Financial Administration
Whilst sales are the way your business brings money in, they are only part of the equation if you want to be financially viable. Keeping a close eye on your financial administration can make the difference between profit and loss, and help you make important decisions about investment, expenditure and what’s really working for you….
Invoicing
The most important part of your business is that you actually get paid for the services or products you provide. I can help you get your invoices out accurately, promptly and to the correct person to ensure they can be processed and paid in a timely manner. I am experienced with all the major accounts packages - Xero, Quickbooks, and Sage or can use or help you to develop your custom templates.
Debt follow up
Once your invoice is with a customer, you then need to make sure it gets paid. Based on your set payment schedules I can telephone or write to customers to make sure they pay, and follow up on those who don’t. Sometimes conversations about money can be more easily handled by someone for whom it is not personal – and non payment of an invoice, particularly by a well known client, always feels personal. (NB: I do not do debt recovery, but often a gently worded reminder – or several – can be all that it needs to get the person to pay up promptly).
Financial Administration
You know that pile of receipts that are in your wallet/handbag/desk drawer? – well they will need to be put into some sort of order before your accountant starts asking for records at the end of the financial year. I can record them all and classify them so that you know where you are spending your money, and on what.
And don't worry about how messy you think your records are - I have had plenty of boxes or carrier bags of receipts handed over from clients who hope they never have to think about them again!
Financial forecasting
It’s hard to plan your finances when you don’t really have a clear idea of where you will be in the next few days, weeks or months. Often just using a simple spreadsheet to predict cashflow can help you plan when, where and how to make investment in your business. It is also amazingly reassuring when you KNOW where the money is going, rather than just hoping there’ll be enough money to, for example, pay the VAT in a months’ time!
The process of recording the incomings and outgoings is also a good way to look at them all and identify if you really need to be paying for something – could you save some money by stopping paying for something you have forgotten about and are you getting the best deal form your suppliers?
Financial reconciliation
This means balancing your books, checking you incomings and outgoings, working through your bank statement. Generally, making sure that what is supposed to be happening, is happening. An error by your bank or a supplier could mean all the difference in the world to your cashflow. And it is much easier to find it and deal with it on a regular basis than 3 months down the line when there is a bigger problem.
Supplier management
Are you getting the best price from your suppliers? Do you know what the best price is? Whilst loyalty is a great thing, it should be for the right reasons. It’s no good using the same supplier just because you have always used them. I can do the research to make sure you are getting the best price and service for the products you use. Remember – the cheapest is not always the best. Service, knowledge, locality and relationship all go towards making a good supplier.
You will also want to make sure your suppliers are charging you correctly and then are paid on time. I can review all supplier invoices against delivery and can set up payment schedules, arrange bank payments, send cheques etc. I can also deal with queries and supply issues.
Please get in touch so I can look at how my services would work for you.
