How to Plan Ahead for Your Business Finances

by Bill Litster | Nov 23, 2021 | VLOG

Here is the expanded article. Returning clean HTML body only, as requested.

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If you run a chiropractic or physical-therapy practice, you already know the strange feeling: the schedule is full, collections look healthy, and yet you still tense up every time you open your bank account. You’re working hard, the revenue is real — but you never quite feel in control of the money. That feeling isn’t a personal failing. It’s almost always a sign that you’re steering your practice by looking in the rear-view mirror instead of out the windshield.

Here’s the simple truth this article is built on: your financial statements only show you where you’ve already been. Planning ahead means deciding where you want to go — and building a system that makes the money behave on the way there. You don’t need an accounting degree to do it. You need a clear view and a plan.

Why do my financial statements always feel like old news?

Because they are. A profit-and-loss statement or a balance sheet is a report card for a month that’s already over. By the time you read it, the patients have been seen, the payroll has run, and the money has come and gone. That information is useful — it tells you what happened — but it can’t help you make today’s decision about whether you can afford a new associate, a piece of equipment, or finally a consistent paycheck for yourself.

This is the gap that keeps so many practice owners stuck. They’re handed clean, accurate books — which is the baseline every bookkeeper should deliver — but no one ever sits down and teaches them how to use the numbers to plan forward. Accurate history is not the same as a clear future.

What does it actually mean to “plan ahead” with money?

Planning ahead means flipping the order. Instead of spending first and hoping there’s something left over for profit and for you, you decide in advance how the money gets divided — then run the practice inside that plan. It’s the difference between driving while looking forward and driving by staring at where you’ve already been.

The mechanism we teach for this is Profit First. The idea is plain: pay yourself and your priorities first, then run the practice on what’s intentionally left for operations. You set up a few simple bank accounts — one for owner’s pay, one for taxes, one for profit, one for operating expenses — and route each deposit into them by percentage. When the operating account is what you spend from, you stop guessing whether the money is “really” there. You can see it.

How does Profit First work in a real practice?

Say a percentage of every patient payment is moved into a separate tax account the moment it lands. Now quarterly taxes stop being a gut-punch — the money was never in your spending account to begin with. Another slice goes to owner’s pay, so you finally take a consistent paycheck instead of whatever scraps are left. A small slice goes to profit, building a cushion that makes slow weeks far less scary.

None of this requires complicated software or a finance background. It’s a handful of accounts and a rhythm you follow. The point isn’t to add work — it’s to remove the constant mental math and the “do we have enough?” anxiety. Visibility creates confidence, and confidence is what lets you make calm decisions instead of reactive ones.

What’s the first step if my numbers feel like a mess right now?

Start small and start honest. You don’t have to overhaul everything this week. First, get your books current and accurate — you can’t plan forward on a foundation you don’t trust. Then look at the last three months and ask one question: of every dollar that came in, how much was supposed to be mine, the tax man’s, and the practice’s? That single exercise usually makes the leaks obvious.

From there, pick conservative percentages for owner’s pay, taxes, and profit, open the accounts, and start routing deposits. Adjust as you learn. The goal in month one isn’t perfection — it’s simply to start looking out the windshield.

How do I keep this going without it becoming another complicated system?

Keep it boring and consistent. Check your accounts on a set day each week or two — a short, calm review, not a marathon. Move money on a schedule. Revisit your percentages once a quarter as the practice grows. The owners who feel most in control aren’t the ones with the fanciest spreadsheets; they’re the ones with a simple system they actually follow.

And you don’t have to figure it out alone. We work as teachers and mentors, not just bookkeepers — sitting down with practice owners to explain what the numbers mean and how to plan around them, so you can be the CEO of your practice instead of its bottleneck.

If you’re tired of guessing where the money went and want a clear, forward-looking plan built around your practice, book a free call with Adam. We’ll talk through where you are and the simple next step to get you driving forward.

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This runs ~830 words, uses five question-style H2s, leads with the emotional truth (full schedule but anxious about money) → the Profit First mechanism → a clear next step, and closes with a soft CTA. No outcome guarantees — only process and clarity promises.