Shifting pieces like operating costs and profit margins around to increase cash flow makes for a game of financial chess for small businesses. Now, an online dashboard allows business owners to use a series of sliders to see how changing important benchmarks can accomplish this goal.
CashSage Offers Cash Flow Solution
CashSage is the cash flow solution that’s free to all U.S. small businesses from Sageworks. The sliders adjust metrics like sales growth, accounts receivable days, net profit margin and others. There are also automated reports containing industry-specific recommendations to improve cash based on the combinations.
Small Business Trends spoke with Colin Tierney, Head of Marketing, Strategy and Digital at Sageworks about the product.
Provides Financial Metrics
“CashSage gives you a snapshot of how you can improve cash in a business by telling you which financial metrics are going to have the most impact on your cash,” Tierney said.
Essentially, it allows small business owners to see the sources driving cash to their small businesses. You can make improvements based on the possible combinations the sliders create. Then you can set goals and see how to accomplish them.
Here’s an Example of How it All Works
For example, an independent auto garage might want to see how increasing the days they wait to get paid can increase cash flow. Once they’ve synced their data in, they can move the “days until your business gets paid” slider forward and back. CashSage automatically shows you the cash increase and total cash difference in a year. There are six other variables and a series of recommendations for each.
Creates an Online Road Map
CashSage is like an online road map that not only shows you the final destination, but the path to getting there. Tierney explains another feature the dashboard offers.
“You can set goals for yourself and marry those to recommendations that are industry and financial metric specific. That’s how you wind up with a plan to hit your goals.”
Offers a Database of Financial Information
This database of recommendations is the culmination of Sageworks’ years as a financial information company.
“We’ve been around for almost twenty years and we’ve worked with thousands of other types of businesses,” Tierney said. ” We’ve supplied solutions for accounting firms, banks, credit unions and others.”
Makes Specific Recommendations from Industries and Experts
These recommendations are sourced from specific industries and experts. All recommendations are vetted by the company. Users can enter them, but they need to be approved. Not only does CashSage help small businesses achieve a variety of financial goals, there are other benefits as well. Consultants and other contractors, for example, could use the data to better explain their fees, for example.
Uses Integration Technology
Integration technology makes it easier for a small business to import its unique data into the system. There’s no data entry needed as the numbers are synced automatically from QuickBooks online. After that, the company’s data is compared to Sageworks’ industry base.
The motivation for CashSage focuses on helping the engine of the American economy.
“For us, this product presents an opportunity to address a very real need small businesses have for cash,” Tierney says. “Without taking a lot of time, CashSage allows them to set goals and see a road map for how they can improve.”
Image: Sage
This article, “SageWorks Releases CashSage Tool to Measure Your Cash Flow – Free!” was first published on Small Business Trends