When running your business, cash flow is king. It’s how you ensure that employees, vendors, and bills are paid on time. Cash flow forecasting is also essential to keep the lights on—it’s that vital. The good news is that cash flow management can be made more efficient through a variety of strategies including ACH payments, depositing checks remotely , enabling international wires, and fraud protection so that funds aren’t tied up unnecessarily.

What is cash flow management and why is it so important?

Cash flow management is overseeing the money that flows in and flows out from your business so you can predict your cash flow needs. A smart business owner will want to make payments quickly and easily and be able to convert receivables into cash as quickly as possible. This saves back-end work if you send payments via electronic means, or deposit checks remotely. It can really benefit you when planning enables you to have cash on hand and it helps give an accurate picture of the money you have to work with. And with cash on hand, you can avoid late payments or having to pull from savings or borrow money to meet business needs.When cash flow is managed, a business is ready to thrive.

Efficient cash flow can bring operational flexibility to your business

Cash, cash, cash. When you manage it well and have cash on hand, you control the keys to the destiny of your business. Some vendors offer discounts for cash payments, and businesses that manage their cash well are in a better position to take advantage of those discounts or don’t want to have to wait to get their money. When cash isn’t tied up, it can also help your business weather economic downturns.  Cash flow forecasting helps you to meet payroll and to be able to pay the bills if things slow down for the season or for any other reason.

Strong, predictable cash flow can spur on growth and expansion

If part of your game plan is opening new offices or locations, investing in real estate, or putting business money into financial instruments, you’ll want cash to do so. Having cash on hand can put you in the driver’s seat right away, without the red tape and extra approval requirements of credit. Strong cash management not only allows for better growth and expansion opportunities, but also allows a business to pay off debt quicker, saving on interest fees. Read on to learn about tools to free up cash, get it moving, and avoid tying it up. 

Adopting good cash flow management tools can help you fight fraud

Fraud protection goes a long way. It may seem obvious, but don’t lose money to fraudsters. Fraud losses can cause you to spend valuable time on insurance claims, and you definitely don’t want to lose time or money on the detective work that it takes to go back and hunt down where missing money went.

A big enemy of healthy cash flow is business fraud. It causes increased costs, wasted time, and disrupts your normal activities. When you want to bring money in and move money out quickly, you’ll want to actively work to avoid fraud and ensure that your business runs at its very best.

What are some ways to improve cash flow for your business?

The short answer is to find some great tools and put them into practice. 
Here are 4 ways we can help you master the flow:

1. Pay faster with Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments
   You may wonder what ACH is? An ACH payment is an electronic funds transfer, that can in some cases, clear the same day. It’s a way to send money with increased speed. Switch from prepping and mailing paper checks to making ACH payments so you can save time and take a tedious task off your plate. Plus, with an ACH transfer you can schedule most types of payments including invoices and payments to government agencies, vendors, or employees.
2. Deposit checks quicker with Remote Deposit Capture (RDC)
   Get the convenience of being able to deposit money quickly and more securely to your account. It lets you deposit anytime, anywhere. You can save yourself time and effort by using your phone or computer to deposit to your account and enjoy the ease and convenience that goes along with it.
3. Send money internationally with Wire Transfers 
   Rapid domestic and international wire capability can make it easier to conduct business across borders. Easily wire funds through Treasury Internet Banking and cut down on the inefficiencies of other payment methods, while expanding the reach of your business.
4. Better defend against fraud with Positive Pay
   Be in control of business payments. Positive Pay Solutions helps you manage payment risk from fraudulent checks and electronic ACH items by providing a layer of protection that matches up issued and received checks. You then receive a list that you can approve or disapprove accordingly.

Get more information

These great tools are a part of our Treasury Management services. They can help your business thrive in an increasingly competitive marketplace. If you want to learn more about how Treasury Management can help your business, schedule an appointment, or visit Treasury Management today.