The 2025 HoneyBook playbook to getting paid 

Your comprehensive guide to building a stronger financial foundation for your small business. 

It’s a new year, which means it’s the perfect time to get your finances in order. 

Running a successful small business isn’t just about delivering great products or services. It’s about maintaining a healthy cash flow to keep your business thriving  and making sure you get paid. 

Especially in 2025, and an uncertain economic climate, understanding how to effectively manage and collect payments is more crucial than ever for small business owners. 

Regardless of your industry, getting paid shouldn’t be a constant source of stress. In this guide, we’ll explore our top tips to take control of your finances—and help you build a more financially sustainable business this year.

Jump to: 

• Get smart on your expenses and where your money is going
• Bucket your revenue into different categories
• Set clear financial goals
• Make it easy for your customers to pay you  
  

Tip 1: Get smart on your expenses

Many small business owners are familiar with the feeling: even when money is coming in, and business is good—it can sometimes feel like it’s disappearing into thin air. 

We get it. As a small business owner, taking control of your finances can be overwhelming. Between your customers, your work, and other admin, your finances can oftentimes take a backseat to more pressing needs. 

By not regularly managing your finances, you risk accidentally overspending, being unprepared for emergencies, and perhaps worst of all—making bad decisions that could harm your business. 

The most important thing to do to mitigate this is to note where your money is going at all times. Also known as your cash flow. It might feel like overkill, but it makes a huge impact when it comes to the ups and downs of being a small business owner. 

Expense categories to track 

Not sure to start? Here are five critical expense categories to categorize and track:

Operating expenses

Operating and overhead expenses are considered the two main expenses for any business. Operating expenses encompass all expenses that are incurred when producing products or services. This includes the cost of labor, materials, machinery, vendors, or anything needed to create the product or service. 

Overhead expenses

Overhead expenses, on the other hand, are expenses a business needs to pay to stay open. These include things like rent, building utilities, and insurance. It’s easy to mix up your operating and overhead expenses. A good rule of thumb is that any expenses that still exist if you took away the production of the product, are your overhead expenses, and any expenses that directly tie into the production of the product are your operating expenses. 

Marketing expenses

Marketing expenses encompass any cost incurred by promoting your product, service, or business. This includes traditional forms of marketing such as taking out an ad in a newspaper, a commercial on TV, or taking out a billboard. It also includes more modern forms of marketing such as paying for sponsored content with an influencer, social media ads, and paid placement in a Substack or newsletter. 

Software and tools

Software expenses for a small business encompass the costs of purchasing, licensing, and maintaining digital tools and applications needed to run your operations efficiently. These might include accounting software like QuickBooks, project management tools like Asana, customer relationship management (CRM) tools like HoneyBook, or industry-specific applications.

Tax obligations

This is any of your federal and state tax payments as well as any associated costs that you make on an annual basis. Here’s a breakdown of what’s covered in each: 

• Federal: Income tax on business profits, self-employment tax (covers Social Security and Medicare), quarterly tax payments, payroll taxes for employees (including Social Security and Medicare matching), federal unemployment tax (FUTA)
• State: State income tax (varies by state), state unemployment insurance, sales tax collection and remittance, property tax if you own business property, local business taxes or licenses, and state workers’ compensation insurance premiums
• Associated costs: Tax preparation fees for professional services, accounting software costs for tax tracking, bookkeeping costs to maintain tax records, Tax planning consultation fees, costs for maintaining tax documentation systems

Setting up a cadence of checking in with your expenses

After setting up your expense categories, make it a habit to regularly review your financial numbers throughout the year. Try checking in monthly—this allows you to see exactly how much you’re spending in each category. 

Since expenses naturally fluctuate with seasons and business cycles, keeping a close eye on your cash flow will help you stay on top of your business’s financial health.

Easy finance tracking—on HoneyBook Finance

Today’s business owners are busy, and having an all-in-one platform like HoneyBook Finance simplifies their workflow.  Learn more here.

Tip 2: Bucket your revenue into different savings categories 

Smart financial management isn’t just about tracking expenses—it’s about strategically organizing your incoming revenue as well. Rather than lumping all your income into a single account, implementing a bucketing system for your revenue streams can transform how you manage your business finances.

Key savings buckets that every small business owner should have

• Taxes: Ensures that you’ll have money set aside for any taxes you might owe.
• Operating & overhead expenses: Make sure that your business stays operational and safeguarded from any big changes or major event that affects your finances. 
• Owner’s salary: Pay yourself a fair salary so you can reinvest in your personal and professional well-being.
• Emergency fund: Life happens. Prepare for the unexpected with an emergency savings fund.

Benefits to bucketing your revenue

• Simplifies tax preparation: Knowing exactly how much is allocated for taxes prevents stress and makes tax preparation that much easier. 
• Protects against cash flow disruption: Having clear boundaries ensures you never accidentally spend more than what’s needed. 
• Financial clarity: The more segmented your accounts are, the clearer it will be to see where you stand financially. 

Check out simplified savings buckets in HoneyBook Finance

HoneyBook’s automated savings buckets make this process seamless. Automatically allocate portions of your revenue to pre-set buckets with minimal effort, so you can focus on what you do best: growing your business.

Tip 3: Set clear financial goals 

While the desire to make more money might be your first instinct when planning for the year ahead, successful financial planning requires a more nuanced and strategic approach—especially in 2025’s uncertain economic landscape.

For any small business owner, the key to achieving meaningful financial growth lies in establishing clear, comprehensive goals that address growth, financial health, and creating a sustainable business. 

Laying the groundwork

Before diving into goal-setting, it’s important to take time to lay the groundwork. Start by conducting a thorough review of your 2024 performance, analyzing what worked and what didn’t, and considering your position within the current market conditions. 

It’s important to honestly assess where your business stands. This, combined with a realistic assessment of your available resources and capacity, will help you set goals that are both ambitious and attainable.

Creating financial objectives 

When crafting your financial objectives—otherwise known as goals—think beyond simple revenue targets.The more granular and in-depth they are, the more you’ll be able to map out a financial plan. Here are some to consider: 

• Increasing your margins across your services or products. 
• Building a robust cash reserve to weather unexpected challenges.
• Reducing existing debt. 
• Strategic investments in different areas of your business. 

Turning your objectives into reality

The secret to turning these objectives into reality lies in breaking them down into manageable pieces. Instead of having an annual target for increasing your margins, shift to quarterly milestones, and implement monthly progress tracking to stay on course. 

This might involve adjusting your pricing strategies or optimizing your service packages to better align with your financial objectives. Remember, flexibility is key—what works at the beginning of the year, might need adjustment by the time the summer rolls around.

Keep your financial momentum going in 2025 with HoneyBook Finance

Staying on track throughout the year requires real-time insights and consistent goal-setting. With HoneyBook Finance, you can easily monitor your progress, make data-driven adjustments, and stay accountable to your financial goals. Our reporting tools help you track key metrics so you can stay focused and on course. Learn more here.

Tip 4: Make it easy for your customers to pay you 

In 2025’s digital-first economy, the way you accept payments can make or break your business success. Gone are the days when offering basic credit card processing was enough—modern consumers expect a seamless, flexible payment experience that matches their preferred way to pay. 

For small business owners, payment friction isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a revenue killer that can lead to delayed payments, frustrated customers, and damaged business relationships.

Over the past decade, payments have evolved dramatically, with mobile payments taking center stage over traditional cash and card transactions. Today’s consumers use a variety of different payment methods, from digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay (which are both available on HoneyBook!) to platforms like Venmo and Cash App (though these platforms are not recommended for professionals). Buy Now Pay Later platforms like Affirm and Klarna have also changed consumer expectations, making payment flexibility a key factor for many in purchasing decisions.

When choosing payment options for your business, it’s crucial to align them with your ideal customer’s preferences and behaviors. Some key things to consider are: 

• Who your customers are, and how they like to purchase your products or services. 
• How quickly and easily your target customer can complete a transaction, especially on mobile devices.
• How easy it is for your customer to see their payment histories and receipts 

And because most businesses don’t serve just one singular client or customer base, it’s important to offer a range of payment options. Here’s some to consider: 

• Digital wallets for those who prefer contactless payments
• Traditional credit card processing for clients who value reward points or familiar payment methods
• ACH/bank transfers for larger transactions where processing fees matter
• Flexible payment plans for high-ticket services or products

Easier payments with HoneyBook Finance 

With HoneyBook Finance, you can offer a variety of payment methods all in the platform, whether it’s credit cards, ACH transfers, or Apple Pay. Plus, you can set up recurring invoices or installment plans with ease.

When every moment of friction in your payment process is an opportunity for delayed payments—it’s critical that you have the right mix of payment options through an all-in-one client centric CRM platform like HoneyBook. This isn’t just about making it easier for customers to pay you—it’s about investing in better cash flow and stronger client relationships for your business.

Manage your money where you manage your business 

By taking control of your finances—you’re setting your business up for success in 2025 and beyond. 

Remember, strong financial management isn’t just about keeping the lights on; it’s about building a sustainable business that serves both you and your clients better. 

Ready to take your finances to the next level? HoneyBook Finance can help you manage your money, track your goals, and get paid faster—giving you more time to focus on what matters most: delivering exceptional work to your clients. Click here to learn more. 

This article is intended for general educational purposes based on generalizations and does not replace professional accounting, finance, investment, legal, tax, or business advice. You should employ a professional for advice on taxes, finance, investments, the law, or any other business and professional matters.