Tag: profitability

FreeAgent training: How to get the best out of FreeAgent

You’ve chosen FreeAgent – a wise choice. Now kick on and get it working how you want it to.

You’ve taken the plunge with FreeAgent – great choice – but if you’re not getting good results, you’re not alone and a spot of FreeAgent training might be just what you need.

You might be struggling with entering transactions into FreeAgent or maybe you’re not getting useful financial information out of it. Could be bits of both that get you thinking:

  • My profit & loss doesn’t look right
  • VAT seems a bit off
  • My bank feed doesn’t match to invoices
  • I’m not sure what FreeAgent is telling me

So, if you find yourself asking “How do I make better use of FreeAgent?”, you’re in the right place.

Why FreeAgent isn’t giving you useful information – it’s usually bookkeeping discipline

No one does bookkeeping for the sake of bookkeeping. We do bookkeeping to measure, understand and improve the financial performance of a business or organisation.

But, in order for it to be useful, your bookkeeping must be complete, consistent, accurate and up to date. Otherwise the information you’ll get from it will be wrong and you won’t know how your business is performing.

FreeAgent will only be as useful as the quality of the data you enter and the old adage of “Garbage-In-Garbage-Out” certainly applies to bookkeeping.

So, it pays to invest in FreeAgent training.

Data entry – the “Big Three”

The big three areas of data entry to get right are:

  1. Sales invoices and income
  2. Suppliers’ bills and expenses
  3. Bank feed and bank reconciliation

Sales invoices and income

Create and send your sales invoices as soon as you can, making sure they’re accurate and emailed to the right customer contact.

If your sales are made online or customers pay on the day by card then you still need to record your sales as you make them but be aware that the money coming into your bank account may NOT be the full sales value as it may have had card charges or platform charges deducted from it.

💡Get paid quicker – 5 tips to improve your sales invoices

Suppliers’ bills and expenses

Record all suppliers’ bills as they come in irrespective of whether you’ve paid them and add the PDF of the bill into your bookkeeping entry so that FreeAgent becomes an online filing cabinet.

Make sure they are coded to the correct expense category so your P&L accurately reflects the running costs of your business.

Where you pay for a business expense by card or online, always get the bill or receipt and either enter it as a supplier’s bill or attach it to the transaction if you are accounting for it from the bank feed.

💡We’re a small business, I do all the bookkeeping – I just need someone to keep us on the right track

Bank feed and reconciliation

Make sure you have at least one business bank account and connect all of your business bank accounts to FreeAgent.

If all your sales invoices have been raised and accounted for and all your suppliers’ bills have been accounted for then FreeAgent will do a pretty good job of allocating the receipts and payments in your bank account to the sales and suppliers’ transactions you’ve already accounted for.

Some transactions, such as payroll payments, bank charges and interest, can’t be allocated to an invoice or a bill so you do the accounting for those transactions from within the bank feed.

Clear the bank feed as often as you can and at least once a month reconcile FreeAgent to your bank statement. Go through the bank reconciliation process to ensure FreeAgent has the correct bank balance.

💡Why two bank accounts are better than one

How to save time with FreeAgent automation and integrations

It’s important to know how to do the basics manually but there are also efficiencies to be had which save time, improve accuracy and take some of the hard work out of your bookkeeping. For example, within the software:

  • If you send the same invoice to a customer repeatedly you can set it to be a recurring invoice so FreeAgent raises it and sends it every month
  • You can set rules in the bank feed so the right answer is suggested and automatically applied to regular expenses
  • FreeAgent has a tool called Smart Capture which lets you upload bills and receipts from which FreeAgent can extract data that speeds up the bookkeeping for suppliers’ bills.
  • “Find and fix” is a tool for making corrections in bulk – handle with care!

There’s also a vast array of Apps that you can connect to FreeAgent which save time, reduce errors and automate various tasks.

But be careful. There’s any number of “what went wrong when I connected this app to my accounting software” stories and you don’t want to become another one.

Get the correct bookkeeping done manually first so you know what the right answer looks like and then think about connecting external apps.

💡A cautionary tale – Accounting apps – less is more

How to use FreeAgent reports properly (and spot errors)

You do bookkeeping so you can measure and improve the financial performance of your business – so you’re going to need reports.

Make sure you’re familiar with the basics:

  • Profit and loss
  • Balance sheet
  • Aged debtors – for managing credit control
  • Aged creditors

Other reports are available so you can drill down into individual transactions in an account to see what’s going on.

Reports not only tell you how you’re doing but also indicate whether some of your bookkeeping is inaccurate or perhaps hasn’t been done.

Get comfortable with reports!

💡Management information

FreeAgent training with Blue Dot Consulting

We offer a lot of FreeAgent support for small business users.

In our FreeAgent training sessions we work with businesses to show them how to use FreeAgent properly.

They’re one-to-one sessions in which we look at:

  • how you’re using FreeAgent and where you can make improvements
  • the account categories you have set up and whether they accurately reflect your business
  • key financial controls such as the bank reconciliation
  • how to understand and use the financial reports that are available

We run half-day sessions, costing £360 plus VAT, and they take place at your business or ours.

As a free follow-up to each training session we offer a small number of Teams / Zoom calls to make sure you’re using FreeAgent comfortably on your own.

Sounds like what you’re looking for? Then give Michael Austin a call on 020 7125 0270 or email at info@bluedotconsulting.co.uk and we can make a start.

You’ve chosen FreeAgent – a wise choice. Now kick on and get it working how you want it to.

Michael

FreeAgent help – frequently asked questions

Can FreeAgent show what tax I owe?

If you’re a limited company then FreeAgent automatically estimates your corporation tax as you continue with your bookkeeping.

Should I enter expenses as supplier bills or bank transactions?

We prefer suppliers’ bills to be entered so you know immediately what your costs are and how much your business owes to suppliers.

Your financial information will be wrong if you only recognise costs when you actually pay them and cashflow forecasting is more reliable if you know what you owe.

Why is my FreeAgent profit and loss wrong?

Usually this is a combination of not having entered ALL of your accounting transactions and entering some of them incorrectly.

But – one of the reasons to keep looking at your financial reports is to spot errors and fix them.

Related articles

Bookkeeping, accounts and tax for a one-person company

Bookkeeping for business

How do we solve a problem like Maria’s

At Blue Dot Consulting, we work with owner-managed businesses across Central, West and South West London, including Fulham, Hammersmith, Richmond, Putney, Wandsworth, Kensington and Chelsea. If you’d like to improve your financial reporting, bookkeeping or decision-making, we’d be delighted to help.

© Blue Dot Consulting Limited, Chartered Accountants, Bedford House, Fulham Green, London, SW6 3JW

Improve your business by changing your accountants

Poor quality accountants are like KGB sleepers, you may not know you’ve got one until it’s too late.

As a business owner, you entrust your accountant with the financial health of your company.

But how can you be certain they’re providing the services your business truly needs?

Evaluating your accountant’s performance can be challenging, especially if you’re unsure what best practice looks like.

Signs that it’s time to change accountants

  • Your accountant just doesn’t understand your business – they apply their standard approach to every business client whether it fits or not
  • You feel you’re in the dark about financial performance – bookkeeping, accounting and financial information are ongoing, not a once-a-year task
  • Their fees are not good value for money – “our previous accountants cost even more and did even less!”
  • There’s no personal chemistry – relationships matter

If you’re seeing some or more of these signs then you definitely should be questioning the effectiveness of your current accountant.

In which case, it might be time to change.

At Blue Dot Consulting Limited, we want you to be able to recognise your business in your numbers.

We’re partners with leading software providers such as FreeAgent, Xero and QuickBooks and our focus is on:

  • Accurate bookkeeping: Ensuring your financial records are complete and up-to-date.
  • Efficient processes: Redesigning workflows to be more streamlined and, where possible, paperless.
  • Profitability analysis: Identifying key drivers that boost your bottom line.
  • Customised reporting: Tailoring financial reports to meet the specific needs of your company.
  • Cashflow management: Monitoring and optimising cashflow to maintain financial stability.
  • Robust credit control: Implementing effective strategies to get paid quicker.
  • Technology assessment: Evaluating and recommending the right technology tools for your business, cutting through the hype to find what truly works.

Get the basics right and we lay the foundation for sound financial management, making tasks like VAT returns, PAYE payments, and annual accounts & tax returns more straightforward.

💡 Pro tip: It’s rarely a good idea to change payroll provider or payroll software in any month other than April, the start of the payroll year. So, change accountants whenever it suits but maybe keep the payroll where it is until next April.

Case studies

High-volume, low-value transactions business

These guys had gone through two firms of accountants and neither could deal with a part of the business that yields a high-volume of low-value repetitive transactions.

With a bit of tech and a bit of fresh thinking we got the transactions flowing through the books easily and efficiently every day.

Everything else – management reports, VAT, year-end – now gets done in good time because the high-volume beast has been tamed.

I use the family accountants but they don’t really deal with businesses like mine

One thing is non-negotiable – your accountant MUST understand your business!

We stepped in here and changed the way the bookkeeping is done so that reports now reflect real business activity and the owner can see recognisable business performance in the numbers.

My accountant only gets in touch once a year

Businesses are continuous and therefore accounting should be continuous, not once a year well after the financial year has ended.

We did some QuickBooks training with this business owner who is happy to do the bookkeeping and she now has less work to do and VAT is a walk in the park.

Through the client’s eyes:

“Michael and the Blue Dot team have been an essential part of our journey from startup through to being an established company, and we look forward to continuing working together long into the future. They have always been on hand to offer support and sound advice whenever it is needed.“

MD

Take the next step

It’s a big step and not one to be taken lightly.

As members of the ICAEW Business Advice Service (BAS) we offer a free, confidential initial consultation to discuss your business needs.

So, if you’re thinking about changing accountants let’s talk about your business, we’d be happy to hear from you.

☎️ 020 7125 0270

📧 info@bluedotconsulting.co.uk

Michael Austin

What’s actually involved in changing accountants?

Firstly, make a list of what you’re looking for in a new accountant.

Then, look online, ask around and go and meet some potential alternatives. Only progress with people that really understand your business.

Agree a basis for fees.

Once you’ve made a decision then break the news to your current accountant. None of us likes to find out from the new accountant!

There will be a transfer of information such as:

  • Previous years’ accounts and tax returns and supporting documents
  • Reference numbers for HMRC, Companies House and others
  • Transfer ownership of the accounting software being used

Don’t worry about this – accountants all know what’s required and how it’s done.

Get to work!

Related links:

Bookkeeping, accounts and tax for a one-person company

We’re a small business, I do all the bookkeeping – I just need someone to keep us on the right track

Overhaul and rebuild your finance function

At Blue Dot Consulting, we work with owner-managed businesses across Central, West and South West London, including Fulham, Hammersmith, Richmond, Putney, Wandsworth, Kensington and Chelsea. If you’d like to improve your financial reporting, bookkeeping or decision-making, we’d be delighted to help.

© Blue Dot Consulting Limited, Chartered Accountants, Bedford House, Fulham Green, London, SW6 3JW

E-commerce accounting: Keep your finances accurate as your online sales grow

The money that comes into your business bank account from your platform does NOT represent the full value of your sales.

E-commerce in the UK has never been stronger. From independent Shopify stores to Amazon sellers and direct-to-consumer brands, more businesses than ever are selling online. But as sales accelerate, so does the complexity of the numbers behind them.

If your accounting doesn’t keep up with your e-commerce activity, your data quickly becomes unreliable — and that can lead to cash flow shocks, VAT errors, and poor decisions.

We take a look at the most common e-commerce accounting problems UK businesses face — and how to fix them before they hold you back.

Automate – but walk before you run

The one thing you can be certain of is that the money that comes into your business bank account from your platform does NOT represent the full value of your sales.

You need to consider VAT, platform fees and any delay in the platform paying out. There might be foreign currencies to deal with as well.

So, don’t base your bookkeeping on the value of the payout, you have to dig deeper.

Download transaction reports from your platform for a period and work out:

  • the gross value of sales
  • how much of that total is VAT
  • how much the platform is charging you (these are expenses, NOT negative sales)
  • anything else that’s being deducted
  • how much you can expect to receive in the bank (and when)

Use this data to do the correct accounting for your sales. In an ideal world, the amount you can expect to receive in the bank will be the amount that’s paid in from the platform.

Check you’ve done it correctly and repeat the process for several more periods so you know what the right answer looks like in your accounting software.

And only then, and only if it is a better option, should you look to automate the accounting process.

Integration software, such as A2X, is worth looking at and there are others out there.

💡 Pro tip: Don’t import every individual transaction into your accounts. Post summarised data for a day, week etc. and drill into your platform to see individual transactions.

VAT – it might be complex but don’t ignore VAT

It’s great that you can sell to anyone in the world but the tax authorities around the world can see what you’re up to and may want their piece of the pie, usually as a sales tax such as VAT.

VAT starts to get complicated because of rules related to:

  • where are your customers based
  • whether your sales are business to business (B2B) or business to consumer (B2C)
  • whether you’re selling products, services or digital outputs

Get on top of the VAT rules that apply as soon as you can and bring in help where you need to.

⚠️ Don’t forget: the taxman can see what you’re up to (might even be a customer!)

Are you selling online at a profit?

For every sale there’s a cost of sale (as Isaac Newton almost once said).

If you sell a football online then you have the costs of:

  • the football
  • packaging
  • shipping
  • export duties if the customer is overseas
  • platform fees and commissions
  • advertising & marketing

Identify and take account of these costs as soon as you can and make sure you’re actually making a profit.

As usual, all roads lead back to good bookkeeping and a finance team that fully understands your business.

Revenue growth can look fantastic — but it means little if you don’t know which products are profitable.

It’s all too easy to lose visibility of cost of goods sold (COGS) once fees, shipping, and advertising spend are factored in. Make sure your e-commerce accounting includes all the related costs and is complete

➡️ The role of the Gross Profit Officer

Cashflow

Every business should monitor its cashflow and an e-commerce business is no different. Three of the biggest headaches are:

  • Delayed pay-outs from the platforms
  • Funding the purchase of stock for resale
  • Setting aside money to pay the VAT

Set up and run a simple cashflow model and consider opening a second bank account to put money aside for tax and future stock purchases.

➡️ Why two bank accounts are better than one

Reports, analysis and insight

You shouldn’t be short of information from your e-commerce platforms and, if you have the bookkeeping working well, you will have additional financial information from your accounting software.

Make sure the two sets of data are consistent with each other, as this is a good sanity check for your e-commerce accounting.

And make sure you can see clearly where you’re making a profit, where you’re not and take action to improve the profit margins of each item you’re selling online.

The reports from your e-commerce platform might not be everything you desire as they have to cater for users across the world and can be a bit generic. You might have discovered this at the bookkeeping stage!

Equally, the reports you get from your bookkeeping software will only be as good as your bookkeeping and how thoroughly you’ve set up the chart of accounts in your software.

➡️ Build a useful and future-proof chart of accounts in Xero

E-commerce accounting – DIY, outsource or hybrid?

Business owners often try to manage it themselves, resulting in late reconciliations, inaccurate VAT returns, and reactive decision-making. Often a false and frustrating economy.

Get help early on from a bookkeeper or accountant who understands e-commerce systems and workflows.

Once the correct accounting framework is in place and you’re getting meaningful information about sales, profits and cashflows you have some choices around:

  • automation and apps
  • financial controls such as bank reconciliations and gross profit reviews
  • outsourcing, bringing the bookkeeping in-house or sharing the work

E-commerce accounting should become a routine process that works well and provides the financial information you need to grow your business and your profits.

➡️ Bookkeeping for business

The bottom line

Selling online to anyone in the world is a golden opportunity that’s available to any business.

But remember:

  • the platforms will take a share of the spoils
  • it may take some time before you receive your money
  • VAT and similar sales taxes are a big part of the e-commerce landscape
  • all sales have costs of sales

You’ll need a financial platform to sit beside your online platform.

We can help you with that.

At Blue Dot Consulting we help UK e-commerce businesses achieve up-to-date, complete and accurate bookkeeping, allied with robust financial reports and keep a steady eye on cashflow.

Get in touch to discuss how we can make your e-commerce accounting accurate, efficient and useful.

☎️ call Michael Austin on 020 7125 0270

📧 info@bluedotconsulting.co.uk

Related articles:

This is bookkeeping in the 21st century

Profitability and cashflow

Know your numbers and don’t get lost in the fog

Blue Dot Consulting provides accounting, e-commerce and business advisory services to clients across Central London, West London and South West London, with particular focus on Fulham, Hammersmith, Richmond, Putney, Wandsworth, Kensington and Chelsea. We help local business owners make better financial decisions and plan confidently for the future.

© Blue Dot Consulting Limited, Chartered Accountants, Bedford House, Fulham Green, London, SW6 3JW

Blue Dot Consulting supports Grow London Local

We’re very pleased to be a business support provider for Grow London Local specialising in all things financial from bookkeeping and cashflow to year-end accounts.

We’re very pleased to be a business support provider for Grow London Local, helping London businesses to fulfil and surpass their potential.

London’s a great city to do business in

London’s an economic powerhouse. Could you choose a better place to run your business?

Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it but London really does have everything you need to support a growing business. We’ve got:

  • amazing public transport
  • local and global reach
  • schools and universities that consistently rank among the best in the UK
  • thriving local business communities, Chambers of Commerce and business hubs
  • nine million people and who knows how many businesses on your doorstep

Grow London Local is part of an ambitious growth plan run by London & Partners to build on where we are and take London forwards into the future.

Running your own business – there’s nothing quite like it

There really is nothing quite like running your own business – it’s not easy but it’s so worthwhile.

As a business owner, you have to juggle and balance:

  • sales and marketing
  • pricing
  • cashflow & funding
  • accounting & tax
  • HR
  • business operations and ever-changing technology

We can’t all be experts in all these areas and everyone can use a little help along the way.

And Grow London Local is a big part of London’s SME support network.

How can Blue Dot Consulting and Grow London Local help me and my business?

We’re Chartered Accountants and we’ve been helping London businesses with their bookkeeping, accounting, cashflow and tax for over twenty years.

Our clients are just like you!

Owner-managed businesses with great ideas, loads of energy and the insight to know that a successful business has to be built on a solid financial foundation.

From start-ups to multi-million turnover companies, we continue to offer practical financial help and advice across all these areas:

As a business support provider for Grow London Local, how can we help you?

Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner

It’s true. I’m a Londoner born and bred.

I’ve seen boom times and hard times, change as a constant, diversity that builds bridges and an epic Olympic Games.

I want London to succeed and I want London businesses, like yours and mine, to be a big part of the success story.

Let’s move forwards and have a chat about you and your business.

Call Michael Austin on 020 7125 0270 or email info@bluedotconsulting.co.uk

Grow London Local – here to help.

Michael

Related links:

The loneliness of the small-business price increase

Our accounting services for your business

How do we solve a problem like Maria’s?

© Blue Dot Consulting Limited

Blue Dot Consulting Limited, Chartered Accountants – Bedford House, Fulham Green, London, SW6 3JW

Bookkeeping, accounts and tax for a one-person company

The hard part about running your own one-person company is not the bookkeeping, accounts and tax – it’s making a profit!

The hard part about running your own one-person company is not the bookkeeping, accounts and tax – it’s making a profit!

But you do need to give some thought to the financials and here’s a one-minute explainer covering many of the important points you should consider.

Just press play but pause it if you need to.

Bookkeeping, accounts and tax for a one-person company

So there’s plenty to think about but don’t hide your head in the sand.

It’s a bit of a feeding-frenzy when you get going but bookkeeping soon settles down and should tick along in the background without too many dramas.

And if you need inspiration, click on this link because we helped Maria go from “raising my invoices” to “doing most of my bookkeeping” in a matter of months.

Some people do all of their accounting and tax themselves but it isn’t for everyone. So, if you need help – there’s plenty of help about.

Help might include some software training so you know how to use your accounting software properly. We can help you here if your business is using FreeAgent, QuickBooks or Xero.

If you’re in our South West London neighbourhood – Fulham, Putney, Hammersmith, Chelsea – then give me a call on 020 7125 0270 or email info@bluedotconsulting.co.uk or pop in and see us at Fulham Green.

Michael

Related links:

Bookkeeping for your business

Annual accounts

The loneliness of the small business price increase

© Blue Dot Consulting Limited, Chartered Accountants, Bedford House, Fulham Green, London, SW6 3JW

Xero Accountants in South West London – let’s unlock your numbers

No one buys accounting software because they need accounting software. They buy it so they can generate the financial information they need to run and improve their business.

Xero Accountants in South West London – sounds like us.

Xero user who’s a little frustrated that you’re not quite getting what you want and need from Xero – sounds like you?

Read on.

A Xero Accountant in London – good enough?

Quite simply, it makes sense to get help from local people who know Xero!

But no one buys accounting software because they need accounting software. They buy it so they can generate the financial information they need to run and improve their business.

Which is why simply being another Xero accountant from central casting isn’t good enough. You need support from people who can make Xero work for your business, not for any business.

The Blue Dot Consulting advantage

We have extensive experience of Xero, it’s true.

But we also have extensive experience of how to run a finance function! So when we help you with Xero we do it in a practical way that fits your business.

We’ll work with you to:

  • Choose and use the right apps to streamline data entry
  • Automate recurring transactions
  • Build the suite of financial reports that’s right for you
  • Keep everything running as your business scales

And when we work with businesses, this is what they say:

Michael is very knowledgeable on all things Xero and as an accountant and business owner he also is extremely practical and “real world” focused.

Nick – business manager

What next?

If our approach resonates and sounds like what you’re looking for then let’s have a chat and set up a free first meeting.

You can email me at info@bluedotconsulting.co.uk or give me a call on 020 7125 0270.

Michael

Related links:

Xero training

Create a useful chart of accounts in Xero

As businesses grow, their financial management evolves

Cloud accounting and AI may not a good accountant make

Make sure your accountant knows what they’re doing because the best golfers don’t have to use the latest clubs, but they do need to know how to play golf

My golf clubs are more than twenty years old.

I love playing golf but I’m not very good at it. If I go for lessons and play more frequently then I get better.

Training and experience help but simply buying a new set of golf clubs, embracing twenty-first century technology, would make next to no difference.

Cloud accounting and AI

Back at the day job and the hype just keeps increasing.

Cloud accounting, SaaS, this app, that platform and now AI.

Judge a business and its accountant by the size of their tech-stack!

If you’re not digital you’re not doing it right!

No Luddite, me, I get the benefits of adopting some of the new technology, we’ve been paper-free and operating 100% in the cloud since 2014, but I also see “tech”, “the cloud” and “AI” as cloaks to hide behind.

Accountants may say “we’re great accountants because we use this tech and that tech.”

Software providers may say “the accountants that use our tech are the enlightened great and the good and who wouldn’t want an accountant like that?”

Reality check – just because they use new technology doesn’t mean the accountant is any good or that the latest app is good value for money

We’ve seen too many examples of accountants making a virtue of being in the cloud but not actually delivering a useful service to their clients.

So if you’re running a business and you’re wondering if and how this hype in the accounting world can make a difference to your bottom line, peace of mind, efficient workflow and prospects of growth, the answer is almost certainly YES.

But make sure the accountant knows what they’re doing because the best golfers don’t have to use the latest clubs, but they do need to know how to play golf.

Michael

Related links:

We can’t send you your invoice because our accountants are so behind with processing direct debits

This is bookkeeping in the 21st century

Technology is the servant not the master

© Blue Dot Consulting Limited

Is Xero helping your business grow or holding it back?

Xero is brilliant – but only if you use it well.

And what holds back too many Xero users is that no one has ever shown them how to use it properly.

Xero is brilliant – but only if you use it well.

And what holds back too many Xero users is that no one has ever shown them how to use it properly.

Six common missteps Xero users make

They don’t:

  • keep Xero up to date
  • organise the most efficient workflows to make Xero easier to use
  • understand well enough the financial information available
  • do the bookkeeping correctly – particularly e-commerce
  • check that Xero is correct e.g. by doing proper bank reconciliations
  • get the VAT right

This can be true of both business owners using Xero for themselves and also true of bookkeepers and accounts who should know better!

So what if my Xero is wrong?

Businesses and organisations use bookkeeping software to measure and improve financial performance.

Yes, there are some other benefits, particularly around compliance, such as VAT returns, year-end accounts and tax returns. But these are second-order benefits and come a long way behind having accurate financial information at your finger tips.

So, what can go wrong if your Xero is wrong?

Amongst other things, how about these:

  • Poor and late decisions based on out of date numbers
  • Worsening cashflow
  • Missed opportunities to make higher profits
  • Stress!

And if you don’t want these and other issues impacting adversely on your business then why not invest in Xero training to help put you on the right track?

I was anxious about using the cloud based Xero and its many automated functions.

Michael’s straightforward, practical and tailor made approach was perfect for me and our business. With clear explanation and reasoning he was ready to answer any of my questions with calm reassurance at all times.

Thank you Michael. 

Invest in Xero training – invest in a better business

Our Xero training usually takes place in half-day sessions ideally at your business but our office can also be the venue.

We take some time to understand your business and how it works before taking a detailed look with you at how your bookkeeping is taking place and how it can be improved.

We look at:

  • Sales invoices and credit control
  • Entering and paying suppliers’ bills
  • Clearing the bank feed and agreeing Xero to your bank statements
  • Creating and using helpful financial reports
  • Accounting for other business processes, such as expense claims and payroll

It can get very intensive, which is why our training sessions are in half-day blocks.

But we also work with you if you need some further ad hoc support – we’re happy to run short sessions on Teams / Zoom to help you get the best from Xero.

Sounds useful? – To find out more about our Xero training and how it can help your business call Michael Austin on 020 7125 0270 or email info@bluedotconsulting.co.uk

Michael

Related links:

Xero training for your business

Video – create a useful Chart of Accounts in Xero

Management information

© Blue Dot Consulting Limited

Blue Dot Consulting Limited, Chartered Accountants – Bedford House, Fulham Green, London, SW6 3JW

The VAT payment you were worrying about? That got paid last week!

It’s taken a year of concentrating on bookkeeping and cashflow to get to this point but Maggie is now so on top of her business finances she didn’t even notice she’d paid her VAT.

A stress-free VAT payment – now there’s a thing of beauty.

How did we get here?

To be fair, when we started working with Maggie her business finances were a complete mess and she was running around like a headless chicken trying to run the business and keep on top of the finances.

So we took over all the bookkeeping and financial management and organised:

  • daily bookkeeping for all sales and bank transactions
  • Maggie sending all her suppliers’ invoices to AutoEntry so we could get them all accounted for
  • useful financial reports in the bookkeeping software, accessible to all
  • monthly bank reconciliations
  • a simple cashflow model and four-month forecast
  • weekly finance calls with Maggie

And one year later – Maggie knows exactly where her business stands financially.

Maggie can:

  • plan ahead knowing she has the funds to grow her business
  • make sensible decisions about pricing
  • see the effect on her profit of marketing initiatives
  • concentrate fully on running her business
  • sleep at night

Can Blue Dot Consulting help your business?

What we did for Maggie we can do with you for your business.

The starting point is to get the bookkeeping going properly in a way that fits your business, organised to produce useful financial reports that tell you how you’re doing.

It can take a bit of time but it’s certainly worth the investment.

Sounds useful?

Let’s have a free-of-charge chat about your business – call Michael Austin on 020 7125 0270 or email info@bluedotconsulting.co.uk

Michael

Related links:

Bookkeeping for business

This is bookkeeping in the 21st century

Profitability and cashflow

© Blue Dot Consulting Limited

Chartered Accountants – Bedford House, Fulham Green, London, SW6 3JW

Gross Profit Officer – appoint one today!

Ask yourself how much your bottom line will improve or decline by if you raise or lower your gross profit margin by just 1%.

The concept of a Gross Profit Officer came out of a brainstorming session with a client of ours in which we looked at how they could make more profit from any given level of sales.

It made sense to us, it will probably work for you, so what is the role of the Gross Profit Officer (GPO)?

Gross profit is the difference between the selling price and the costs of making the sale. It’s often expressed as a gross profit margin i.e. if you sell for £100 and the costs of making the sale are £45 then the gross profit is £55 and the gross profit margin is 55/100 = 55%.

Raising the gross profit margin means that for every sale you make there is a higher profit and most of the higher profit will drop straight down to the bottom line.

You also make more money so cashflow is improved.

The other side of the coin is that a smaller gross profit means every sale is less valuable,  the bottom line is eroded and cashflow suffers.

So it’s important to ensure your business makes the gross profit margin you want it to.

Hence the role of the GPO.

What does the Gross Profit Officer do?

In the business we were looking at they do thousands of individual jobs for clients each year. An account manager will run the job – agree the scope, agree the price, organise the suppliers to do the job, agree costs with suppliers, make sure the job is done correctly and then make sure it is invoiced.

Gross profit is affected in several ways:

  • the selling price
  • the costs of the people doing the job
  • the quality of the job – you want the customer to come back for more
  • getting paid in good time by the client

So the role of the GPO is to review these aspects of a sample of jobs or contracts with each account manager to make sure the expected gross profit margin is being made or exceeded and to learn lessons in cases where gross profit was below target.

The GPO will be a coach, enhancing the skills and confidence of the account managers so that they have more positive conversations with customers and suppliers, sharing their experience and the best practice of the organisation.

In addition, they will set a minimum standard of performance for their team and make sure that the basics of how gross profit is generated are kept front of mind everyday.

And there’s more – the GPO will look forward. They will look at several jobs that are in the pipeline which have not yet been priced and make sure that these jobs will make the desired level of profit.

We can’t afford a GPO

Ask yourself how much your bottom line will improve or decline by if you raise or lower your gross profit margin by just 1%.

Still can’t afford a GPO?

As it happens, in the client we were looking at, the GPO role was not a full-time job. It’s something they can add in to the job description of an existing member of staff.

So don’t wait – appoint a Gross Profit Officer today!!

Michael

Related links:

Profitability and cashflow

Proof of Profit

We could get a lot bigger if only we sell what we sell!

© Blue Dot Consulting Limited

Chartered Accountants – Bedford House, Fulham Green, London, SW6 3JW