Tag: xero

Categories
Business tips Finance Function

Why a cheap accountant is not the answer to your dreams!

Why a cheap accountant may not be the answer to all your dreams! 

So you have decided to delegate your business finances, this can be quite daunting as you might feel like you are losing control. You need to trust the person you are passing the baton to, trust that they will do a good job, keep you legal and care about the business’ success. So how do you decide which accountant to let into your business? 

Is it the cheapest accountant really the answer to your dreams? We all love a deal but consider this quote: 

“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur.” 

 At times there may be benefits to having a cheap accountant: 

  • The business will save money initially 

  • The business may get good service 

  • It is probably better than doing own accounts 

  • With modern technology the accountant can be based anywhere 

However, there are many consequences with having a cheap accountant: 

Availability: 

The accountant will only be able to provide limited support and will charge you extra for queries which means that you probably will not ask the question! 

Compliance only: 

Once the accounting year has finished you will hear from your accountant but surely you want to be able to have a discussion with your accountant, understand the key numbers on a regular basis. What use is it them telling you what happened in the business a year ago. 

Unqualified:  

Did you know that anyone can call themselves an accountant, there is no need to be qualified or have a certain level of experience? 

Training: 

If your accountant does not charge enough, they will not have the time nor the funds to keep up to date with current regulations. In the world of tax and accounts it is very important to complete to keep up-to-date with the latest changes. Did your accountant keep you up-to-date during Covid? 

Overworked:  

The accountant and the team will be overworked. In order to make a profit they will need to have a high level of clients and therefore be limited in the service they can offer.  

Advantages of having a more expensive accountancy service 

Proactive: 

As your accounts will be up-to-date, what use is it being told what happened in your business a year ago. You want to know what’s happening right now – what products provide the best margin? What marketing channels are delivering amazing ROI? 

Better training: 

The business is more likely to be able to provide the training as they will have the time and resources to invest in it. Therefore, ensuring that everyone is up-to-date on the latest changes.  

Tax savings could compensate for the higher fees: 

Provide help in situations such as coronavirus: 

The more expensive accountant will have had the time and energy to help your business with all the information coming out around the Coronavirus support. This is a time when the differences in customer service were highlighted.  

Commercial insights and analysis: 

One reason some accountants are more expensive is that they are investing the time to understand your business, get under the skin and provide commercial insights. A cheaper accountant will not do that because they don’t have the time and you are paying them to keep your compliant.  

When selecting an accountant, see it as an investment, an investment in your business’ future, your businesses growth and your sanity! Sleep better at night, enjoy your free time and let your accountant do what they do best.  

 

Do you need a proactive Accoutant? We can help!  

2. Download our free guide on “stopping your fitness business running out of cash”  https://debbiebaileymoney.co.uk//fitness-ebook/ 

3. Download our free Coronavirus support guide: https://debbiebaileymoney.co.uk//coronavirussupport/ 

4. Connect with me on social media: 

 

 

Categories
Business tips Finance Function

How to get the most out of Xero from the start.

When you start using Xero, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it. 

We’re big fans here at
Southbourne Accountancy and know how happy clients are when they can see their cash flow situation whenever they want, send online invoices, pay bills and run their businesses more effectively. 

While we set up the basics for all new Xero clients, there are key features you’ll want to know about from the very beginning so you can spend more time on your business and less time on your accounting. We’ve listed some of the most important below and encourage you to browse all the walk-through videos and all the starting out support articles. 

Understanding the dashboard
Get to know the Xero Dashboard that displays all of your most important financial information, including money coming in and going out, invoices owed to you and bills you need to pay. Find out how to use the dashboard, customise it, and find shortcuts for daily tasks.

Video walk-through | Support article

Confirming settings
Here’s where to go to confirm or update that all your contact information, social media links, tax rates, and Xero users are accurate. You can also add your company’s branding to invoices, quotes and other documents here.

Video walk-through | Support article

Attaching files
With Xero Files, you can access your documents from anywhere. Find out how to upload, organise and attach documents to your invoices and quotes.

Video walk-through | Support article

Connecting bank accounts
Xero’s all about making tedious tasks easier so Xero connects straight to your bank so your transactions feed in automatically. Here’s how to set things up.

Video walk-through | Support article

Setting up Payroll

With easy-to-use payroll software and online accounting, you can organise all your business information in one handy place. We would always recommend to have an experienced payroll person to process the payroll due to changing regulations, however the software will enable you to track payroll easily. 

Video walk-through

If you need any help, just give us a ring or email. We’re all Xero-certified so no question is too simple or complex.

 

1. Book a call with me: https://debbiebaileymoney.co.uk//contact-us/

2. Download our free guide on “stopping your fitness business running out of cash” https://debbiebaileymoney.co.uk//fitness-ebook/

3. Download our free Coronavirus support guide: https://debbiebaileymoney.co.uk//coronavirussupport/

4. Connect with me on social media:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/southbourneaccountancy/

https://www.facebook.com/debbie.hancockSA

Categories
Business tips Cash Finance Function

Is forecasting still relevant in uncertain conditions?

If you are always looking in the past, you will limit the insights you can gain. Forecasting switches your focus; it encourages you to take a forward-looking view of your business and to look down the road to identify your future threats and opportunities. This enables you to proactively create a plan for your business’ future.  

Forecasting enables analysis of your business finances so you can project sales, cash, revenue and profits. This enables you to have control of your business. But how can you forecast accurately when no-one knows when a vaccine will be available or when businesses will be able to re-open?  

Even pre Covid-19, we were living in a world which was facing rapid change and uncertainty, markets would move simply because Trump had put out a tweet about trade agreements, there were elections, BREXIT and fast pace changes in technologies.  

Forecasting can help you to understand where your business will end up if you do not take action. If you do not pivot, create revenue streams, reduce costs, delay costs or seek assistance from the government or banks. Where forecasting falls down is that we are in uncertain times and how can we possibly forecast what we don’t know? This is where scenario planning is really useful.  

Scenario planning goes one step further than forecasting, it provides a structured away to identify a range of possible outcomes, then estimates their impact and identifies actions. This can lead to risk planning, where the business considers the likelihood of an event happening and the impact if it happens. By doing this, businesses can begin to understand how they can mitigate the risks or mitigate the impact if that risk does occur. I.e. pre covid-19 a company which had a good cash balance and crisis plans in place they would have been able to react quickly to the situation. No business would be fully protected but with a solid cash reserve they would have felt more comfortable than other businesses. 

In this time of incredible uncertainty, here are tips on how scenario planning can provide key insights.  

What-if: 

Scenario planning will let you run different scenarios with different drivers, so you can see how the business may change over time. You can compare options such as when your business may re-open or what is the impact on revenue if capacity is restricted to 30%, 50% or 60%. This will be invaluable information when defining your next strategic move. 

Results: 

From the scenarios the business will identify actions it needs to take, this could be in the form of a plan that they can follow if a certain risk comes to light. Or it could be an action they take now to reduce the likelihood of a risk happening or the impact if that risk did occur. I.e. they may take out insurance against a break-in or employee injury themselves at work.  

Understanding the potential actions: 

If the management had a crisis plan or business continuity plan, they could have swiftly in acted that plan. This may have involved what needs to happen so employees can work from home, how best to contact employees and what key employees are needed on site to secure assets.  

A sense of confidence can be gained by having a structure in place, sometimes people may panic but by having the structure in place it may calm employees and ensure the correct actions are taken. Hot-headed or panicked decisions will most certainly not lead to the desired outcome.  

Understanding how to restart: 

Businesses can identify actions required to restart the business. They will be more likely to identify different actions and prepare us for having to take a different course of action to the one we assumed we would take.  

Funding: 

If a business is seeking funding such as CBIL’s they will need a forecast to demonstrate that they can afford to loan and have considered the impact of repayments on their future business. A scenario plan will re-enforce that the business has considered different options and can still afford the loan even if different situations arise. 

Talk to us about the benefits of scenario planning  

If you want to get in control of the future of your company, come and talk to us at Southbourne Accountancy. Forecasting and scenario planning will help to identify the future threats and opportunities – and create a proactive strategy to improve the performance and stability of your business. 

1. Book a call with me: https://debbiebaileymoney.co.uk//contact-us/

2. Download our free guide on “stopping your fitness business running out of cash” https://debbiebaileymoney.co.uk//fitness-ebook/

3. Download our free Coronavirus support guide: https://debbiebaileymoney.co.uk//coronavirussupport/

4. Connect with me on social media:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/southbourneaccountancy/

https://www.facebook.com/debbie.hancockSA

 

Categories
Business tips Cash

Free guide to help your business avoid running out of cash

Download

VALUABLE DOCUMENT TO GIVE YOU MORE TIME AND MIND FREEDOM.

Avoiding running out of cash in your fitness business.

  •  Be Proactive – Send automated reminders
  •  Be Timely – Use direct debit systems such as GoCardless to collect payments. Be in control!
  •  Be cautious – Run credit checks on high value clients. 
For more information, click the link to receive your free download. 

If you would like to discuss your cash flow further or have any other business queries then please use the button below to complete a contact form. Or email me on debbie@southbourneaccountancy.co.uk

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