by Melanie Thompson | Jul 18, 2025 | Uncategorized
The money stress that you feel does unfortunately transfer to your staff. Although they may be quiet on the matter, they do wonder about the upcoming payday.
As we get busy in our business, it is easy to stop focusing on the bank balance and only focus on the work that is needed in the business. If you have been wondering why your Profit in the business is not reflected in your bank, a good place to start is looking at your Debtors and Creditors balances. Good cash planning and cash flow management is essential in business.
Ensure you have a live Accounting system that you can access at any time and keep this updated. Your next step is to look at your client balances and actively contact your clients.
Below are THREE Quick steps to get money into your business.
1. Invoice immediately as you complete the work. Could you send the invoice before you leave the client?
2. Follow up on outstanding payments often. Most times the clients are more focussed on their own business cash flow and don’t see you as a priority.
3. Set up easy ways for your clients to pay you. Payment links are quick and easy and the clients can pay you within 5 minutes.
by Melanie Thompson | Apr 12, 2024 | Uncategorized
The basis of all money management tips we receive are to live within our means, cut costs and reduce expenses.
Agreed – for personal expenses. When it comes to running a business, we should keep this in mind but a strict following of this policy will stop your business growing and becoming more profitable.
As business owners, we have a time and capacity constraint ceiling that we can’t move past.
Stop saving money to the detriment of your company.
Now I do not advocate wasting money, so good governance of your spending is very important . It is important to know that what you are buying is adding value to your company .
My point on the above is – you need to spend money to make money.
A big area that small businesses struggle in is staffing their business correctly. These days we have so many options available to us that allows us to hire good experienced staff on a pro rata hourly basis.
Hiring staff , spending that money and giving yourself more time in your sales is going to put your business so much further ahead than the savings you will make by reducing costs.
Reach out to me – melanie@bookkeepingfirst.co.za – and I can send you a simple excel sheet where you can calculate the difference to your income.
by Melanie Thompson | Jan 19, 2024 | Uncategorized
You seem to have less time for working in your business, and more time is spent on tedious admin. But when is the right time to outsource your Bookkeeping ?
Do you need……
1. To focus on your core business, and devote your time to strategy, marketing, funding and daily operations.
2. A background in finance to ensure that no mistakes are made that will cost you money.
3. A work-life balance, where presently you are taking hours to learn and perfect bookkeeping. Outsourcing this area will give you back hours.
4. A bookkeeper. You may think DIY is saving you money, but a qualified bookkeeper is more time efficient than you, accurate and as a bonus brings expert knowledge to cash flow management and tax management.
5. Help to manage your cash flow, by ensuring payment are timely, and that your sales = money in the bank account.
And lastly, consider the Opportunity cost of the time you have freed up, the time can be better spent on growing your business or with family and friends.
by Melanie Thompson | Apr 23, 2023 | Uncategorized
This week I am off to the bank to apply for a Varsity loan for my son. Walking into the consultants office, I know the first thing they will ask me as a sole proprietor is : Can I have your audited financial statements for the past three years.
With Accounting and Tax being my field of expertise I know what they are really asking for is :
Compiled financial statements and Management accounts for the past six months, so I’m going in prepared.
As with any field, the terms used outside the field are not always used as we understand them. So as a sole proprietor and as a small business, who is owner managed the likelihood of needing audited financial statements are nearly nil. But as you are running a business they do need to see your financial statements, which in simple terms is your Profit and Loss over the past year, or 3.
Next they ask for Management Accounts, which show where your business is today.
Firstly, Management Accounts are required when you apply for any loan, but this is not their most important function –
Running a business you need to know on a month to month basis if you are profitable, in order to keep running your buisness. This is what makes Management Accounts so valuable.
So whether you DIY your bookkeeping with the amazing online accounting packages that are out there, or you hire a monthly or quarterly Bookkeeper / Accountant, keep yourself in the know about your business and draw up monthly management accounts.
The final word – what you measure, you can manage.
by Melanie Thompson | Jan 11, 2023 | Uncategorized
This should be the number one reason that you hire an accountant / finance manager for your business.
We offer diverse expertise
If you look in the medical field for example, we all know that you get different kinds of doctors and other medical professionals. For clients outside our field, most accountants or bookkeepers do the same job. But when you delve into the accounting sphere, you see that you get various expertise that you can call on.
Some are experts in data analysis, some in receipt collections and management, some do really well in cash management and other do process planning. And these are only a few areas to name. With the move to outsourced accounting functions, it is easy to get lost in the compliance side, as this is the standard offering of all firms.
Compliance alone won’t change the future
Compliance alone is not going to change the future of your business.
Compliance is not going to have a direct effect on your life, other than – you will sleep easier knowing you are up to date.
To move your company forward, you have to make conscious decisions to make changes and improvements to system optimisation, to cash management and to pricing.
Finance Manager – Not only for big business
In the accounting field, the hiring of a financial manager for your business will give you this move. We draw on our years of experience to bring all these items together to use as a base in your business. A good business accountant is always going to ask you “out the box” questions. They will discuss proactive plans and give you proactive reporting that gives you true insight into your business.
The broken bicycle
As I mentioned above it is possible to get lost in the day-to-day grind of the business.
A business colleague gave me a great example – it is possible to ride a bicycle with a square or flat tyre, but once you get off, analyse the situation, spend the time implementing changes, then you can hop back on the bike with its pumped up tyre – and Reaching your future goals then becomes easier.
As we come back from our holidays breaks – you probably have some thoughts around what is working and what areas you could concentrate on to make your business more profitable. Now is the time to discuss how you can implement these in the your business.
Build a team
It is important to see that any Finance professional is there to be part of your team, they draw on your expertise in the business, as you would draw on their financial experience.
Never feel intimidated reaching out to an accountant. Accountants with passion for our field are always looking to advise in business and help clients. We will always talk your language and meet you where you are in business. If this is not your experience, consider making a change.
by Melanie Thompson | Dec 20, 2022 | Uncategorized
Do you acknowledge your wins?
As we come to the end of the year it is always a lovely time to do a reflection and most important, acknowledge to ourselves how far we have come in the past year. It is always easy to focus on the obstacles, but look and really look at what you, yourself and your business have achieved. How much have you grown over the past year?
Decision on status quo
For myself I’m taking the word “Take Action” into the next few months, because I do realise and believe that the absence of making a decision is in itself a decision. With making no decision you have decided that the status quo is where you would like to be. This may be where you are supposed to be at this time, it is then important to be comfortable with your decision.
Schedule time
So even the small step of scheduling in your diary a time to consider and make a decision is a step forward. This will give you some mind space to tackle the next one, and then the next one.
Choosing to outsource bookkeeping is a big decision that I see clients struggle with, hopefully the below will give you some insights and help you going forward.
I would tell you –
As I reflect on the past months, these are a few things I would like to tell my clients and prospective clients from the past year.
- Your accounts are not as bad as you think. This is why I am here, because I have seen this before and I know how to tackle it.
- You need to consider taking your accounting online and using the automation convenience that is available. It is going to save you time, and make you more efficient. It is also less complex than you think.
- I am not here to judge you, you may think your accounts look a mess, but you have not seen “the competition”. There are always business owners who are in a worse state than you.
- Don’t put off bringing controls into your business. Knowledge is power.
- Focus on thinking forward – Get the accounting package. The bookkeeper. The Accountant. The Tax professional. Have a look at your monthly reports.
This is a better investment than paying for past financial statements and tax returns for compliance reasons only.
Wishing all – time to reflect and piece of mind in the coming year.
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