Currently, run a successful lawn care business? Maybe you’re looking to buy one, start one, or get a lawn franchise. The point is, once you get it going, you can sit and relax, right?
Well, no.
You need to take time to understand your business and its expenses to know whether it’s actually healthy or not.
One of the most reliable, and quickest ways to achieve this is using a lawn care business expenses spreadsheet. With it, you get to record your daily operations, together with the incurred expenses.
Below is all you need to know about coming up with an effective expense sheet for your business. Read on!
Why Do I Need A Lawn Care Business Expenses Spreadsheets?
Although spreadsheets are popularly known for recording business-related travel expenses, you can use them in numerous ways. From transportation and food to supply and equipment expenses, all the lawn care project money should be well accounted for.
Otherwise, you will never know how much profit/loss you’re making.
To ensure accuracy, ensure you set up an expense track sheet for various activities, such as the amount spent on office supplies, gas, meals, etc.
Yes, they may seem small, but it’s the consistency of having an accurate report of all these expenses (big or small), that will help you budget well. It will also make tax reporting much easier.
Plus, the receipts can be stored for cross-checking in the future, especially when you want to prevent double claiming of expenses.
How Often Should I Review Expense Reports?
There is no one-size-fits-all schedule for collecting your lawn care business’ expenses report from your employees. However, depending on your level of business, you can be collecting weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly.
The secret is to ensure you get to go through them, as often as possible to prevent any budgeting errors. You want to ensure money is properly circulating in the right area of your business.
If for instance, you prefer both weekly and monthly reports, you can make the weekly ones simple and the monthly reports detailed.
How Should a Lawn Care Business Expenses Spreadsheet Look Like?
The best expenses spreadsheet should have a list of all the possible expenses, combined with a short description of each. For better understanding, it’s best to separate the expenses based on category. For instance, training, food, gas, and much more.
Also, if you prefer categorizing your reports according to specific clients, the report should include the location and the size of the property. Be sure to list any advance payments or reimbursements.
Don’t forget to add dates, important signatures, and contact details (for reimbursements).
Apart from indicating your expenses, you can use your lawn care business expenses spreadsheet to create your weekly/monthly budget. This will significantly help you track the cash flow (what’s going out and what’s coming in). You need to know where your money is going, and whether it’s bringing in the expected profits.
Additionally creating a budget will help you identify areas of loss and work on cutting costs to save your business from sinking. Some of the greatest financial responsibility habits are developed from going through the expenses and comparing them with the budget.
In Conclusion
Coming up with a lawn care business expenses spreadsheet is one of the best decisions you can ever make for your business. This will streamline your paperwork, make your taxes easier to file and keep your employees fully compensated. We hope the above pointers help you get started with yours today.