As well as organising the sport you love, the efficient processing of your financial affairs should be high up on your sports club’s agenda. But let’s face it, for most clubs managing your cash can be a headache and often something that is not given much thought. The hard facts reveal that many sports clubs are at risk of going under due to poor financial management, manual processes and the abundance of cash payments.H
Here are some questions to ask if you feel that your club’s financial position is in jeopardy:
Are you losing money through unpaid fees and handling too much cash?
With the advent of COVID-19 health and safety advice, the need to prioritise cashless payments has become part of our daily lives. The younger generation are also reluctant to carry cash in their pockets, so the collection of player fees becomes a constant grind.
There are always the ‘avoiders’, the unorganised and late payers in any club. Remembering to bring the right cash for match fees is the last thing on any of our minds. It becomes hard to keep track of payments due to holidays, injuries and last minute changes and often it is easier to give up chasing people’s outstanding fees. As a result, clubs are losing large chunks of money.
Handling cash is often time-consuming, especially if you have to visit a bank to deposit money. Not only can errors occur when lots of cash is floating around, but a sports club is also at risk of theft, fraud or accidental loss resulting in financial hardship.
Is your debt rising due to poor cash flow?
To pay for ongoing venue and equipment costs you need to understand your position with incoming and outgoing expenditure. Clubs often lose sight of their current expenditure because their disparate systems are not up to date or the information you need can not be easily located. This may lead to tightening cash flows and incurring extra charges as debt rises, eventually harming the financial position of the club.
If the answer is yes to one or both of these questions, it is time to embrace new ways to handle your club’s finances. This may ensure that your club remains in the black and you and the rest of the team play the sport you enjoy without wasting countless hours struggling with all that cash!
