Jeremy Tauri: Crunching numbers is vital

Do you know your tax dates?

Do you have systems to tell you the profit in your business?business? How much do you know about the numbers?

The key to successfully being engaged is in the information you have available and your ability to understand that information to make informed decisions.

Do you know how much you need to sell/earn/charge to pay your bills and yourself?

On the outset of a business idea people are sometimes so fired up that doing the maths to make sure it's going to be profitable goes out the window. Always work out what you need to make to cover costs - and don't forget to ensure you include a figure to pay yourself.

Check the realism of those numbers. Do you have systems to tell you the profit in your business?

You can have a cashbook, online accounting programme or abacus - as long as it gives you a way to accurately gauge profitability. If you don't know how much you are making how you can make decisions to change the level of earnings you have? Do you know where your cash has gone?

You have your books that tell you what you make but you can't work out where the profit is or where the cash has gone. This is where a cash flow summary comes in. Cash flow summary shows you the movements of money in and out of the bank account.

Loan payments, drawings, GST payments will appear in the cash flow summary. Sometimes a cashflow summary can be more helpful to understand where cash is spent.

Do you know when taxes are due?

Tax is a part of doing business. Accept it and understand it. Understanding tax will give you options.

Do you know your tax dates?

Do you understand the available sources for funding tax payments and do you know roughly what you should be paying?

Don't make out that taxes are just a bad surprise from your accountant.

Understand the differences and the reasons for their amounts and payments.

Setting down times to look at this information is important. Check it often for no surprises and no stress for your business year.