Accounting Frontier Blog

Cash Flow Forecasting: A Key Tool for Interior Designers

Cash Flow Forecasting: A Key Tool for Interior Designers

Accounting at its core is based on historical data. Transaction entry for most small businesses is at most caught up through the prior week, but it is never forward-looking. It is vital to review the trends shown by your historical data and review key metrics that pertain to your industry. See this article for our Top 5 KPIs for the interior design industry.

Top 5 Essential KPIs for Interior Design Businesses

Top 5 Essential KPIs for Interior Design Businesses

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) play a crucial role in evaluating the financial and operational health of any organization. While some KPIs are universally applicable, others are industry-specific. In this article, we will delve into the top five KPIs that hold significant importance for the interior design industry. By monitoring these metrics, design firms can gain valuable insights and make informed decisions to enhance their overall performance.

How much cash is really mine?

How much cash is really mine?

There's an illusion out there that you can simply look at your bank balance and judge how healthy your business is. While that may be somewhat true for select businesses, it is certainly not true for interior designers. One of the most common questions we receive is how much cash on hand is really mine and how much is client funds? 

Excel Uploads

Excel Uploads

There will often be times where a software may not connect to your accounting software, but you can still automate the entry of data through an excel upload template. Bookkeeping automation is about getting your data entered as quickly and accurately as possible so that you can analyze your data and use it to drive your business’ performance. You should always be thinking of ways to streamline and improve processes. Excel upload templates essentially act as bridge connection on your wagon wheel when a direct connection doesn’t exist. In accounting softwares like Xero or QuickBooks Online, you can upload contact data like vendor or customer information, but you are also able to upload transaction data for bills, invoices, or credits. Xero stands out in this area due to its open platform and the fact that excel data importing is an included function of the software (see Why Xero instead of QuickBooks link). QuickBooks allows transaction uploads, but it’s provided through other vendors who charge for the service.  

Maximum Capacity

Maximum Capacity

What is the maximum amount of revenue you can generate based on your current processes and systems? This answer to the “Maximum Capacity” question should serve as a target for you before making any changes within your business. It also serves as a gauge of when to ramp up staffing and beef up your internal systems and processes.

Burden Rate

Burden Rate

In today’s post, we’re going to review the concept of a “burden rate” and why it is important. This term may have differing names by industry or have varying calculation methods, but the underlying reason for doing it is the same: you must know the cost it takes you to produce revenue. Let’s look at an example to illustrate this point.