Managing costs

The money that leaves a business, whether in the form of wages, suppliers? bills, general overheads or the interest on loans, can be as vital to its success (or survival) as the money that comes in from customers. Managing costs effectively should, therefore, play a central role in business financial planning.

If you have a business loan, a commercial mortgage, or a permanent overdraft facility with your bank, the chances are that you may be paying more than you need to in interest.
With the credit crunch and the financial crisis providing the backdrop for recession there are now great concerns for the economy. Research shows that small businesses are now more in debt now than at any time since the late 1990's.
What would you do if one of your major customers went under, owing you a substantial sum? Would you be able to recover the outstanding debt - or reclaim goods they had not paid for?
Do you find that despite your best efforts to charge customers up front and to plan for the worst, bad debts still cause major problems for your business?
Improving productivity is an objective for many businesses. We thought that we might offer an accountant's view of how to address enhancing company output.
Most business owner-managers find that they spend only a small percentage of their time on important strategic planning. A great deal of their effort is spent on the day-to-day running of the business - the 'housekeeping' side of things.
Utilities can account for a sizeable chunk of your firm's costs, but you might find that you can make considerable savings in this area.
Over two million people are reported to suffer from an illness which they believe was caused by or made worse by their current or past work. 35 million working days are lost every year (1.5 days per worker), 28 million due to work-related ill health and seven million due to workplace injury.
What would you do if one of your major customers went under, owing you a substantial sum? Would you be able to recover the outstanding debt - or reclaim goods they had not paid for? Unfortunately, experience suggests that if...
The decision to buy, hire purchase, or lease an asset will generally depend on the financing available to your business.
The EU Working Time Directive, gives UK employees the right to refuse to work more than an average 48-hour week, and to have at least four weeks paid holiday a year.
Introducing the discipline that finance management brings means a business is much better placed to organise and plan its development.
Even during the best of economic times, cashflow can be critical for many smaller businesses.
The vast majority of businesses have suppliers - other businesses that supply them with goods and services.
It's an unfortunate fact of business life, but not every invoice gets paid on time. For many smaller businesses this can be more than an inconvenience; it can be harmful to cashflow as well.