Love Your Numbers: 3 Financial Red Flags to Watch for This Spring 💘📊
Don’t let your business finances break your heart this year.
Spring is a busy season for interior designers. New projects book quickly, deposits come in, and your calendar fills up fast. When the money starts flowing, everything can feel great. But this is also when financial red flags tend to show up quietly in the background.
As a bookkeeping and accounting firm that specializes in interior design businesses, we see the same issues surface year after year. Here are three financial red flags to watch for as you head into spring
🚩 Red Flag 1: “Ghosting”
Unpaid invoices and aging Accounts Receivable
If clients are slow to pay or stop responding altogether, your cash flow is affected immediately. This often happens when final invoices are sent at the end of a project with no follow up process in place. Even profitable firms can feel constant financial pressure when invoices remain unpaid. If you have invoices sitting at 30, 60, or 90 days past due, it is time to address them before new projects and new expenses pile up.
🚩 Red Flag 2: “Mixed Signals”
Mixing personal and business finances
Using one account for both personal and business expenses makes it difficult to understand how your interior design business is actually performing.This includes small purchases that feel harmless, as well as larger personal expenses paid from a business account. It is also important to remember that a large client deposit is not automatically your money. In most cases, those funds are already allocated to vendors, materials, freight, or subcontractors. Without clear separation, profit becomes difficult to identify and financial decisions become harder to make.
🚩 Red Flag 3: “Fear of Commitment”
Low cash reserves
Interior design project soften come with higher upfront costs. If your business does not have cash reserves, even a small delay in payment can create stress. Low reserves are usually the result of spending deposits before project expenses are paid or pricing that does not fully account for overhead. Cash reserves provide flexibility and stability, especially during busy seasons.
Loving Your Numbers Supports Your Growth ❤️
Interior design businesses thrive when creativity is supported by strong financial systems.
When you understand your numbers, you can price projects with confidence, manage cash flow more effectively, and make informed decisions about growth. Whether you use Houzz Pro or Design Files to manage projects, everything should ultimately tie back to clean and accurate books in QuickBooks Online.
Sherry & Morgan lead Business by the Book, a women owned bookkeeping and accounting firm serving interior designers and creative businesses nationwide.
Ready to Strengthen Your Financial Foundation? ✨
Spring is a season of growth, and your finances should be structured to support that growth with clarity and confidence.
Business by the Book provides bookkeeping and accounting for creatives, serving interior designers, installers, warehousing businesses, and more. We are a women owned firm based in North Georgia, serving clients virtually throughout the United States.
We specialize in working with interior designers and creative business owners who want clean books, clear reporting, and a financial partner they can trust.
If any of these red flags sound familiar, we would love to help.
