Thursday, September 23, 2010

Get A Regulary Salary As An Entrepreneur

One of the biggest problems facing the entrepreneur or self-employed consultant is fluctuating cash-flow. One month a windfall, enough for three months running costs, then nothing for the next four months.

One minute you are wondering if the British Racing Green Jaguar is a possibility, the next you are comparing pasta prices in each supermarket bin.

Consider opening a Credit Union account.

(I am indebted to Cathy Nesbitt of Cathy’s Crawly Composters for this suggestion)

There is a credit union near you, but if there isn’t it doesn’t matter. Typical requirements are some photo-identification, your social insurance number and $50.00 refundable deposit.

A credit-check is run.

And there you are with the minimum account – a personal savings account.

The frills can come later.

Your credit union branch manager will advise you that you can mail in cheques for deposit, and fax requests for bank transfers (if they don’t have Interac access).

You will receive gallons of information about ATMs, mortgages and so on, but you don’t need any of that.

Here’s How You Work It:

You receive a cheque in the mail from a client; scan and print it so you have a hard-copy copy for your 3-ring binder.

Endorse the back of the cheque and mail it off to the branch manager.

Once a month fax a request to transfer $2,500 (or whatever your running costs are) to your regular checking account at the major-bank-which-pays-you-no-interest.

Now you can match your $2,500 budget to your $2,500 monthly “salary”, and you can trim costs, excuse yourself from big-budget restaurants etc.

Here’s the Bonus

Your accountant will love you, because EVERY deposit in your credit union is a direct reflection of revenue earned; you will match each deposit with an invoice, and for tax purposes your 12 credit union monthly statements are a direct record of your business revenue.

Talk to Me !

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