Management accounts and cash flow, every month.
Year-end accounts tell you what happened last year. Monthly management accounts and a 13-week cash flow forecast tell you what’s happening now, and what cash looks like next quarter.
“Working with Hayley has made it really easy and allowed us to focus on what we should be focused on.” Harry Hall, Google review
For owners who get numbers, but not answers
A good fit if…
- You turn over £750k or more and own or run the business
- Your bookkeeper sends a profit and loss, and nobody tells you what it means
- Month-end takes weeks, so the numbers arrive too late to act on
- Cash is a surprise: a good month on paper, a tight month in the bank
- You’re quoting for growth without knowing whether you can fund it
- Your bank, investor or buyer has asked for monthly management accounts
Probably not yet if…
- You’re in your first couple of years of trading
- You only need year-end accounts and tax returns
- You already produce a good pack in-house and want it reviewed and explained: see Finance Partner
- You need the numbers and someone at the board table using them: see Finance Director
Management accounts, done properly
Most management accounts are a profit and loss exported from Xero and emailed over. That is a report, not information. Good ones are on time, compared with something, explained, and acted on.
On time
A fixed month-end routine agreed with your bookkeeper, so the pack lands within ten working days, every month, while the numbers still mean something.
Compared
Every line against budget, last year and the forecast. A number on its own tells you nothing. A number next to what you expected tells you where to look.
Explained
One page of commentary in plain English: what moved, why it moved and whether it matters. Written for an owner, not for another accountant.
Acted on
A monthly meeting to walk through it together and leave with two or three decisions, not a pile of paper to get to later.
The 13-week cash flow forecast
Thirteen weeks is a quarter: far enough ahead to do something about a squeeze, close enough to be accurate. It is the single most useful tool in cash flow management for a growing business, and the one most owners don’t have.
Built from what’s real
Today’s bank balance, who owes you, who you owe, payroll, and the VAT, PAYE and corporation tax dates, week by week.
Rolled forward
Actuals replace estimates, the next week is added, and you can see where last week’s forecast was wrong and why.
Tested against decisions
What happens if the big customer pays 30 days late, you hire in March, or you buy the van outright? Answered before you commit, not after.
Tied back to the budget
The weekly view and the annual budget agree with each other, so the forecast you show the bank is the one you run the business on.
Me, every time
No juniors, no handovers. I’m an ICAEW chartered accountant with 12 years in accountancy. I’ve built my own company from scratch, and I prepare and present the pack myself, so the person explaining your numbers is the person who built them.
More about meWhat are management accounts?
Monthly or quarterly figures prepared for the people running the business, rather than for HMRC or Companies House. A good set shows profit and loss, the balance sheet, cash and a few key measures, compared with budget and last year, with commentary. What your management accounts should tell you goes into more detail.
How soon after month-end do I get them?
Within ten working days, once the month-end routine is bedded in with your bookkeeper. The first month or two usually take longer while we tidy up the foundations.
Do I need to change software?
No. I work with whatever your business already uses, including bespoke systems, and I’m a Xero and QuickBooks specialist.
Do I keep my bookkeeper?
Yes. Your bookkeeper keeps doing the day-to-day. I set the month-end routine, oversee their work and build the pack and the forecast on top of it.
Can I have a cash flow forecast on its own?
Start with a one-hour Unstuck Session on the cash problem you have now. If a one-off forecast is the right answer rather than a monthly package, I’ll say so on the call and tell you what it would involve.
The three packages
Shaped to your business. Move between them as it changes. All prices plus VAT.
Seeing your numbers clearly starts with one call.
Bring the cash or reporting problem that’s on your mind to a one-hour session. If monthly management accounts and a forecast are the right answer, we’ll talk about it then, not before.
