One of the things that can easily cause adverse credit for sole proprietors and small businesses is not paying bills on time. Not only that, but missed payments cost money – in late fees and often in interest. And sometimes one or two late payments can cause interest rates on credit cards to go through the roof.

So, in addition to a bookkeeping tool like QuickBooks or Quicken, I keep a cheat sheet called “Bills” posted on my office wall. It lists all of my bills – personal and business – as well as the amounts, the accounts they come out of by due dates.

And while many of us try to pay bills as they come in, sometimes things get missed – mail gets mis-delivered, statements get mixed in with junk mail or delayed. But I’m still responsible for making payments on time. With my little cheat sheet, any time during the month I can just glance up on my cheat sheet and be reminded of all of my regular bills.

I find that this little tool carries me a long ways towards reducing my anxiety about making timely payments.