Don’t Run Your Business on Guesswork Many entrepreneurs and business owners rely on guesswork and their intuition to determine whether they have had a good day, week or month in their business. We have been really busy; we have had 60 men on site; all of our equipment is out on hire. I have heard…
EASE MENTAL PRESSURE BY CREATING MORE CERTAINTY Following on from Mental Health Awareness Week, I wonder how many of us will not think about this for another year. It is an area I am passionate about for many reasons as I have had friends and colleagues suffer from mental health issues, and indeed have lost…
How to Increase the Value of Your Company I was asked twice last week. How do I increase the value of my company? Fortunately, I have significant experience of working with SME companies over many years through my training to become a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen, followed by six years investing in such companies…
Craig Alexander Rattray is a Growth Strategist and Cash Flow Expert based in Glasgow, Scotland. He is the author of Mastering Cash Flow for Business Owners. The UK government has announced a consultation into the future of auditing, in an attempt to avoid major collapses like BHS, Carillion, Thomas Cook and Patisserie Valerie. There are various proposals that Business…
As the business owner you are not expected to be the finance expert. However, you must understand your financials and your cash flow. Many business owners who have run their own company for many years are often too proud to admit they do not fully understand accounts and finance. Do not be one of them!…
Profit is the difference between the total of all sales less the total of all costs and expenses for a particular period. Many business owners may realise at some stage that that the profit they make in the business does not equal their cash flow, unless they are dealing solely in cash, which is unlikely…
CASH FLOW TIPS: Craig Alexander Rattray offers advice on showing your bank that you are a good risk Remember, banks only make money when lending to companies, so they are always keen to do so, but only to companies that are a good risk. To secure bank lending, it is important to show that you and…
Credit terms and cash collection processes are a key part of good cash management. Intuit QuickBooks report stated that one in seven companies have been unable to pay employees because of late receipts from customers. Late payments not only damage the companies involved, they can take their toll on the business owners personally with respect…
Process invoices faster Do everything every day. When invoices are received, they should be posted into the accounting system immediately and formally approved in some way depending upon the system you have in place. Ideally, the invoice should be matched to an already approved Purchase Order, but if not, there should be a procedure in…
CASH FLOW TIPS: Craig Alexander Rattray says it is important to understand the timings of cash flow There are three key components of a cash forecast: Cash receipts or inflows – principally receipts from sales to customers. As a business owner and having reached this section, you already know that you should use historic data to…
