for the funds to be physically present on the premises to be considered “on hand.” As long as the business has access within an immediate time frame, the funds are considered part of this category.

Four situations in which cash on hand is needed

Cash on hand is important to any business because it can mitigate risk and come in handy in a variety of situations. We discuss the major ones below.

Cover expenses on time

Expenses are a necessary part of any business because they are the costs required to run a business. Expenses range from office rents and utility bills to marketing or sales campaigns budgets.

Let’s say the utility bill is due on the 18th of the month. It’s the 15th, and you haven’t collected enough payments from your clients for some reason. It seems like you have to use extra business funds to cover this expense.

Unfortunately, funds are already allocated to different uses or purposes, and there are no “spare” funds you could use. If you miss this payment, you’ll be charged a late fee. More importantly, your service may be switched off, and it’ll cause disruption to your business activities.

Having cash on hand ensures you always have enough available cash or credit to cover expenses at all times and to avoid any unnecessary late fees. Additionally, you should always have an adequate contingency fund so that unexpected, urgent expenses can be paid without interrupting business activities.

Reduce transaction costs

Transaction costs are fees incurred when you pay for a product or service through a gateway. If non-cash payments are your main payment option, chances are your business will have to pay a large amount of transaction fees.

For small businesses or startups, it’s important to keep expenses as low as possible. One way to achieve this is by cutting out unnecessary or undesirable expenses such as payment processing fees from wire transfers, credit/debit cards, or gateways.

However, when non-cash payments are becoming increasingly the norm in today’s world, it’s impossible for a business to stay completely cash-only. But you can at least lower payment processing fees by:

Choosing a low-fee payment processing system
Factoring these fees into your pricing
Negotiating lower fees
Accepting multiple forms of payments to balance out these fees

See more: Business Transaction: Definition, Types, And Example.

Survive an economic downturn

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected day-to-day life and has slowed down the global economy. It’s reported that over 200,000 businesses in the U.S. had to shut down their operations permanently due to the pandemic.

If your business can survive this dark time and be able to reopen, not only will you have to adjust many of your business operation activities but also follow requirements to adapt to the new conditions. Organizations like the CDC issue such requirements to help businesses and their employees prevent exposure and infection of the Covid-19, for example, cleaning and sanitizing the facility, adding a new ventilation system, or plexiglass partitions.

Having money on hand might be a lifesaver during these trying times. It’ll assist you in adapting to the “new normal” without going into debt.

Scale the business

Expanding your business may help you increase your customer base, improve sales, and most importantly, get higher profits. But scaling up a business requires both much harder work and lots of investment.

When upscaling your business, you’ll have to invest in new technology and/or recruit new people. Technology, including software and machines, are frequently one-time purchases. So, rather than taking out a loan or a line of credit and having to pay interest for years, it makes more sense to use your current assets.

Sometimes, your business can grow bigger by acquiring another business. Mergers and acquisitions have become a popular business strategy for companies looking to expand into new markets or territories, gain a competitive edge, or acquire new technologies and skillsets. This sometimes appears to happen overnight. Without having immediate access to the funds to acquire a valuable business, you might miss out on a great opportunity.

The bottom line

Cash on hand refers to a business’s funds that can be used immediately. It comprises cash, any accessible balances in checking, savings, money market and liquid assets. Cash on hand is important to any business because it ensures there will be enough funds to cover expenses, survive an economic downturn or even scale a business.
If you’re interested in entrepreneurship stories, business tips, or productivity tools, find more posts like this on Shoeboxed. Shoeboxed is a cloud-based software that helps businesses turn their piles of paper receipts into digital data. With Shoeboxed, you can do tasks such as scan, store, and organize receipts, manage business expenses, and even track mileage for business travelers. It’s simple to install and easy to use.

Best Ways to Store Your Receipts and Keep Them Organized

Are you frustrated with the piles of receipts taking up your desk space? Have you ever felt stressed when you couldn’t find an important receipt? Or have you ever lost money just because you threw away your past receipts? It doesn’t have to be like this!

This article will share the best ways to store your receipts effectively, so you’ll never have to worry about them!

Why should you store and organize your receipts?

Do I really need to store my receipts?

This question has probably popped up in your mind many times. You may think once a transaction is successful, there’s no reason to hang on to its receipt.

But, the answer is yes! Here are the top three reasons why you should store your receipts and keep them organized:

To get ready for the tax season

As a business owner, it’s in your best interest to lower your taxable income and increase your potential for a tax refund. The good news is most of your business expenses qualify as deductions with the IRS. However, the IRS will want to see receipts and other related documents to verify that your declared expenses were truly spent for business purposes. That means no receipt, no tax refund!

To reimburse expenses correctly

Often your employees have to use their own money to pay for something on behalf of your company. They then fill in an expense report to get reimbursement. How can you verify if their claims are genuine or not? Receipts can help you! They let you know exactly when and where the transaction took place. Most importantly, receipts tell you the exact amount you need to compensate. This prevents fraud and unwanted disputes in your workplace.

To stay on top of your spending

Sticking to your budget is not an easy job. One effective way to do so is to accurately maintain records of every transaction. By doing this, you can have a clear vision of how much you have spent, what to cut out, and which expenses were not worth the money. Consequently, your overall cost and cash flow management will also become more efficient.

Receipts are indispensable items to ensure your recordings are correct. They are solid supporting evidence for every bookkeeping entry, providing error-free financial reports and helping you stay in control of your expenses.

How do you store receipts?

Now that you understand the importance of keeping your receipts, we will show you the best ways to store them.

There are two common approaches to storing your receipts: traditional and digital. We will go through each method in detail, and hopefully, you will find the solution you are looking for! Let’s go!

Storing your receipts traditionally

Traditionally here means you want to collect and organize the paper copies of your original receipts. Here is what you may want to do:

Buy stationery organizers

Buying stationery organizers to store your receipts is never a bad investment. File folders, storage cabinets, tab dividers, binders, sheet protectors, colored pens, etc., are all great tools to keep your paper receipts organized.

A binder is the most suitable choice if you don’t have many receipts. Place sheet protectors in the binder, then slide the receipts into the protectors. If you have a lot of receipts to keep, get storage cabinets.

Categorize your receipts

Create a system to sort different kinds of receipts. It’s best to categorize based on the type of expense. For example, keep your utility receipts in one separate folder and office supplies in another. Inside your utility receipts folder, you can create subfolders like gas, electricity, water, etc.

This will save you lots of time when filing taxes because your tax form breaks down the expenses section into different sub-categories, too.

Consider adding numerical or colored codes to each receipt to classify expenses (e.g., using a prefix of 111 or using the color red to signify utility expenses). Placing the receipts in chronological order is also highly recommended! All these extra steps can quicken your process of categorizing and finding receipts.

Avoid piling up your receipts

Schedule a convenient, regular time to sort your receipts. If you usually accumulate a large number of receipts every month, you may want to spend some time every Friday afternoon to go through your receipts. If you have a small volume of receipts, you can wait until the end of each month.

Regardless, don’t put the task off and let your receipts pile up!

Storing your receipts digitally

If you want to leverage technology to store your receipts, Shoeboxed is your best option. Shoeboxed stores your receipts and saves you valuable time.

Just scan your paper receipts, and the Shoeboxed app will automatically extract all of the important data and categorize them. A team of data experts will verify your extracted data and make immediate corrections if there is an error. Your newly categorized receipt data is then available to check and search anytime, anywhere you want.

Super easy, right? Quick, secure, and accurate; Shoeboxed definitely changes the game in how businesses store receipts.

Final thoughts

Storing receipts and keeping them organized is essential for business expense management. Whether you choose to use traditional or digital methods, make sure you always keep tabs on your receipts.

And if you want to go digital and save time and hassle, click HERE to save 25% off all Shoeboxed plans for a limited time!

Financial Services Marketing: Definition, Benefits and Best Practices for Small Businesses

Growing a business can be challenging if you’re a small financial services company. Especially with the evolution of digital transformation causing an industry-wide shakeup in the financial sector, digital-savvy customers are expecting more from financial services companies. How can small financial services companies survive—and thrive—in this volatile environment?

Only using traditional marketing methods won’t bring the best result for your business—try financial services marketing instead. But what is financial services marketing, actually? In this article, we’ll walk you through this term, from the definition, types of businesses that can take advantage of it, and the five best financial services marketing strategies for financial service providers.

What is financial services marketing?

Financial services marketing is several marketing methods that employ special strategies and techniques to generate brand awareness or drive conversions to a financial firm. By using custom-made marketing strategies for financial services, business owners can turn obstacles into advantages and grow their business effectively.

What kind of businesses can benefit from financial services marketing?

The financial services sector includes many different niches and segments. Here are the main types of financial companies that can benefit from financial services marketing:

Auto finance firms
Brokerage firms
Credit unions
Commercial banks
Retail banks
Credit card companies
Insurance companies
CPA firms
Wealth management firms
Accounting firms

However, these financial institutions are subject to different laws and regulations, which are beyond the scope of this article. Before you consider and implement the following marketing strategies, keep in mind to refer to standard practices and regulations specific to your field.

Two major challenges of financial services marketing

It’s hard to gain customers’ trust

This is perhaps the most common issue for financial-service marketers. Money is a personal topic, and customers must trust their financial institutions before purchasing more services.

The Covid-19 recession negatively affected most people, and only recently are customers becoming more comfortable with their financial positions. This means they are very cautious about investing money in products and services they don’t know thoroughly or are uncertain whether they are necessary.

Customers are unaware of financial services marketing’s benefits

A potential car buyer can immediately judge quality based on objective factors like appearance, gas mileage, and price. They can read quantifiable figures about each vehicle to make comparisons and discuss them in a public forum to pick the most suitable one.

However, people looking for a financial service are less inclined to publicize their demands. This means product attributes are vague, which can increase customers’ skepticism. This problem is not easy to overcome, especially because most people consider financial services uninteresting.

Five best practice marketing strategies for financial services

Now that we have identified the challenges of financial services marketing, let’s go into the details of the most effective financial services marketing strategies that will help you attract more leads and convert them into loyal customers.

1. Host educational webinars

Webinars are an effective channel to generate leads, especially for B2B businesses. According to Findstack, around 73% of B2B professional marketers think they can get high-quality leads from webinars. Additionally, the use of webinars has increased rapidly since the Covid-19 outbreak.

Webinars continue to be the first choice for many marketers because they offer an effective way to build authority and trust among your brand’s audience base. Unlike other marketing strategies, a webinar session allows financial institutions to reveal a more human aspect, which is a huge plus since most people perceive financial companies as impersonal, formal, and unfriendly.

Webinars are an effective approach to generating leads because they promise more value than most other marketing methods. If your webinar attracts a prospect’s attention, they will be more likely to fill out their information in your webinar sign-up form.

Additionally, hosting a webinar is a golden opportunity to understand your audience. It’s the best thing next to having face-to-face conversations, making potential customers comfortable enough to bring up questions or concerns that they wouldn’t have raised in any other environment or platform.

2. Publish case studies

Broadcasting case studies can be the best way to tell your audience that you have a solution for their financial problem. Why’s this true? It’s because case studies allow you to demonstrate to your prospective customers that your product or services are effective Case studies tell a story and show how successful a product or service is. And if there’s one thing potential customers are looking for, it’s a story that promises a good ending.

Case studies are also based on evidence and are backed by real numbers. For example, if you tell a story of how you were able to help a struggling company increase their annual revenue by 200% and then back it up with statistics, you’re showing that you’re trustworthy and that you can live up to your promises.

3. Build social media presence

Statistics show that roughly 7-in-10 Americans use social media, and they spend an average of 2 hours and 25 minutes surfing the internet per day. That means that most of your customers (both potential and existing) are on social media.

Social media is where conversations and discussions happen, making it an ideal place to develop your financial brand’s authority and trust. What’s more, on many platforms social media users are not only there to interact with their friends but also with brands.

Business blog Oberlo’s research about social media statistics has also proved it:

54% of internet users use social media platforms to research products or services.
71% of customers who have had a good experience with a brand on social media will recommend it to their family and friends.
49% of customers are likely to buy something if it was recommended by a social media influencer.

In other words, if you’re not focusing on building your social media presence, you’re leaving money on the table.

4. Implement PPC advertising to generate financial leads

When growing a financial services business, neglecting PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising is a huge waste. After all, financial services companies largely rely on lead generation. PPC advertising is the way to go when it comes to generating leads.

PPC advertising offers the following benefits:

Helps you rank faster for strategic keywords.
Brings you prompt traffic.
Attracts highly targeted visitors to your website.
Contributes to your search advertising, display advertising, retargeting strategies.

5. Publish high-quality blog posts

Blogging has changed radically over the years. In general, most people will do a Google search to find answers to their financial problems or dilemmas. That’s why publishing high-quality blog content is still an effective strategy for growing a financial brand (or any brand for that matter).

Like a PPC strategy, you can start by doing keyword research. However, unlike PPC, you have a new metric to consider with SEO keyword research: keyword difficulty. This gives you a comprehensive insight into a keyword or topic, its volume (which indicates how many people search for the keyword), and how easy or hard it is to rank for a keyword. You can use keyword research software like Ahrefs, Ubersuggest, or Semrush. If you’re just starting out, try focusing on keywords with lower difficulty to start earning initial search traffic.

Investing in a blog can benefit your financial services business in the following ways:

Drive traffic to your website
Boost brand awareness via SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Generate leads for your email database
Build trust and authority in your niche
Grow a social media presence (when sharing a high-quality blog post on social media)

The bottom line

So now you have it—the five most effective financial services marketing strategies that can help boost your financial firm. You can now consider the pick the best method(s) for your company to increase your brand awareness and generate conversions.

Shoeboxed is a versatile receipt-scanning and expense-managing app for small businesses. Shoeboxed offers business owners the best accounting solution: digitizing receipts, managing expenses, storing business cards, tracking mileages, and so much more. Additionally, Shoeboxed ensures that the digital versions of your receipts are clearly scanned, well categorized, human-verified, and legibly accepted by both the Internal Revenue Service and the Canada Revenue Service in the event of an audit. By that, you can rest assured that all your business financial documents are audit-ready and focus on developing your business’s core values.
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