Even in the midst of success, many business owners are harbouring internal fears about the future.
Family-owned Emery Little Wealth Management (EL) had successfully navigated the start-up and growth phases of their business. They were well established with a solid team, good clients, and regular revenue. Outwardly, their foundation seemed unshakeable.
Internally, the owners were feeling nervous about unknown risks around the corner. The problem was they were only tracking cash flow on a day-by-day basis, leaving them unable to see past the here and now.
By nature, running a business is unpredictable. There are factors outside of our control; economic conditions, market changes, and government regulations are largely “unplannable”. But future-focused planning and regular reporting is the shield against controllable uncertainty. It helps you anticipate and mitigate risks so you can confidently make long-term decisions.
EL’s long-term vision was to pass the legacy to their daughter. Lacking regular up-to-date numbers, they were struggling to assess the true strength of their business for a future handover.
The founders needed a reliable financial foundation. Happy with the services we’d provided before, they asked Myers Clark to create a solution that would facilitate longevity for the business going forward.
When it comes down to it, uncertain numbers mean an uncertain future
We quickly established that EL only truly knew their financial position once a year, when their annual accounts were prepared. This meant they were more or less in the dark for the remainder of that year. It didn’t help that their financial software couldn’t keep up with the technological advancements of its competitors either.
During the time, they were using Sage Line 50; software that did not easily enable collaborative working with real-time data because it was not cloud-based. It’s not streamlined, it’s not easy to use.
New software, new training, new data
We changed the platform and transitioned all of the accounting over to Quickbooks. With a more intuitive, user-friendly interface, the EL team were able to access real-time numbers and issue reports when required. Every transaction (in and out) was recorded automatically too. It was much much more efficient. Of course, effective bookkeeping is essential for meaningful reports, so we provided training on bookkeeping processes to their finance team as well.
You need a reliable accounting system and consistent processes to establish your cash flow. Once you have those, you can determine the patterns of your business over each quarter. When there’s enough data, your accounting team can plot out and forecast all inbound and outbound payments. They can map out a budget and you can make financial decisions backed by numbers.
You know what’s coming.
EL now had accurate data and most importantly they could trust what they were seeing. They’d achieved their primary goal, a solid financial position. From this point, they could now tackle their second goal, planning for a future handover.
Consistent reporting accurately charts performance and offers powerful insight
Regular reports played a pivotal role in EL’s journey. Different to day-to-day numbers, they collate key information in one place to determine business performance over a period of time. Your finance team can offer insight based on that information too.
With each quarter end, we discussed their reporting needs, tweaking the reports and information so they only received the data most relevant to them. Now, not only were they getting consistent reports throughout the year, but those reports were tailored, meaningful and informative without being overloaded with unnecessary information.
They had reliable data in real-time, a trusted finance team, and insightful quarterly reports charting performance and cash flow throughout the year.
They were certain of their financial position and reassured overall.
When an expert is part of the conversation, there’s more we can do
Myers Clark became an integral part of their decision-making processes too (their client director joins every quarterly board meeting). He ensures total alignment with their business objectives and a comprehensive view of the company’s financial health.
Having an experienced, financial expert in your conversations can fast-track the implementation of clever, effective strategy and avoid strategic wrong turns. Having somebody on your team, who can spot opportunities or issues others may not, is an extremely valuable asset.
Day-to-day transformation and longevity for the futures experience showcases how businesses can achieve stability and success through applied expertise and consistent reporting.
They’re a testimony to the positive impact that the right expertise has on both the financial and emotional aspects of a business. There’s no time spent on uncertainty, or worrying about what’s around the corner, they’re well and truly on top of everything. They’re accurate, they’re optimising cash flow and they’re working towards their most important goal: succession planning.
Result
With our help, they have achieved everything they wanted. If you know your accounting practices could benefit from some expert help, fill out our form. Assessing, improving and transforming the financial foundations of small businesses is what we do.
We’d love to do it for you too.