Cashflow and profit are two of the most important financial measures for any business. But while they’re both related to the financial performance of a company, they measure different things.
Knowing the difference – and how cash and profit contribute to your success story – is a vital skill if you want your business to have the best possible financial health.
The difference between cashflow and profit
Understanding the technicalities of financial reporting can be daunting as a new business owner. And even seasoned entrepreneurs can find it hard work understanding all the various financial reports that today’s cloud accounting software can produce.
But getting your head around the differences between cashflow and profit can be a gamechanger – especially when it comes to managing your bank balance.
So, let’s look at the differences:
Profit refers to the amount of money your business has left after subtracting all expenses from your revenue. It’s a measure of your company's financial success over a given period, whether that’s a month, quarter or a full 12-months.
Cashflow is a process that measures the inflow and outflow of cash in your business. This includes both your trading and investment activities. Maintaining a ‘positive cashflow position’ is vital for meeting your financial commitments.
Why is it important to make a profit?
Profit is a measure of the financial success of your business. It’s also a key factor in your growth as an organisation. Healthy profits mean you have the surplus cash needed to reinvest in the business, and to pay yourself and your fellow shareholders healthy dividends.
However, you can only make a profit if you have enough liquid cash to keep operating – and this is where the importance of cashflow becomes paramount
Why is positive cashflow so essential?
Poor cashflow is one of the biggest factors in most business failures. As the lifeblood of the company, cash is an essential ingredient in the financial mix. To operate effectively, you need more cash inflows than cash outflows. If not, you don’t have the cash to make purchases, pay your team or buy the services that keep you operating.
Positive cashflow is all about ensuring that there’s more cash coming in than expenses going out. This means you have liquid cash available exactly when you need it – and that’s vital for keeping the lights on in the business.
Talk to us about getting in control of your cashflow
Profit is an excellent measure of your financial success. But positive cashflow is the electricity that powers your business and keeps the wheels turning day in, day out.
Positive cashflow helps you:
Stay operational, with enough cash in the kitty
Meet your financial commitments as a company
Invest in your expansion, growth and scale-up strategy
Sustain your long-term success as an ambitious business.
Even a profitable business can face liquidity issues, so getting in control of your cashflow really should be top of your financial to-do list this year.
Get in touch to talk about your cashflow position.