A Bank reconciliation involves a comparison of your sales and expense records against the record your bank has. It is a critical financial process to identify and rectify any discrepancies or errors between your internal financial records with the transactions recorded in your bank statement. Bank reconciliations keep your bookkeeping accurate and can help lower your tax, alert you to fraud, and allow you to track costs. They are essential for several reasons. Firstly, they help detect and prevent fraudulent activities or errors, such as unauthorized transactions or bank fees. Secondly, they ..read more

2023 provided its fair share of challenges, highlights and opportunities, with many businesses and people feeling the pinch. From adversity can come opportunity. As the new year begins, it’s time to reflect on the past year, celebrate the highlights, and think about what brought the adversities, identifying the easy improvements you can make for quick wins in 2024. Revisiting your budget, checking there is an efficient tax structure and learning how to increase your cashflow are great places to start. We can never plan for every possibility, but we can prepare. To help you evaluate 2023 and pl ..read more

Need a hand managing cash flow? You’re not alone. The key is getting your invoicing right, by invoicing customers as soon as possible and using tools like Xero’s invoice reminders to move payments along. That said, there are a few other simple rules you can apply to manage your cash flow and get your invoices paid even faster: Keep your books accurate and up to date – so you can see your financial state at a glance. Don’t be too lenient with your customers – you can be direct and still polite. Keep a close watch on your accounts receivable turnover at all times and act sooner rather ..read more

In today’s digital times, you’re probably used to having unrivalled access to your financial numbers, key performance indicators (KPIs) and cashflow metrics. Without good bookkeeping, the speed and quality of your reporting can quickly fall down. So, why is fast and accurate bookkeeping so important? And what are the main bookkeeping tasks that your business should be getting right? The financial importance of good bookkeeping Bookkeeping is a fundamental part of your financial process as a business. Without it, your accounting software has no financial data to work with, your financial data d ..read more

Let’s talk about your phone habits. It may not be a pleasant topic to discuss, but it does matter. How you use your phone can have a huge impact on your life and on your business. Sounds dramatic? Not at all. These mini pocket-sized computers are with us all the time and the constant flow of notifications can interrupt our workflow incessantly. Your mobile habits significantly impact your concentration span. Notifications can disrupt your mental flow, jarring you out of your productive zone and diverting you from what’s important. Your effectiveness depends largely on your ability to make soun ..read more

When you run your small business, you have a lot on your plate. That makes it tempting to let some tasks slide, especially tasks that are related to finances, which can be challenging and is often outside your preferred skill set or experience. There are some tips you can follow that keep your finances healthy and enable you to thrive. Here are some financial best practices for managing your business, so you can have the best chances of success. Pay yourself As a small business owner you may be tempted to keep putting every cent you earn back into your small business, but it’s important to com ..read more

Here’s our Plain English guide to profit and loss and what this report reveals about your finances. What is profit and loss? Your profit and loss statement is commonly called your ‘P&L’. It’s also sometimes referred to as your income statement or statement of earnings. Your P&L is a breakdown of your company’s revenue (money coming into the company as sales and other income) and your expenditure (direct costs, overheads, expenses and other costs). As a business, you obviously want to turn a profit and make money. Keeping a close eye on your P&L allows you to track your revenues and ..read more

Why is cashflow so central to good financial management? Here’s our plain english guide. What is cashflow? Cashflow refers to the movement of money into and out of your business over a specific period. In the most basic terms, cashflow is the process of cash moving out of the business (cash outflows), and cash coming into the business (cash inflows). The ideal scenario is to be in a ‘positive cashflow position’. This means that your inflows outweigh your outflows – i.e. that more cash is coming into the business than is going out. When you’re cashflow positive, the main benefit is that you hav ..read more

Your breakeven point tells you how many units you need to sell or what dollar value in sales you need to achieve to cover your costs. Once you know that, you know the point where you turn a profit. But a breakeven point isn’t set in stone. It can become something you keep in play over time as a tool for you to think about your sales, costs and pricing in a different way. Say you know your breakeven point and you take it at face value. Tell your team. It’s a powerful motivator for your sales people to know exactly what the numbers are to put the business in profit. Say you don’t accept your bre ..read more

For a business to thrive and grow, it essentially needs two things: a strategic plan and an ability to continually find new customers and tap into promising markets. Here’s how you can do that. The untapped potential in existing markets Start by re-evaluating your existing customer base. Profiling them will help you to more accurately define who your target consumers are. Explore different distribution channels that could be more effective in reaching these consumers. This could mean selling directly or working through retail or wholesale businesses. Personas: your marketing’s best friend Pers ..read more