Understanding is essential to success
Whether your 18 and heading off to college or 65 and heading into retirement having a budgeting and cash flow strategy is essential to reaching your goals. At Webb Financial Group we can help you create a strategy to help fit your lifestyle and create confidence that you will reach your goals.
A cash flow statement will help you determine how much income you have left over after your total expenses.
It's Pretty Simple. Total Income - Total Expenses = Net Cash Flow
The frequency of how you calculate can and should be done in multiple formats; Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Annually, etc.
Knowing whether your Net Cash Flow is positive, negative or even is critical to achieving your financial goals. Once you figure out whether you are in the black or the red it will direct where you are going to look next.
The idea is that if your Net Cash Flow is negative, your next step will be focusing on where in the budget you can cut back or if you need to find additional income. If your Net Cash Flow is positive you can allocate the excess funds to help achieve some of your goals.
Your budget is a breakdown of your cash flow. Your budget can vary. Thus, the difference between "a budget projection" and "the actual figures" since it is likely that your spending pattern may not exactly match your projections at the beginning of the period.
It is important to note that maintaining a budget can influence spending decisions. It encourages the setting of financial goals and allows the goals to be compared with actual spending patterns so that occasional course corrections can be had before things get out of hand.
Understanding your budget report and your cash flow statement provides a wealth of information for the savvy individuals looking to achieve success. Setting savings goals and forecasting expenses can help you monitor your progress to reaching some of your larger goals the future. while allowing you to address areas of risk and concern.