Where am I? How to get better financial feedback

…to drive your business to the right direction. 

Having your finger on key financial information about your own business has never been easier, but do you know your stats?

If you don’t have the data about where your business is now, then how can you make any realistic judgements to get the business to go where you want?

You probably already use real time data to improve your performance…

Think about fitbit watches and exercise apps. One of our team, Will Auty, uses an app called Strava to track his cycling. He has used this to target performance including speed, endurance and hill climbs to train to be a better cyclist. Last year he cycled Mont Ventoux, the iconic mountain stage of Le Tour De France, and he currently ranks 40^th best cyclist in the South East in his category with the British Cycling Foundation. He only started training 2 years ago.

Will managed to grow his ability fast, because he was driven to do it and gathered all the data he needed to improve and manage his growth in performance.

Many keen exercise enthusiasts can get almost obsessive about their fitness data when it comes to personal goals. This can be the case even when they don’t want to achieve feats like Will.

Why then would you not want ALL THE DATA for your business, which is ultimately your vital lifeline.

I’m amazed that in this day and age there are a lot of business owners that know their fitness KPIs better than those of their business. Surely both the business and the health both add up to give you a good quality of life? A bloated business can be just as bad for your health as a bloated tummy after all.

But I have good news…

We have never lived in a better time to easily gather, record and analyse financial data. Using modern accounting software like Xero you can automate a large part of your data input. Some of my clients have actually described doing their bookkeeping as enjoyable, where previously the annual attempt to put their figures into a spreadsheet was the most dreaded job of the year. In fact, my client said that what used to take 3 months on excel, now takes him 3 weeks in total on Xero.

But the benefits of the age of information doesn’t end there. Xero also makes it easier to get and understand your data. We can customise financial reports from Xero so that they make sense to you and don’t just produce a ream of meaningless numbers. We also use additional software like Futrli, which can put this data into graphics, projects, and easy-to-read comparatives all with the click of a button. Because of this, Xero is overtaking Sage as the main player for bookkeeping software in the market. Thousands of businesses are now abandoning Sage – if you want to know more about why, and the alternatives, come along to one of our free seminars.

The best thing about this information becoming easier and easier is that it means my clients then get more out of me. I can advise on these figures and together we can make decisions that really help them to grow. Oh, and plan ahead for those horrible tax bills.

So, if you have no idea where your business is right now, we have a solution to help you get back on the right track. Call or email Josh today.

If you’re attending the London Vet Show 2017, make sure you head over to our A4G Veterinary page for the all the details and to book a meeting with our Veterinary and Xero specialists.