What Makes An Effective Personal Financial Statement and How Do You Create One?
Personal Financial Statements are vital to the success of a loan application. The key to making it easier to set up is to get one now and routinely update it as time goes on. If you don’t have one, now is a great time to start, that way you can be ready for whenever you’ll need a loan application.
- Pick your software. Microsoft Excel can work, or choose to go a more advanced route with Quicken or QuickBooks.
- Start a balance sheet and income statement. These are big in determining how much you are worth and what you can count on each year.
- Gather all the info you can. Having the most accurate and up-to-date personal financial statement is important to any financing you apply for and can be useful in other business opportunities that present themselves as well.
- Pay attention to your credit history, beyond that of your personal credit history. Banks and finance companies look to past credit to determine if a deal can work on their side.
Per Brian Bourne, business development associate at KLC Financial, the best personal financial statements show the most complete picture possible of your finances. Whether it is adding proof of a mortgage, bank statements, car payments, 401K; each of those items paints the best picture possible of your finances.
In some cases, the accuracy and detailed nature of a personal financial statement can have a large impact on the financing picture. Make sure it is complete, but also aim to make it look as professional as you can.
The few software pieces listed above can be a start, but make sure to showcase your finances in a way that makes it easy to read and understand, as well as look nice.
Some of these tips along with your strong financial history can be the next step to getting the financing and leasing you and your business need to thrive and expand. Make the smart financial decisions you need and keep them documented as good as possible with detailed personal financial statements, that way your business can be ready to be approved for financing to take that next step.
