Finding the right kind of finance for your small business can be overwhelming, especially when you’re already short on time. Gone are the days when you’d simply speak to your bank manager about options – in fact, most businesses don’t even have a named bank manager anymore.
So who can you turn to for advice on raising, recovering, monitoring and protecting the capital you need to reach your goals?
If you’re like 48% of business owners in the UK, your accountant is your most trusted advisor and the exact person you should be leaning on for support.
Your accountant knows you and your business
Chances are you’re using cloud accounting software like Xero. That means both you and your accountant have access to reams of accounting and bookkeeping data that put you in the perfect position to join forces when it comes to capital.
If you’ve got a tech savvy accountant like Purple Accounts, then reliable finance advice is already at your fingertips. Your accountant has all the tools, training and support they need to take a deep dive into your balance sheet, determining how much capital your business needs and how to put it to good use. They can recommend the best kind(s) of funding to meet your immediate, ongoing and future capital needs as well as the right lender (or lenders) to provide it.
How to recover capital when you need to
To say running a business has its ups and downs is clearly an understatement. As a business owner, you’ll have had your fair share of challenges to overcome and may need support from time to time to recover capital that has flowed out of your business for one reason or another.
Speak to your accountant if there’s cash that you need help to bring back into your business – money tied up in a dispute with HMRC for example. They can help you build a case and manage your expectations when it comes to success and progress.
If you need to recover capital, your accountant is the trusted advisor and expert you want fighting in your corner. Tell them about any challenges you’re facing and benefit from their knowledge and experience with things like R&D tax credits, VAT funding, refinancing, debt recovery and HMRC Time to Pay.
How to monitor cash flow and protect capital
When it comes to cash flow, knowledge is power. The more you know about your cash flow position, the easier it is to get ahead of challenges before they arise. In practical terms, this means constantly monitoring your cash flow – not only to know where you are on any given day but where you’re likely to be in the next month, quarter or year.
Work closely with your accountant to identify trends; times of year when cash flow is tight because of slower sales, for example, or months where your costs will be higher as you prepare for increased demand. When your accountant understands your goals, challenges and upcoming financial milestones, they can advise you on how to get ahead of the game through finance solutions that may include:
Invoice finance: this type of funding lets you advance the money owed to you in outstanding invoices, without waiting for your debtors to pay. It’s a flexible way to access funds as and when you need it – to buy more stock than usual ahead of your busiest season, for example.
Merchant cash advance: this is an alternative to your standard bank loan that gives your business a bit of wiggle room. You pay the loan back as a pre-agreed percentage of daily card transactions, so in months when you know there’ll be less money coming in, you can relax knowing you’ll also pay less on your loan.
When you find a trusted accountant for your business, they’ll play an active role in tracking your cash and capital position to help you reach your goals. Think of them as a key player in protecting your capital through effective cash flow monitoring and management.
How to raise capital for business growth
You’ve heard it a million times before, but here it is again: you’ve got to spend money to make it. Whether it’s keeping the lights on while you build an amazing product or hiring top talent to drive your business forward, success comes with associated costs.
There are a number of options out there for raising capital, depending on what your business does and where you want to take it next. Your accountant can advise you on the best way to add cash to your balance sheet from secured and unsecured loans to raising equity or applying for grants. They can then work with Capitalise to find a suitable provider and come back to you with offers for finance that fit well with your business and capital requirements. These might include:
● A loan – this could be secured/unsecured, long/short term, start-up, peer-to-peer, bad credit or even accessed through the government Recovery Loan Scheme
● Trade finance
● Asset finance
● Property finance
● Management buyout
Raising capital to fuel growth comes down to investing in the things that will ultimately help your business be successful in the long-term. This could be as simple as upping your spend on materials to increase production or as complex as completely rethinking your business model.
It’s time to get in touch with your accountant
Speak to Purple Accounts today if you need a boost to get back on track or fuel to take your business further. Get in touch even if you don’t have any immediate funding needs (that you know of) to see how we can help you with capital monitoring and cash flow management.
Let us do the legwork when it comes to raising, recovering or protecting capital for your business so you can focus on what you’ll be able to achieve knowing that finance is taken care of.
Comentarios