I was very lucky when I started my business. I got some great advice early and was even able to use my business earnings towards getting a home loan within 3 years.

I was able to do that because I had paid myself from my business the whole time that I had my business so my mortgage broker could take my business and my earnings into account towards getting a home loan.

I have heard about some people who don’t keep their business finances separate from their personal finances. If this is you then I recommend you take action after you read this article.  If you already have separate accounts you probably don’t need this article at all – yay for you!

I can’t even imagine having my personal finance and my business finance all mooshed in together. Just thinking about it makes me feel chaotic and confused. Having your business bank accounts separate from your personal accounts will create clarity, make doing taxes so much easier, make doing your accounting so much easier and give you opportunities like my loan example above.

Initially I didn’t think I was going to like this book because I thought that focusing on profit was greedy and a part of a machine that I didn’t want to be a part of. I really think Mike should rename his book because his system is actually really about self-care using money.

It’s about honoring your work and creating clarity in your life. And it’s about making money which is what we all need to do if we are in business; even if we decide to donate that money we still have to make the money in the first place.

Part of the Profit First system is to have separate accounts in your business. This is the main steps that I implemented and have used consistently for 5 years; to have one account where all the revenue comes in and another account called the expense account.

The profit first system includes other accounts, actually 5 accounts for profit and super and tax as well, however I don’t use those accounts. I think even if you simply have two business accounts: one revenue and one for expenses it’s going to create a lot of ease in your accounting. 

The other important point is to make sure that you consistently pay yourself whether that’s fortnightly weekly or monthly. This means (i) you get money and (ii) it also looks great on paper if you ever want to get a loan.

Business accounts seem to have higher fees and more costs than regular savings accounts. These accounts are really created for large businesses. If you are a single person, say a solopreneur running a small business, you really don’t need business accounts. You just need two accounts, basic savings accounts, that you can deposit and withdraw from easily and that you can transfer from one to another. 

I have accounts with Bendigo Bank because they are a community bank and I have one account which doesn’t have a card attached to it. That is my revenue account and that is the one that money gets deposited into. I also transfer money out of that account to pay myself and to pay my expense account. 

What I learnt in Profit First is to decide a certain percentage of revenue that is going to be expenses and to try to keep my expenses within that percentage amount. 

The expenses account is a second simple account that has a card attached to it (a debit card) so that if I’m out and about I can buy paper for the office or a new chair or petrol for the business car. It’s also the account that I pay my contractors with and I pay all of my bills with.

I hope that all of this makes sense and I hope that you have ease and flow in the money part of your business. 

The information contained within this article has been provided as general information only and prepared without taking into account your financial position, objectives, and needs. You should consider its appropriateness and seek financial advice before making any financial decisions.

What are your 3 things that you wished you had had when you were starting your biz? I’d love to hear 🙂 

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