Documenting the vision
Business Advisory Services Update
A key component of Accountants/Bookkeepers services to SMEs beyond the preparation of annual accounts and income tax return is to assist your SME client to ‘DOCUMENT THE VISION’.
This is a very important role to offer your SME clients (and is what full-time CFO are involved with in larger businesses) by assisting the leadership team with the preparation of:
Business plan: a “living document”
Predictive accounting reports: budgets – Key drivers – cash flow forecasts – projected balance sheets
This is the ‘financial interpretation’ of the business plan. This document allows you to be the ‘financial storyteller’, to be able to clearly identify what the end financial position will be in three or five years’ time if the business is able to perform to the targets.
Analysis of the financial projections – what’s it all mean? Is the company going to require additional funding? If so, where will that funding come from?
Does the company have spare assets that could be offered as security for a loan?
What are the funds required for? Does the work relate to Research and Development or the creation of new intellectual property? If so, you could search for government grants that could be available.
You will have to decide what funding recommendations you will make to your client for the balance of the funding.
You could examine the potential for raising capital from the market by utilising:
Section 708 of the Corporations Act: the company could raise up to $2M from 20 investors in 12 months.
Early Stage Innovation Company: if the company is under six years of age, has been undertaking Research and Development activities and has a very low income and expenditure under $1M, you could look at the possibility of raising capital as an ESIC.
Crowd Sourced Funding Equity Raising: if the company’s turnover is under $25M and gross value of assets are under $25M, consideration could be given to attempting to raise capital as a CSF Equity Raising Company.
These are some of the issues that you could consider as part of the process of assisting your client ‘DOCUMENT THE VISION’.
ESS BIZTOOLS concentrates on the development of Advisory Services Product Packages to assist accountants/bookkeepers to DELIVER ADVISORY SERVICES TO SMES.
