35 | Are Your Business Finances the Neglected Stepchild? with Carla Moats

Are your business finances the neglected stepchild? My guest this week, Carla Moats, and I discuss the common neglect of finances in the coaching space, where revenue takes precedence, and profit becomes an afterthought. Carla emphasizes the importance of financial knowledge for small business owners, especially in coaching, to overcome the fear and intimidation associated with numbers. Do you want to improve your business's financial management and increase profitability? Learn how to achieve better financial control and organize your business finances for increased success and stability. Empower your small business's financial future as Carla dismantles the profit paradox, guiding you through the crucial steps to separate, track, and prioritize your revenue to maximize your company's success. In this episode... Carla stresses the importance of tracking revenue and expenses monthly and highlights the common oversight in the coaching space where many are unaware of their profit until year-end tax consultations. Carla suggests various tools for financial tracking, ranging from QuickBooks and Xero for larger businesses to spreadsheets, Wave, YNAB and HoneyBook for simpler needs but ultimately emphasizes the need for a system that records both income and expenses for accurate financial insights. We discuss the significance of setting profit goals for coaches and small business owners and encourage everyone to take an intentional approach to spending and investments, emphasizing the practice of deciding upfront how much profit to take. Carla advises business owners to assess their financial health regularly, considering factors like profit, cash flow, and personal income by implementing a monthly finance hour, either self-led or with a bookkeeper, to review financial statements and understand key financial metrics to guide their strategic planning. She recommends identifying 5 to 7 KPIs that directly impact revenue and expenses, tailored to the specific business model, highlighting the value of tracking KPIs alongside financial metrics to gain a comprehensive view of business performance. We conclude the episode by discussing the importance of having a mindset shift toward intentional spending and investment decisions. Carla is a fractional CFO and financial and money coach for female coaches and other service business owners who are making money, but not keeping enough. She brings her 30+ years of finance and accounting experience to her clients, helping them understand their numbers and become profitable so they can scale profitably and still have the money to live the lifestyle they dream of. Don't wait for your tax guy to tell you how much you're making. You should know every month how much money came in, how much money went out. - Carla Moats The key moments in this episode are: 00:00 - Neglecting Business Finances07:53 - Organizing Business Finances10:39 - Financial Tracking Tools14:37 - Hiring a Bookkeeper and Understanding Financial Statements16:51 - Setting Profit Goals and Paying Yourself18:54 - Profit First Principle and Intentional Investments23:23 - Intentional Spending and Personal Financial Goals27:29 - Business Expenses and Costs29:08 - Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)30:20 - Importance of Bookkeeping Click here for the full transcript, notes, links, and more. Ready to organize your business and your digital files? Watch my free on-demand training to learn the ONLY 5 files you need!