Your Accounts - Evil or Necessity?

Do you think of your accounts as a necessary evil or something without which you cannot run your business?

Keeping accounting records is not just to keep the Inland Revenue happy or fulfil your legal obligations. It is the only way to see where your business currently stands and to achieve peace of mind that there is method behind the day-to-day madness of running a small business.

You should ask your self various questions to decide whether you are getting what you should out of this necessity.

• Does the management information you receive enable you to make informed decisions or do you find yourself second-guessing?
• Are you able to identify niggles like bad debts on your weekly or monthly reports before they become a real concern?
• Do you receive regular financial information in a format that you fully understand and trust?
  

If your answer to these questions is in the negative, you are managing your business in the dark and are also restricting the chance of successful growth.

So, where do you start if you do not think that your regular accounting is enabling you and your business to succeed?

Every business needs regular accounts. Professional help may be required to undertake an initial assessment of your business so that you can implement systems that allow you to stay in control of your finances. Once the systems are up and running, regular checks on profits and losses and the cashflow of the business will help you maintain a clear picture of how your business is doing.

Accounting can seem like an overwhelming task for a small business and it can distract great minds from the kind of work at which they are best. One option that has benefited a lot of businesses in the UK is outsourcing their finance function.
Delegating functions to a professional team of accountants with more resources and increased support allows business owners to focus on their core business, resting assured that their back office is running smoothly.

It also allows you to move more comfortably through peaks and troughs. If your business has seasonal surges, then the resource is always available when things get busy without you having to employ more staff.

Outsourcing to a suitable provider gives you access to the most up-to-date technology and best practice advice. There are a number of software packages that can help you keep track of your accounts. The scale of your business and the speed at which your business is growing will dictate whether you just need a health check or if you need more permanent solution. Once you‘re on top, it‘s much less difficult to stay there but, if you are buried beneath accounting madness, you need to ask for some help.
Outsourcing does not mean that you haven’t got up to date information at your fingertips, technology now lets you access your information securely from your office or your home, whilst mundane but important tasks like backing up are carried out automatically without your input.

If you are interested in exploring what the options and costs are, contact Prime Partner Jamie Skelding in Coventry or Prime Partner John Osborne in Solihull.

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