Paying Bills On Time For Your Small Business

First, it seems logical to pay your bills on time, and we all intend to do so. That being said, it isn’t always easy. I wear a lot of hats when it comes to my business. Paying my bills on time is just another thing to keep track of. What starts out simple can become a lot to manage quickly. Here are some of our tips for paying your small business’s bills on time…each and every time!

Make A List

This is a simple suggestion, but is so important for managing my bills. I make a list of each and every bill in the order they come out each month. The list is in chronological order 1-30 and it is lined up so that it is easy to read. I denote other things on this list sometimes, so it may include things like a login, an interest rate or a help line. Each bill listed should AT LEAST have the following: Due date, company name, estimated payment and actual payment. I do this in excel and tick them off each month as I pay them.

Enter Reminders

Utilize reminders in your accounting software. I have recently set up my QuickBooks Online to alert me as certain bills need to be paid. You can also manage reminders on a different platform, such as your Google calendar or in your iPhone. Last but not least, you can always hang up a good old fashioned paper calendar and write to your heart’s desire.

Set Up Auto Pay

I am not a big fan of having things on auto-pay, because auto-pilot is great…until it isn’t! Personally, I would rather set aside time to pay my bills manually than remember to postpone or hold an auto debit if necessary. However, I polled some other small business owners and they feel auto-pay is a life saver. Almost every bill you get can be managed this way and if not, you can typically set it up to auto-pay right through your online banking or accounting software.

Paying Bills On Time – In Closing…

At the end of the day this comes down to personal preference and management style. If you are cash positive and you feel comfortable on auto pay, it may be a wonderful option. If you need to watch your cash flow closely or risk over-drawing your account, than managing your bills as they come in and manually paying them could be better. Whatever you do…keep paying those bills on time!