Worried about whether you have enough cash to make payroll? Or for that SBA loan? Here's a cash management hack to sleep at night.

Open 4 bank accountants. (Stay with me, it works. I've done it too.)

  1. Don't pay fees for any of the accounts. They can be at more than one bank.

  2. The 4 accounts:

  • incoming money (it's a pass-through account)
  • savings
  • taxes
  • bill pay / outgoing money

Avoid the dreaded moment when you have a tax bill but no cash to pay it by transferring a percentage of revenue into the tax account throughout the year. To find the right percentage, have annual tax strategy and quarterly tax planning meetings with your accountant.

  1. When you most need the line of credit or a loan is when the bank doesn't want to give it to you. Having money in savings gives you a cushion for the emergencies that always arise.

  2. Having an outgoing or bill pay account makes it easier to avoid being overdrawn or paying for stuff you don't need.

  3. Until money is assigned to one of the 3 other accounts, it sits in the pass-through (incoming) account, waiting to be tagged for a specific use. Less squandering money accidentally. Every dollar is allocated for something.