Archives for finance tips

Credit Control Reporting Made Simple

When you first began your business you probably found yourself doing everything yourself. … but as you slowly begin to grow you have to ensure that you have a system in place to record your cash collection. Why is it crucial to keep records? As well as keeping accounts and your annual return records organised, you’ll be able to keep your Customer details in a central database, making it easier to keep track of them. Basic account keeping is key for sustainability Rather than your usual spreadsheet, there are so many add-on accounting software packages available to use now: Kashflow
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Is There Ever A Right Time To Write Off Bad Debts?

This question has been posed to me many a time from SME’s and key decision makers. This should be guided by your Accountant, but realistically it really depends on your business circumstances. Many examples spring to mind regarding an ‘ideal time’ for a Bad Debt Write Off, here are just three of my experiences while working in this field: The Pub Owner Debtor: Pub Owner based in East Anglia, who ran a string of 3/4 pubs Debt Balance outstanding £60,000 Around mid 2008, a file of £60k landed on my desk, where £90k had been lent to this one PG.
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Company Directors Behaving Badly – Part 1

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be looking at Creditors rights. What they can do to keep on top of their credit checks and what restrictions are placed on Directors who continue acting without making changes. This week I’ll be exploring what Rights Creditors actually have. For businesses large or small in respect of trying to get their debtors to comply with their needs. … and should these needs be part of a Final Demand Process? Although not widely explored due to the cost of investigating and taking action, Creditors have the facility to issue a warning to the
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Through The Looking Glass: When Debt Breeds Fear

Sitting in between my Clients; ‘Mrs’ on the left and ‘Mr’ on the right. Whilst talking, every so often ‘Mr’ would look over his shoulder, past the Mercedes on his driveway and out into the street. The same pattern would continue throughout through the meeting. Eventually I couldn’t help but agitatedly ask – “Why do you keep on doing that?” It turns out, it was all off the back of the advice I had given him days earlier. Here was a husband and wife team, with a substantive amount of business debts that had built up. If they were a
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Wow, what do you mean you’ve gone bust?

Wow Air, Primera Air, Flybe, XL….. What do the above have in common? Well, they’re budget airline carriers who operate in a no-frills capacity. It’s estimated that around 30% of airlines who start to operate go bust within the first two to three years of trading. But why? Simply because of high operating costs, broken down primarily with large fuel costs and high end operating leases, wage bills leaving many of these airlines scraping the barrel of their overdraft. This article from the Independent showcases that if we, as consumers, aren’t careful, we too could get stuck in the middle
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3 Steps To Avoid Your Creditors Taking Legal Action

What is a HCEO (High Court Enforcement Officer) and what do they do? Britain’s civil police force will, by any legal means necessary, enforce you to give up assets to pay for a CCJ, or a Judgment Debt. Often, this could have been avoided many days/months/weeks before. A few years back, I about the epidemic that was striking Britain, where Court Orders granted were unpaid. What some people forget is that many creditors will give the debtor (those at default on their Account with their Creditor) a chance to remedy their wrongs. They might do this through an abundance of
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