Here’s a question (or several) for you – when your accountant hands you your accounts and tax return, do you understand the information they contain? Do you know what to look for? Do you even read them at all? And if you can answer “Yes” to all of those, does it bother you that the information is out of date? IT SHOULD!

Your business is there to make money and you need to know how that is going in real time. Annual accounts on there own are far too infrequent and just plain OLD to tell you what you need to know. Regular financial reports will be far more relevant and useful for decision making.

As you know, we specialise in rescue bookkeeping, and some of the jobs have involved businesses on the brink of failure. A contributing factor in each case was that the owner of the business did not know about their own finances until it was almost too late – how bad the debt was, how much money was coming in or going out, and how much money they would need in the immediate future.

Don’t let this be you!

You wouldn’t drive a car by staring into the rear-view mirror all the time, so why drive your business that way?

Annual accounts and tax returns are just the beginning. Historical information is a starting point, not an end in itself. As a business owner you need to be able to look forward and plan.

Are you facing forwards? If you are not already doing so, talk to your bookkeeper or accountant now and start using your business figures to plan ahead.