Business advisory services aim to help small and micro businesses identify strengths and overcome weakness in order to unlock growth.

Online accountancy software and advances in technology have made the process of compliance much more efficient. It has also led to many faceless solutions when wanting to look at forecasting and other business tools. These advances are like a double-edged sword; amazingly powerful but often confusing.

That is where having a close relationship with an accountant who also offers advisory service can be most beneficial. Utilising the best tools such as Xero and Futrli, they can take a non-biased look at the numbers, decipher them, and advise on how to turn that forecast into an actionable plan. Forecasting is so much more than just looking at cash. Scenario Modelling services will help look at different outcomes from certain decisions. Management Reporting will look at, and analyse business performance to a certain date. Advisory might also included coaching, business performance reviews, or a combination of all of these. All these services help business owners get relevant information to make reliable data-driven decisions, moving their business forward with confidence.

In previous times, accountants prepared accounts and tax returns, business advisers advised you on how to grow your business, business coaches helped you grow as individuals and achieve what you want. Nowadays, the best accountants are multi-faceted – offering so much more than basic tax and compliance work. Business owners can now run their businesses confidently, encouraged and supported by one resource who knows their business and personal goals inside and out, rather than three separate ones.

Seeking help from an external adviser can help get your business out of a rut, improve margins, scale up, and bring a fresh perspective to the business when you may have been hitting your head against a brick wall for some time.

What situations might require you to take out an adivsory service?

• You are run ragged and need to take on a new team member. You want to know how much you need to increase your sales by to cover the cost of this new team member (scenario planning)
• A global pandemic has caused your business to pause operations temporarily and you want to know how long your cash will last, and the affect a loan will have on your business, and whether you can afford the repayments (scenario planning)
• You are in a period of rapid growth, all hands on deck. You want to make sure your efforts are being rewarded, and that the forecast you created a few months ago is accurate (management reports, forecasting, quarterly business reviews)
• You created a business plan, identified some key performance indicators and want a dashboard to monitor these KPIs and make changes as necessary (KPI monitoring, business planning, KPI coaching)
• You need some help making decisions in your business, and feel alone, and a little bit like you’re making decisions based on assumptions and your own opinion (quarterly business reviews, coaching, forecasting, management reporting)

If you’re faced with any of the above situations, or something a bit different, and want to discuss how we might be able to help, you can find out more about our advisory services on our website, or book in a Discovery Call.