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Frequently Asked Questions

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Do have an initial conversation with us about any financial concerns you currently face.

We offer this totally free of charge.

Bookkeeping + Payroll & VAT

Bookkeeping is the process of recording all your financial transactions in a finance system. These transactions mainly consist of all inflows and outflows from your bank and credit card accounts but also sales and purchase invoices.

The first thing to get a cost effective and efficient accounting system which is easy to use anywhere (eg Xero).  Secondly, are there opportunities to automate how the required information gets into the system (egDext) which will save money and time?  Finally, it’s worth considering whether you want to do the remaining bookkeeping yourself or get a specialist to do it for you.

Sadly, we often see poor bookkeeping which can result in a complete absence of useful information to help how the business is performing or to help in the decision making process.  It will also drive up the cost of producing the annual accounts.

Annual Accounts & Self Assessment

For limited companies, annual accounts need to be produced 9 months after their year-end.  Any corporation tax due for that period must also be paid by that date although interestingly enough the tax return itself is only due 12 months after the year end date.

The best way to reduce your annual accounts costs is to ensure that your financial system efficiently and accurately records all financial information related to your business.  In theory, if this works 100% properly, your accountant could produce the accounts without making any changes to the data at all.

Our prime commitment to you is that we will always offer you a better service for the same price that you are currently paying.  We view annual accounts as something of an evil necessity which adds little if any value to your business – they need to be produced as quickly, cheaply and painlessly as possible.  Then we can focus on the things that really matter – improving your financial performance.

Sounding Board

Running an SME can prove a lonely process. Having a part-time financial expert to call on when you need gives you reassurance that your finances are in order, can improve the quality of your decisions and helps you sleep easier at night.

Many SMEs don’t have a sounding board and can survive and even perhaps thrive without one. It’s just that generally, with the right one, you’ll do even better!

With our vast array of financial experience including fund raising, banking, mergers and acquisitions and performance improvement, there are few financial issues we’ve yet to come across. Combined with our enthusiasm and work ethic we’re convinced you’ll appreciate our service and find it pays for itself.

Financial MOT

A financial MOT is a very quick and cheap way of identifying financial problems that you might not even be aware of yet together with opportunities to improve profits and cashflow.  It also allows both parties to build up a working relationship.

Having demonstrated the benefits to both parties of working together and building up trust, a successful MOT will naturally progress to a broader and on-going agreement to work together.

The whole process incorporating financial analyses, site visits and a concluding report is completed within one month.

Business Valuations

Commonly accepted valuation techniques are limited in number and not difficult to describe.  The key issue is recognising the inherent difficulty and subjectivity of choosing which inputs to feed into these models which in turn massively affects the resultant valuation.

Valuations require a special skill set rarely used by accountants.

Accountants tend to offer very simplistic, earnings-based valuations that are easy to compute but often undervalue the business. Even as a potential buyer, this will generally not be helpful as it can often render your bid uncompetitive.

Sadly, we often see poor bookkeeping which can result in a complete absence of useful information to help how the business is performing or to help in the decision making process.  It will also drive up the cost of producing the annual accounts.

Raising Money

Any arms-length financier will expect full technical competence in understanding how your business and industry works with a thorough grasp of your current and future finances.  Additionally, they will obviously expect clarity on how they earn their returns. In terms of formal documents both these as aspects should be reflected in:

  • A credible business plan
  • An appropriate and detailed cash flow forecast supported by balance sheet and profit and loss statements

If you offer considerable security (eg alternative assets which can refund a loan in full) and a proven ability to generate cashflow, its possible to raise money in a matter of days and pay a low interest rate on it or as the cliché goes – it’s easy to borrow money when you don’t need it!.  At the other extreme, raising 100% finance for a new standalone business can take years with an extremely low chance of success.

Financiers will want reassurance that good financial processes are in place with accurate and timely reporting an absolute must.  They’ll closely monitor how actual results match up with planned forecasts, so you need the right systems and people in place at the outset.

Buy or Sell a Business​

Even the highest bid might be below fair value, but you won’t know if you don’t have an independent business valuation. It could be that you’re selling at the wrong time or that you simply haven’t found the right buyer.

When professionally prepared, an independent business valuation can help you present your case to prospective purchasers in the best possible light, thus securing a higher price than would otherwise be the case.

This is usually a trade-off between getting a good deal whilst making a competitive offer acceptable to the seller.  Understanding the value drivers and how the key risks and opportunities affect value will be key to bidding effectively and undertaking sensible negotiations with the seller.

Numerous mechanisms can be employed to reduce risks associated with any particular valuation with the common ones including partial deferment of the price paid which is then linked to future performance, earn out clauses for exiting owner/mangers and specific contractual clauses for know issues in the sale agreement.

Case Studies

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A specific problem, a desire to reduce accounting costs or you just want some general financial advice from qualified experts? Then call us NOW

Case Studies

Case Study 01

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Case Study 02

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Case Study 03

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