The past years have shown us, more than ever, that the only constant is change. That applies to business planning and budgeting, too, which means it’s important for business owners to revisit their planning notes from the start of the year to ensure the business’s short- and long-term financial footing remains strong. This includes meeting with a trusted financial advisor to review the current state of your business. We’ve mapped out key topics to discuss with your banker to ensure you’re set up for success this year, and beyond.

Combatting fraud and cybersecurity issues

Years of hard work can be undone by fraud, so it’s important to ensure you’re protected. As fraudsters become increasingly sophisticated, it can be easier to fall for their schemes.

Banks can provide tools and services to prevent fraud, such as:

  • Positive pay: This feature helps stop counterfeit or altered checks, alerts you to suspicious items in real-time and prevents fraudulent payments from clearing your account.
  • ACH filter: This system keeps your cash flow predictable and can stop fraudulent activity before it hits your account by blocking unauthorized debits, giving you control over who can pull funds and alerting you to any transactions that don’t match your approved list.
  • A strong commercial card program helps protect your business from fraud by allowing you to set spending limits, control where and how cards are used and monitor transactions in real time. With built-in alerts and detailed reporting, you can spot unusual activity quickly and lock down cards instantly if something looks suspicious.
  • While it can seem “old school,” utilizing a lockbox keeps checks and payments out of your office and directs them straight to a secure processing center, reducing the risk of mail theft, lost payments or internal mishandling. Because your bank will typically handle all parts of the process—from collection and imaging to deposits—there are fewer touchpoints for fraud to occur. This approach also ensures your transactions are recorded and verified quickly, giving you cleaner audit trails and safer payment handling overall.

As this area is always evolving, be sure to ask your banker about any new or evolving fraud trends they may be seeing across the industry.

Managing cash flow

Cash flow management practices are critical to provide the liquidity to pay your bills and reduce borrowing costs. As a starting point, ask your banker to review your current processes to ensure your needs haven’t changed and to confirm that what has served you well in the past is still the best solution for the year ahead. There may be new strategies or offerings they can bring to the table, so it’s important to know all your options.

Additionally, be sure to talk through your receivables – specifically, convenient ways to help your clients pay you faster. First, offering multiple options for clients to pay you makes it easier for you to secure their payment. You can send invoices electronically, offer online or automated payment options or use a lockbox to speed up check processing. Clear payment terms and consistent follow-up also make a big difference in securing payment.

When it comes to making payments, there are a few strategies to ensure you’re maximizing your efforts. Using your full payment terms, adjusting the timing of payments and moving vendors to electronic payments can significantly boost your cash flow. Small adjustments like these can significantly improve how quickly and smoothly your cash moves in and out.

Stress-testing your budget

Given the shifting market for business owners across the board, this conversation can be an easy one to miss: stress-testing your budget. Business owners should always be aware of what could derail their budget and have a plan for how to bridge that gap. By identifying these factors and thinking creatively, you can spot potential weaknesses, plan and prepare early, and reduce challenges that come with being unready.

For example, if a payment doesn’t come in as you expect, do you have capacity on your line of credit to pay your employees and vendors? Aim to have regular conversations with your banker to ensure you have what you need for the months ahead. This helps avoid any fire drills which can distract from your core business.

Planning for growth

If you’re planning to grow your business during the coming year, it’s imperative to discuss your ideas with your current banker as soon as possible. Whether the growth is through investing in new equipment, facilities or even evaluating an acquisition, having those conversations early sets you up for success to continue to evolve and grow your business.

In addition, having conversations with your bank about your company’s debt capacity is always a good idea. By learning what ratios are most important – debt service, current ratio (short term), debt-to-equity – you can determine if your current bank can help you get where you need to go. And if not, it can help frame out questions and needs as you look for a new option.

Evaluating new and potential legislative changes

There are several recent and proposed legislative changes that could significantly affect business owners. These mainly fall into tax and spending policy, reporting/compliance and trade policy.

Take any new legislation as an opportunity to connect with your bank about considerations that are always relevant, such as payables, cash flow strategies, pivoting or finalizing your business exit strategy, and doubling down on fraud protection. Your bankers can help advise on other industries and scenarios that may be of importance to you.

Your relationship with your banker is directly related to the success and operations of your business. Collaborating with the right financial team offers access to advisors who understand your business’s unique needs and who can help build and adjust your plan to help your business thrive.

Read more of Paul’s thoughts on conversations to have with your banker in the American City Business Journals‡.

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