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1. Track Your Spending

2. Set Financial Goals
3. Prioritise Your Expenses
4. Compare prices
5. Grow Your Savings
These are practical, proven Steps and Tips for setting and monitoring your financial affairs and activities. 5 Success Steps to Budgeting- Makes sense of cents!

Blackburn Accounting is qualified to provide professional services to help you with your Budget Planning.

We offer individualised service that helps you keep on top of your cash-flow, assist in strategic planning and develop your capacity for growth and expansion.
It starts with a conversation. Contact us now!

The BENEFITS of Budget Planning.

Simply, a Budget is a spending plan which helps you understand your real financial position by capturing what’s going out and what’s coming in. This snapshot is critical in managing both Business and personal finances.

A budget breaks down your income and expenses so you can manage your spending and saving activities, providing a true picture, thus avoiding guesswork. Maintaining an accurate Budget helps keep your spending on track, can help you and your money work smarter and may uncover some hidden cash flow problems. Problems better discovered sooner than later.

1. Tracking your spending
Knowing where your money is going by keeping a ‘spending diary’ is a great start to getting a true picture of your spending habits. You need to get a firm handle on what you’re currently spending, what you can afford to spend, and what your priorities are. By keeping a Budget you can gain control of your money rather than money controlling you.

2. Set Financial Goals
Determine your short, medium and long term financial goals.
Once you have an overall picture for your budget, that is your net pay/income, and then expenses tracked, setting your financial goals is crucial.
Start by making a list of both short, medium and long-term financial goals that you want your new budget to help you achieve. To allocate funds accordingly to reach your goals, a good idea to determine your needs versus your wants. This applies to both business and personal financial activities.

3. Prioritise Your Expenses
It’s important to prioritise your expenses to know your true situation and what your essential monthly expense are. Your categorised and tracked fixed and variable expenses will help you predict how much you have to budget.
Knowing what is an absolute necessity and having money set aside for the essentials can protect you from overspending, resulting in a ‘cash’ short- fall. Keeping on top of Creditors accounts, including negotiating payment arrangements are critical in managing the Budget balance. As critical is managing your Debtors to get monies owed paid in to you as soon as possible.

4. Compare Prices
If you are buying goods or services shop around and compare prices to get the best deal. Look out for packages, bonuses or incentives that can help you save money.
Review your tracked expenses to see if there are different products around such as new internet provider plans, motor vehicle deals can vary. There are savings to be found if you look.

5. Grow Your Savings
Consider setting up separate accounts if you have identified a specific goal item. A target amount can be deposited regularly without major impact and will help grow your savings.
Don’t be afraid to ask for discounts, best deals or special offers to help boost your savings funds. Better in your bank account than someone else’s.