Pain points: every business has them. Otherwise described as 'weaknesses' or 'flaws', pain points are usually processes that are inefficient and problematic. It's a lot more appealing to concentrate on the successful aspects of your business, but identifying pain points is a way to overcome any challenges and improve processes moving forward. What are some areas in need of improvement in your business? How can you work to fix them? One good way of identifying pain points is to conduct a business performance evaluation. This is an opportunity to do a formal review of every aspect of your enterprise, from sales and marketing right through to customer service and employee recruitment. Since making money is usually the task that keeps business owners awake at night, you may also want to conduct a review that concentrates primarily on the financial side of things. Is profit as high as you'd like it to be? Do you have any outstanding expenses that are concerning you? Do you need to arrange a meeting with a financial advisor? According to Andrew Graham, the national head of business solutions for Australian accounting firm RSM Bird Cameron, there are several financial pain points to keep an eye out for. In a statement released last month, he said that financial stress may stem from problems such as bad debts, ineffective money management systems or poor cash flow. He added that one way to try to minimise the risk of falling into financial hot water is to generate regular accounting reports and keep on top of ingoing and outgoing costs. "If a business cannot track where money is going the risk of resources seeping out of an organisation rises significantly. Accurate, timely reporting is essential to minimising the impact of financial distress," Mr Graham asserted. One way to gain better control over your finances is to implement business accounting software. Accomplish's CashManager small business accounting system comes packed with features that can make money management easy. Designed for business owners with little to no accounting experience, it's perfect for people who are looking to oversee their finances without needing to consult an accountant every step of the way.