I love using digital systems to keep my life organized, but I also still use pen and paper a lot. I live in both worlds seamlessly and they complement each other very well! One thing that I love to do on pen and paper is create a spending plan. I’m the kind of gal who geeks out over new pens and colors and uses them for EVERYTHING. So, all of my things (planner, powersheets, budgets) look like rainbows.
I’ve always had a really detailed spending plan for our family, and I took it a step further this year and made my own template for it that I fill out at the start of each month and I LOVE it. It’s easy for me to track which of our bills are being paid, and which account we are paying them from. When we moved to MA, I realized that while looking through my business binder, I was constantly writing down spending plans in random spots on random pieces of paper. So it hit me – I needed to create a spending plan template specifically for my business and so I did!
I just tweaked the template the other day because I am (gratefully) getting more bookings and paying off some stuff so I had to delete some things and add others! I keep it SUPER simple (and in line with my branding elements!), because that’s how I roll.
There are four main sections to my template:
- Monthly expenses
- Additional expenses
- Balances
- Projected income
So, the monthly expenses is pretty self explanatory. This is where I have a bulleted list of all my expenses that re-occur on a monthly basis. Additional expenses are things that I don’t usually pay every month, such as second shooters, domain renewals, albums, etc. Just things for me to think about ahead of time based on my calendar.
The balances part is something new I started doing and I love it! This is where I write down the date I check it for the month, and what my savings, tax and salary accounts are at on that day. I also have a section for credit cards, because I do have a card that I use specifically for business purchases to keep things easy to track. I love having this section because now I can look back at the previous month and see how much growth I’ve had in my savings account which can really help me keep things straight when I feel like I’m doing worse than I actually am. #lifeofabusinessowner
The fourth piece is the projected income/payment plan. I write down the date and the amount that I am expecting to get from sessions + weddings. Then in the column right next to it, I write out the payment plan – which is how I plan to spend that money. I have my own formula for how most payments are split up, so I look at the income I’m getting and then write out what is going where. Here is an example on a small scale:
- Let’s say I’m getting $200 for something, anything at all. I would write things like:
- $50 salary account
- $50 savings
- $30 tax account
- $20 gas for session
- $30 checking
- $20 sitter for session
This is helpful for me because when that payment clears, I can hop into my bank account and transfer the money where it’s supposed to be, and then highlight it on my sheet once it’s been done. And I plan this out for EVERY payment that I plan on getting for the entire year. I have one sheet per month and it really helps me forecast where I should stand at the end of the year! My template is front and back so that way there’s more room on the back of a sheet if I have a really busy month.
This is in addition to my monthly bookkeeping where I enter in all my expenses and income into my studio management system so that it’s ready for my accountant at the end of the year! This is just different for me because I plan out exactly how I’m going to spend that money! Also, I’m a nerd and I get really excited about these things, haha.
Well, there you have it! I hope that this has been helpful for you! If you’re a small business owner, do you already do something like this?
Linda is a Boston-based photographer specializing in weddings and creating family legacies. You can see more of her work online at lindabarryphotography.com, on Instagram, or on Facebook. If you want to reach out directly: linda@lindabarryphotography.com. To sign up for the monthly newsletter full of encouragement and real life, click here!
If you liked this post, you might like these also!
comments +