Recently, a family member had to buy a car. Their car had been written off and this left them without one. The insurance had not paid the settlement figure as yet, so the worry was about the amount they could apply for.
The family went shopping for a car. They had worked out a ballpark figure of what they could afford using online calculators. They found a car and liked it. In the hope that the money from the insurance would come through, they waited a couple of days. No luck there. Off they went to test drive the car. It drove like a dream and they were happy to start the process of applying for finance.
Documents ready
The sales person had preempted the process so had told them what they needed to bring along to complete the process. Fast forward 48 hours and they drove away with the car with finance that met their budget. This was because they had ALL the documents READY.
What documents does your business need?
Having updates documentation means that you are able to quickly access the data that is needed. How do you do this? Well, how do you eat an elephant? That’s right . . . one bite at a time. A bite to you is a regular commitment to getting “your paperwork” in order.
An excellent way to do this is to prepare accounts on a regular basis. Accounts are reports that tell you how your business is doing for that period.
The most common period is each month.
Documents to help you
Monthly reports are great for a few reasons:
- Keep your records up to date so no last-minute rushes
- Tell you how your business is doing overall
- Enable you to know what is working or not working
- Provide a comparison between periods, monthly / year on year
Documents that are readily available are only worth anything if they are received on time. There is no point receiving your “up to date” reports three months down the track.
Going back to car finance. It took 48 hours to get the finance because the documents were ready. Having your business records up to date will enable you to get whatever you need in about 48 hours depending on what they are.