Great, you’re a Practice of the Year Finalist. But what’s in it for me?

We have a few days left until Accounting Web’s Practice Excellence Awards 2016, and as finalists for Medium Practice of the year, we want to shout about it…. just a little. But whilst we’re babbling on about how excited we are, you’ll be thinking, so what? How does that benefit me and my business?

As of 2016, we’ve been through 21 years of consecutive growth, but it hasn’t come without the challenges that occur as a business grows. We’ve been through and continue to go through growing pains, so with our experience, we thought we’d share some practical tips on what you can do to overcome these challenges.

“We empathise with your pain, stress and sleepless nights”

Job roles and systems
Growing causes strain on your processes as you scale up – the things one person used to be able to do now needs a whole team. Job role and descriptions, processes and detailed systems can make this a lot easier, reducing the pain of growing right from day one. We have assisted a number of our clients with starting this process, allowing them to leverage their time by only doing the things they have to do. We wrote an article here, about why you’ve got to have systems in your business.

Cashflow
We know how expanding your premises, increasing your stock, investing in new staff (who often are with you for 6 months before you get a real return on their time) can all have a huge strain on your cashflow. When you are growing it’s important to get the balance on growth and not run the risk of overtrading. We can support you with knowing your cashflow cycle during the year, planning for big expenses and even sourcing the finance you need to get you there.

Monthly Accounts and Key Performance Indicators or Key Predictors
If you’re a client, you will have heard us talk about Key Performance Indicators or Key Predictors. These are statistics for the business that allow you to assess past performance, recognise trends in your business and predict where your business is heading or where you need it to, based on the staff/cost base you have. Having monthly management accounts and a number of these indicators is how we have been able to grow our practice and adapt quickly to ensure we stay current, profitable and ahead of our competitors. Since the recession in 2008, we have seen a big increase in the number of clients who rely on their monthly/quarterly figures for their decision making process and in turn these businesses have survived and flourished in the current market.

“We appreciate the glory of plans succeeding, and want this for our clients”

Perhaps you’re looking at the points above and nodding your head because it all sounds too familiar. With the lessons we have learnt, we can help to find a solution, from leveraging people’s time and abilities to implementing systems, giving you useful monthly information and supporting you with financing or team development.

We have helped many of our clients over the years not just as accountants but as part of the wider A4G Group of advisers. We have an arm of specialists with specific expertise in helping companies of all shapes and sizes to achieve higher growth and increase profitability. Find out more about A4G Growth here.

What challenges are you facing? Give us a call on 01474 853 856, or fill out our sign up form to see which areas of your business we can help with.