Do a good job in the financial management of start-up companies, but also grasp the key points. Starting from actual combat, we summarized seven main points.
First, start-ups should also establish systems and processes, otherwise they will be grassroots teams.
Start-ups are usually customer-oriented and sales-oriented, but the financial management system and process are usually in a state of scattered, chaotic and poor.
Although small enterprises are small, the necessary systems must be established and improved, and the key processes must be determined. If there is no system and no process, it is a grass-roots team. You can't go too far, and problems will arise sooner or later. As a financial manager, you should be able to quickly sort out the company's key financial systems and processes.
Usually, the key processes are as follows: employee expense reimbursement process, loan process, company payment process, purchase application process, invoice issuing process, contract approval process, etc. If unreasonable process links are found, they should be revised, and if missing processes are found, they should be supplemented in time. If the company has an OA system, it will import these processes into the system and solidify them for the convenience of employees. If there is no OA system, it will be offline, and the approval form of each process node should be designed.
In terms of financial system, we will focus on establishing employee loan reimbursement system, company payment system, invoice issuing system, collection and payment system, A/R and A/P management system, fixed assets management system, capital budget management system and employee travel expense reimbursement system.
Establishing procedures and systems is the first step to do a good job in financial management. For entrepreneurial companies, the process and system should be simplified as much as possible, not too complicated, otherwise the execution efficiency will be reduced and the execution cost will increase. If you want to find the key points, you don't need to establish those that don't involve business.
One more thing, after the establishment of the process and system, the finance department must supervise the implementation and require the whole company to strictly abide by it, which is a very important part to ensure that the financial work of entrepreneurial companies is standardized and no accidents occur. If processes and systems become mere formality and lose their authority, it will be difficult to do other work of financial management well.
Second, budget management: break your fingers to calculate revenue and expenditure and fund balance.
Start-ups also need to do budget management. Of course, the budget management of small companies is not as complicated as that of large companies, and there is no need to establish a budget Committee and other structures, just the coordination between the chief financial officer and the company boss.
The capital budget of a startup company should be as accurate as possible. Because the amount of business income and expenditure is not large, the financial department should also make the calculated value precise and accurate. Moreover, it is necessary to fully consider the company's funding gap and formulate corresponding funding risk response plans.
Of course, the preparation of the budget must be clear about the strategic intention of the boss, and the investment of funds must be targeted at the strategy.
In addition, in the budget implementation, it is also necessary to regularly evaluate whether the direction of capital expenditure conforms to the company's strategic direction and whether it achieves the efficiency and effect of capital use.
Start-ups are all centered on exploring the market, finding customers and generating income, so the capital budget must adhere to the principle of "good steel is used in the cutting edge".
However, there is a common problem in budgeting for start-up companies, that is, the boss's goal setting and task setting are generally much higher. For example, the original capacity was only 6.5438+million, and the boss often set it at 20 million. So why does the boss always like to put forward goals that everyone can't achieve? There are usually several reasons: first, the boss is unwilling to let everyone know the real ability of the company, so that his employees, including competitors, can't figure out their own ideas; The second is the need for financing, which is for investors. If you set your goal low, then the venture capital company will naturally depress your valuation.
So what should I do for the person in charge of finance? There are two ways to deal with it: first, the intensity of budget assessment and punishment should be very low, or only reward without punishment. Second, the financial focus is to control the flow of capital expenditure.
Third, financial analysis is done like this: the accuracy of basic data is more useful than fancy ratio indicators.
Start-up companies do not need to establish a complex financial analysis system, and do not need to calculate all the complete sets of indicators such as profitability, solvency, development ability and operational ability. The first thing to do in financial analysis is to ensure the accuracy of basic data.
So what does the basic data include? The first is financial data, including income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement. First, ensure that these data are true and accurate. In case of ticket exchange or other objective reasons, the data should be adjusted according to the principle that substance is more important than form. In addition to financial statements and data of account set, the finance department also establishes various general ledgers, including accounts receivable, accounts payable, accounts received in advance, other accounts receivable and other accounts payable. The ledger is the supplement of financial data and the business data, including output, sales volume, purchase volume, production volume, quantity and amount of raw materials, semi-finished products and finished products. These data can generally be queried through ERP data, but first of all, if the data of ERP system is not perfect, then you need to register the offline ledger.
On the basis of ensuring the truthfulness and accuracy of financial data and operating data, we can calculate and list some very important financial analysis indicators, such as gross profit margin, net profit rate of sales, the proportion of various expenses in income, the growth rate of income and profit, the turnover rate of accounts receivable, inventory turnover rate, asset-liability ratio and so on. And then make a comprehensive financial evaluation for the boss on a regular basis. This is also to show the professional analysis ability of the financial manager.
Entrepreneurial companies should not expect too much from the results of financial analysis, just like a stream, crystal clear, can you still find whales in it? The main purpose of financial analysis of start-up companies is to understand the company's financial situation, operating results and pay attention to the company's operating risks. As for the expectation of pointing out the development direction for the company through financial analysis, it's a bit of a fish for a fish.
Fourth, internal control should do this: keep an eye on the money to be spent by each department.
Do entrepreneurial companies also need internal control? The answer is: of course. There are many entrepreneurial companies that do not pay attention to internal control, and as a result, they suffer heavy losses in the end. When Ma Yun started his business in translation agency in the early days, an accountant once took 200 yuan from the company every day, which was not discovered for three or four months in a row, bringing tens of thousands of dollars to the company, which was not a small sum in the 1990s. Therefore, startups should also do a good job of internal control.
The internal control of startup companies does not need to set up a special internal control department, nor does it need to formulate a very complicated internal control management system like listed companies. In fact, the internal control of startups is simply staring at the hands of various departments to spend money.
So how to stare?
First of all, it depends on whether the purpose and reason of purchasing expenditure, borrowing and reimbursement of various departments are sufficient, whether there are trivial things that cost a lot of money, and whether there are imaginary expenditures. We should be good at investigation and study and make logical judgments. For some large sums, we can verify them from the side, such as other handlers or directly from suppliers. The chief financial officer of a company must carefully examine every reimbursement, loan and fund payment, and have the ability to identify abnormal fund payment documents.
Secondly, two or more people must be informed of the handling of all fund receipts and payments, so the approval process must be improved, including kickbacks to customers or commissions to intermediaries, and a second person other than the parties must participate, which can form constraints.
Thirdly, an important principle of internal control management is called the principle of incompatible job separation. In other words, if two positions are incompatible, they must be separated. For example, the purchasing inquirer and the final decision-maker cannot be the same person and must be separated. This principle is very important for startups.
In short, the internal control of start-up companies is carried out from the aspects of management system, business process and daily financial approval. Of course, if conditions permit, we will conduct internal audit afterwards, thus forming a simple and practical closed-loop internal control management.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) tax planning: you can enjoy tax incentives and financial subsidies.
It is also very important to make full use of preferential tax policies to save taxes and fees for the company. Don't underestimate this work. If it is done well, even a small company with an annual income of tens of millions can save millions of taxes and fees every year.
So what tax benefits can entrepreneurial companies usually enjoy? For example, the preferential tax policies for small and micro enterprises' value-added tax and enterprise income tax, the policy of immediate collection and refund of value-added tax for selling self-developed software products, the policy of "two exemptions and three reductions" for software enterprises and integrated circuit enterprises, and the policy of adding and deducting R&D expenses. Of course, in addition to the conventional preferential tax policies stipulated by the state, some local governments or development zones will also have some local financial support policies, such as investment return of R&D projects, rent reduction and exemption, and personal income tax return.
Another reminder is that after the successful equity financing of the startup company, the personal income tax on equity transfer is a very high tax (generally 20%), and it is necessary to find a tax avoidance depression to reduce the personal income tax on equity transfer.
Therefore, it is also very important for the financial leaders of start-up companies to study preferential tax policies and follow closely the national and local fiscal and taxation policies, which can often bring unexpected gains to the company.
6. Raise funds: If you can get the money, you are helping the company to survive.
One of the biggest life doors for startups is capital. Due to the unstable customers, unstable operation and large fluctuations in income and profits, they often face the problem of capital shortage. Therefore, helping companies to raise funds is often an important task for financial leaders.
For companies with core technology or a unique resource, or with the characteristics of the current capital market, they are often concerned by venture capital, and equity financing will become the first choice. Then the person in charge of finance should be responsible for designing business plans and financing schemes, negotiating and communicating with investment companies, and doing due diligence with venture capitalists.
If the chief financial officer of a startup company can provide strong support in financing, the position and importance of finance will greatly increase.
In addition to equity financing, in terms of bank loans, financial leaders also have room to play. For example, the financing support policies and discount loans issued by the state and local governments due to the epidemic can be actively applied for if they meet the requirements. Although the amount of bank loans is not large, it is also very valuable for startups to obtain loan funds at a discount lower than the market capital cost.
Seven, the combination of industry and finance should do this: go out of the financial room and go deep into the front line.
Can startups also combine industry and finance? Of course. Because the start-up company is small in scale and simple in organization, as the chief financial officer, you should not sit in the room every day doing accounts like an ordinary accountant, but should take the initiative to communicate with the marketing department, the sales department and the technical department, gain a deep understanding of the company's products, markets and customers, and give strong support to those who should provide financial support. Of course, in the process of contacting them, you can also broaden your horizons. The more you know about the business, the more support you can provide, and your financial thinking can be developed. Therefore, the financial director of a startup company must go out of the financial office, go deep into the front line and become the boss's right-hand man and right-hand man.
Ps: If you have a tax plan, you can leave a message below about bookkeeping.