It was a dark and stormy night when the new freight broker discovered that the lifeblood of her new brokerage had been sucked dry. How? Unpaid invoices were killing her.
So it wasn’t dark or stormy or night. But unpaid invoices can indeed suck the chances of a new brokerage succeeding. Cash flow is king in any business. If you’re a new freight broker, then learning the keys to managing your cash flow is the difference between living and the dead.
Cash Flow
Do you know what cash flow is? Simply, it’s your business’s money moving in and out of your control. Financial management – tracking that movement of cash – tells you whether or not you’re successful. When your cash flow is positive, that means you’ve got the funds to cover your expenses – which means negative cash flow is what it’s called when you don’t have enough money to pay the bills.
Cash Flow Vampires
If your freight broker business reaches the end of the money before the end of the month, you may be dealing with cash flow vampires – those evil beings that can destroy your business. What can you do to stop them?
Sunlight
Just like sunlight stops vampires, regularly examining your books and accounts will prevent any vampires from sucking the blood from your business. Finding those expenses that might be under the radar is an important way to track your cash flow. As a freight broker, you wouldn’t think that there would be little expenses – but they can add up. Making sure you have complete data for every load before sending an invoice is as important as sending the invoice itself.
Garlic for a Freight Broker
Garlic protects you from vampires. Good reports will protect a freight broker from the cash vampire. When an invoice is sent, tracking the payment status to be sure it’s paid on time is the broker’s responsibility. Having a report that shows who’s paid and who hasn’t can keep the freight broker aware of the cash that isn’t coming in.
Stake Through the Heart
To keep the vampires out permanently requires a stake in the heart of disorganization. This problem can be contained with good fiscal habits, but can creep back in without anyone noticing. The only way to keep it dead is to use a freight brokerage software that tracks loads, payments, customers, and drivers together, not in separate documents or spreadsheets. Tracking a load and knowing the driver or shipping company when the shipper calls shouldn’t take hours to track down. It shouldn’t even take minutes.
That’s why TruckingOffice Brokerage software is a great way to get started and stay organized. Instead of piling a desk up for a month and then panicking to find what you need, TruckingOffice organizes everything with easy to use search options. A freight broker needs a tool that works with the business, not causes more complications.
Freight Brokers Need TruckingOffice Brokerage Software
You can try our new TruckingOffice Brokerage Software now for a free trial. Keep those cash flow vampires away from your trucking logistics brokerage business from the beginning!
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