BUSINESS ADVISORY | 10

It is the rolling forecast that I find is the most beneficial for clients that are using these for the first time. The time for complicated spreadsheets and days to prepare are gone. Once the original budget is in place, updating is very efficient using the right technology. The combination of actual results to date plus budget figures to year end, or longer, instantly shows the impact of either exceeding or missing the budget. Nowhere is this more powerful than in the rolling cashflow forecast. Removing much of the uncertainty around future cash balances and giving the time to act is a guarantee to more undisturbed nights.

It is as close as you will get to a crystal ball for your business finances!

These tools, along with monthly video catch ups to review performance, are rapidly becoming the norm in the way we work with business clients. Understanding the results today, the impact for tomorrow and proactively changing those potential outcomes is fundamental to success and will be a game changer for all sizes of business. Therefore we foresee the democratisation of financial forecasting, as technology allows effective monitoring of your business for the many rather than the few.

Contact Will Abbott for more information by emailing will.abbott@randall-payne.co.uk or call 01242 776000.

The power of real-time financial information

is a game changer for truhouse.

The power of real-time financial information and a rolling forecast can be a game changer and offers peace of mind that key decisions are based on solid data.

We were approached by Natalie Little a Director at truhouse., a successful and growing company providing replacement windows and doors.

The growth in the business was driving a need for more robust financial reporting and forecasting. The start point was to understand the direct costs of the business and most importantly the gross margin. This sets a key target for both quoting and measuring the productivity at the heart of the business.

Once established we could develop realistic sales growth targets and identify when additional capacity would be needed. This then fed in the detailed three-way financial forecast including the profit and loss, balance sheet and cashflow.

Using Xero for the book-keeping linked to Futrli, we are able to report actual performance against budget and update the forecast on a rolling basis every month. As we provide a full service from book-keeping through to management accounts we know the data is robust. The time efficient way in which the forecast is updated means we can spend more time each month working with the directors reviewing progress against action plans, dealing with challenges and acting on opportunities. When the wider senior team needs to be involved, we have facilitated workshops exploring deeper issues including business values and competitive advantage.

“It is a pleasure working with Natalie and Chris who are both open to embracing new ideas and technology and very keen to ensure success is embedded in the business.” says Will.

“Moving to Randall & Payne was a big decision for us, but we’ve seen a step change in the level of support and information we now receive. We believe Will and his team will continue to make significant contributions to the success of our business.”

Natalie Little, Director truhouse.

Preparing for audit after the pandemic

The pandemic has caused huge disruption to businesses and the audit of forward looking judgements has become inherently complex. There are key items companies can focus on when preparing for the audit of going concern.

Ryan Moore Audit Client Director

The audit of Going Concern

The audit of going concern was already an area of focus for the audit regulator following the high profile collapse of a number of UK Corporates and the pandemic gave rise to a number of new scenarios which required executives to think on their feet. This was a particularly challenging period for auditors, as the length and extent of the pandemic was unknown. The significant uncertainty around March 2020 resulted in many Companies preparing a “material uncertainty” in respect of going concern within their accounts. Over time, and as companies have successfully navigated lockdown trading conditions, the knowledge and information gained by Boards’ and auditors provided a good benchmark for assessing Going Concern. Given the severity of the support measures introduced by the government, the removal of the stimulus packages will once again have introduced uncertainty to many Going Concern assessments; as there is no longer any clear evidence available to show how Companies will cope without the support measures in place. The audit of going concern is heavily reliant upon the detailed cash-flow forecasts produced by the Board.

The three areas highlighted are critical for all businesses to think about now and are key to understanding some of the questions which your auditor may ask you:

1. Business planning and cash flow forecasting

Scenario planning and cash flow forecasting is critical to assessing what could happen on your business in the coming months. We are encouraging all business owners to review a range of scenarios and the associated cash-flows which could arise from these situations. I.e. what does a full time return of staff look like on the business with only 80% demand? What did demand look like at its worst point during 2020 lockdowns and how long could the business survive in this environment with a full workforce?

Plans should be rigorous and capture all business costs, but also be clear and easy to understand / refer to as part of your decision making processes in the future.

The audit of going concern is heavily reliant upon the detailed cash-flow forecasts produced by the Board