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Benefiting from hard-won experience

NO matter how smoothly your business is running, or how bright the future looks – it’s always worth taking advantage of expert financial advice.

Another opinion, especially one with a financial focus, can often help to identify what’s working and what’s not, or to see opportunities to build on success and avoid the pitfalls that could lie ahead.

The team at Harris & Co Chartered Accountants are business advisers with a wealth of practical experience rather than simply a provider of financial and accountancy services – getting to know clients’ businesses so that they can help them grow and develop through their hard won experience gained over the last 26 years.

Although there is more optimism in the business community these days, there’s no doubt we live in uncertain times. Britain’s exit from the European Union may seem like a long way off, but who knows what effect the negotiations might have, before we ever get to the point of reaching agreements for the long-term future.

Harris & Co sees itself as a source of support and guidance, to help businesses make the right decisions, looking at forward planning and establishing a solid base, as well as making sure the financial position of the business is healthy.

With this in mind, Harris & Co has come up with a six points to follow that should help any small or medium-sized business remain on track.

1 Sales – look at your sales and identify ways to increase the quantities sold, the number of customers, the price or the number of times a customer buys. These are the key variables in increasing sales.

2 Cost – look critically at your cost base and identify any you can reduce, especially the big costs.

3 Daily break-even sales – check every day how you’ve done against your break-even figure and if you don’t hit that figure regularly, go back to steps 1 and 2.

4 Plan ahead – do a 12-month cash flow forecast based on realistic assumptions and give yourself some margin for error. Use the cash flow to identify how much you need and when you will need it. Then talk to your bank well ahead of time.

5 Debtors – monitor daily and chase them frequently.

6 Creditors – monitor regularly and don’t let major debt build up.

Harris & Co’s approach is to help clients put in place the specific structures and procedures that are crucial to their ongoing success, then keep them under review to safeguard the long-term future of the company.

For further information contact Phil Harris on 01604 660661 or visit www.harrisandco.biz

Companies mentioned in this article

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