Financial Wellness Month: WMPID is a Business Resource and Connector

January is “Financial Wellness Month,” a good time for business owners in the Magnolia Parkway Improvement District to take stock of their financial management practices. Key factors to consider include: 

• How do you manage day-to-day operations such as taxes, payroll, and invoicing?
• Have you set and implemented retirement goals?
• Do you have enough reserves to handle most financial emergencies?
• Have you planned for responsible debt management?

If even assessing your situation feels overwhelming, the Westwood Magnolia Parkway Improvement District (WMPID) website and team is the first place to start because of their extensive expertise. WMPID serves as a business resource and connector assisting you in reaching the correct economic partners. They help you problem solve and access grants and other incentives. Occasionally, they have their own grants they can tailor to your needs, taking  into account the benefits for The District.

Useful Technology for Finance Management

For control over day-to-day finances, technological applications have made it easier than ever for entrepreneurs and small business owners to manage them on their own. The following tools offer many advantages. There’s likely one that will fit the needs of your business.  

Expensify

Keeping track of business expenses is not always easy, especially for business owners who are busy with daily operations or on the road a lot. Expensify allows for integration between the app and credit cards and debit cards. This way, expenses can be uploaded and managed without manual data entry.

FreshBooks

Service-based businesses will find the customizable invoicing features of FreshBooks offer significant advantages. Beyond invoice management, the cloud-based bookkeeping integrates with many other financial software programs to make FreshBooks a program worth investigating to help streamline daily operations.

Gusto

This app allows companies to manage their payroll, tax, and benefits. The app reports any new hires to the government, ensuring that nothing is accidentally missed during the onboarding process. Plus, they handle state and federal taxes and even email digital pay stubs to employees. This allows a business owner to manage everything from their phone late at night or on the road. The need to print out paystubs or worry about tax filings is eliminated.

Xero

Micro-businesses are defined as those small businesses with only a few employees who often wear multiple hats to keep operations running smoothly. Xero accounting software can work well for these circumstances at a subscription rate that makes sense for small businesses. Its cloud-based platform offers flexibility with a mobile app, payroll integration with Gusto, and inventory management.  

Wave

Small businesses looking for free accounting software can investigate the features offered by Wave. Accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning are made simple with its mobile app that can seamlessly incorporate multiple businesses into one account.

QuickBooks

QuickBooks is still a popular tool for small business accounting. It can sync with your bank accounts to make it easier to reconcile the books at the end of the month, manage invoices, keep track of vendor payments, and more. Many businesses can benefit from using this software daily, or at least monthly. Since QuickBooks is comprehensive accounting software, it can take time to learn how to use it. Fortunately, QuickBooks offers support through articles, community discussions, video tutorials, and more.

Square

Accepting payments is easier than ever thanks to Square. They offer a card reader that plugs into any smartphone so that business owners, salespeople, and employees can all take payments on the spot. This can improve cash flow by providing quick access to capital, rather than waiting for invoices to be mailed and paid at a later date.

WMPID is an Important Resource

Financial wellness boils down to the ability to confidently manage your finances to meet your business needs and goals. While new tech is changing the business landscape by making it possible for business owners to do more on their own in less time, technology cannot replace the benefit of sitting down with experts in your region. Contact WMPID today to find the support and resources available to leverage your financial success. Follow WMPID on LinkedIn for updates and information. Current open project bids can be found here.