Today we talk to Heather Smith from Anise Consulting about the basics of bookkeeping and accounting for your Personal Training business.  Why it’s important and some simple things that you can do today to make big improvements.

Heather’s business is Anise Consulting, and you can follow her on Twitter @heathersmithau.

Although there is some Australian centric information in here relating to GST, a lot of the tips that Heather has provided can work in any country.

Let us know what you think, and if there is someone you’d like us to interview than please let me know.

Managing the finances of your personal training business isn’t always easy. It is crucial to your success, though. However, you can ease the burden of the number-crunching in various ways.

Streamlined systems and efficient processes can lighten the load of financial management to make the work more enjoyable. With proper tracking, smart budgeting and the right assistance, you can set up a finance management system that makes a burden a breeze.

But first, you need to identify the many components of your PT business finances.

Budgeting

A proper budget is designed to help you plan for the future. Running a business can be costly, even though you think that your only expense is your time. Also, you can spot areas that do cost you money and work towards shaving those expenses back for better profit. A budget also helps you determine peak periods and slow seasons so that you can be prepared for less clients and less income.

When a business is starting out, budgeting can be extremely difficult. No research and estimation can guarantee how much revenue your business will actually generate in the first few months or how many expenses you might require to set your business up.

That’s why many businesses have a cash reserve in the early stages – it helps ensure that costs can be adequately covered.

When first starting out, try to guesstimate as best you can and think of all sources of revenue or expenses, even yearly ones. Once your personal training business is established, however, you can tweak your budget simply by looking at your trends in revenue and expenses and using these to determine projected earnings for the future.

Funding

Almost all businesses require funding for startup costs, even your personal training business. As your business progresses, additional funding may be required so the business can grow.

The very first step in getting funds for your business is to determine how much it will cost. Put together a detailed list of all the equipment, supplies and services needed and include the costs of each of these. Now that you know how much you need, you can go out and start looking for funding.

There are many options for obtaining small business funding:

Personal savings and investments

Bank loans

Full scale business partnership

Silent partners

Credit cards

Joint ventures

Investment firms

Accounting and Bookkeeping

Processing invoices and collecting payments are critical to your business. After all, that’s how you get your hands on cash. The most important aspect of invoicing and payment collection is to have a comprehensive system in place so that you can easily track payments due and send invoices to clients.

It’s a vital step to track your invoices properly.  If you aren’t aware of who owes you money and when, then you’ll soon find yourself in a position of low cash flow.  At the end of the day you are in business to be paid.  Of course if you use The Trackster, you can invoice all of your clients and keep track of you finances.

Accounting software is extremely popular among small business owners. Most bookkeeping software packages offer a free trial. This means you can use the software for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to see if it works for you.  There are many online accounting packages that could suit your business including Saasu, Less Accounting and Xero.   We are planning to integrate The Trackster into each of these accounting packages to make it even easier for your PT business.

A third option is to outsource your bookkeeping. There are many firms, both online and off, that will help you manage invoicing and collections. These services can save you time and money, especially if bookkeeping is eating up a lot of your time that could be otherwise spent with clients or if number crunching is outside of your skill set.

Professional Assistance for Small Business Owners

Many small business owners turn to finance professionals to help them through difficulties with budgeting, invoicing and collections, accounting, and taxes. From obtaining funding to getting advice on handling financials, plenty of professional service providers can help.

Using these services can be a wise investment and help you get off on the right foot in terms of managing money. Entrepreneurs often scoff at such services and insist on learning to do everything themselves. This can be a good thing – after all, it’s your business. Why shouldn’t you learn all the details about its finances?

However, working with business consultants, tax preparers, and financial advisors can save you time and money and quicken your learning curve. Specialized services can help you set up your personal training business faster and earn clients rapidly or aid you in building a firm foundation for bigger plans in the future, like opening a gym.

Summary

Whether you’re just starting with your personal training business or trying to improve on what you have already established, developing a smart system for finance management is one of the first and most important things you can do to help ensure success. Know the components of your finances, get your system up and running, and then maintain it regularly.