Businesses don’t plan to fail – they often just fail to plan properly – if at all. The skill is knowing where to start and how to do it. Unfortunately – the devil is in the detail! For most companies, establishing a formal budgeting process within the organisation is key to its continued operations. It’s [...]
Depreciation – learn how to use and ‘appreciate’ it ….
Introduction At year-end, company balance sheets should try to show the value of the ‘big ticket’ items i.e. the fixed assets at a prices which represents their value if they were to be sold on to another company e.g. land, buildings, vehicles etc. The current values of the fixed assets shown on the balance sheet [...]
Management Accounting compared with Financial Accounting
MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING (CIMA) vs. FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING (CA) It is important that management accounting is clearly distinguished from financial accounting. The first piece of great news is that management accounts are not audited and not even required by law – that means you can ‘DIY’ if you want to and there are no large accounting bills [...]
The current banking crisis explained (humour)
Young Stelios bought a donkey from a farmer for €100. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day. The next day he drove up and said, ‘Sorry son, but I have some bad news. The donkey’s died.’ Stelios replied, ‘Well then just give me my money back.’ The farmer said, ‘Can’t do that. [...]
Special for SEPG members in Harrogate
CIPD – SEPG Members - Follow on from ‘Crunching the Numbers’ Presentation at meeting on Jan 16, 2012 Given the discussions following last night’s presentation, I would be delighted to try and arrange a follow-up a one day ‘Finance Awareness/Update’ programme, exclusive to Harrogate SEPG members at the Britannia Leeds Bradford Airport Hotel in Bramhope. [...]
Explaining a Balance Sheet
Being able to explain balance sheets (convincingly), using easy to understand language, is an important starting point to be able to then go on to develop a deeper understanding at higher levels. Try commiting these definitions to memory – use them as a starting point. At my coaching sessions these simple definitions are developed and [...]
Lousy Interest Rates!
Dec 2011 If you had £30,000 to invest over a 2 year fixed period and you selected 2 of the best rates e.g. 4% (Investec) or 3.85% (Halifax) Between these two rates – neither spectacular, the additional interest generated is £93.53 (over 2 years). Confirm this by visiting the Useful Links page and select the [...]
12 Tips for Raising Finance
There are many reasons for raising finance for your business – to pay off a loan or to undergo a major expansion programme. Here is a suggest list of options to consider. Internal Retained profit Issue new shares to existing shareholder Sell off fixed assets not generating revenues External Issue shares to new shareholders Commercial [...]
Investing £500,000 in 2012
Dare to Dream ….. An inheritance of this value is not unheard of these days – or a win on the lottery! Here are 7 business suggestions to consider. Buy and run (as sole trader) an existing business that’s either currently up for sale or find an existing business and make them an offer. Set [...]
Costing Techniques – Pricing for Profit
Every decision that a organisation makes will have some impact on costing issues and eventually the bottom line. To make smart decisions it is vital to understand the relationship between fixed and variable costs and then be able to apply these concepts correctly to either Absorption or Marginal Costing techniques. Any decision to introduce or [...]
