SMEs Need A “GUIDE” Not A “HISTORIAN”
Advisory Services News - Issue 37
Good day!
Welcome to this update on ESS BIZTOOLS ADVISORY SERVICES NEWS.
SMEs NEED A “GUIDE” NOT A “HISTORIAN”
In the complimentary webinar “Fiscal Management – A Starting Point” being presented at 10.00am today, Peter Towers, Founder and Managing Director, and Amanda Gascoigne, Amanda Gascoigne Consulting, will discuss getting started on being the “GUIDE” rather than the “Historian”. In this presentation, the virtual CFO role will be discussed, together with “Delivering Advisory Services” not just “Offering Services,” and the use of the “52-Week of the Year Business Enhancement System”.
It is not too late to register for today’s webinar – it’s on at 10.00 am AEST. Why not join us with your cup of tea or coffee and invest 60 minutes for the benefit of your career and your clients’ businesses? To register for the webinar, please click here.
Offering a complete accounting system, which is what the SME market needs, especially in the current very difficult conditions, is significantly different from the preparation of an annual set of accounts and income tax return.
The role reverts from being a “Historian” to “Guiding Your Client into the Future”.
It starts with a “Due Diligence Review” to gain a “1 Inch Wide/1 Mile Deep Knowledge of Your Clients' Affairs” – why? Because you need to know a lot more about your client’s affairs to perform a virtual CFO role than what was needed to prepare an annual set of accounts and a tax return. This will highlight weak points relating to internal control.
The “Business Plan” is a fundamental document that should be prepared and then reviewed each year.
The “Predictive Accounting Reports”, which comprise Budgets, Key Drivers, Cash Flow Forecasts, and Projected Balance Sheets – “The Financial Interpretation of the Business Plan” are key documents to guide your client’s Leadership Team in the appraisal of performance on a weekly and monthly basis.
In performing this role, you will be offering a service similar to what a full-time Chief Financial Officer performs at a larger business. Your small business clients also have an ongoing need for financial input during the year, not just once or twice a year.
The “52-Week of the Year Business Enhancement System” embraces the ESS BIZTOOLS philosophy on the role that accounting firms can play to assist SMEs to survive and enhance their business operations. How we can expect SMEs, many of whom have very little knowledge or experience in financial or accounting matters, to manage their businesses without ongoing advice from skilled professionals is unbelievable – this is your opportunity to correct this wrong!
The system that you implement will undoubtedly have:
- Daily reports
- Weekly Performance Report and Profitability Estimate and Key Performance Indicators
- Monthly Financial Accounts for all business operations with Key Performance Indicators and Business Metrics
- Comparison of monthly accounts with the Budget and a Budget Variation Report
- Financial report prepared by you
- The next month would be the same again – continued 52 weeks of the year.
This is performing as the “Brilliant and Trusted Advisor” that the former Tax Commissioner was recommending that Accountants provide to SMEs.
You can find out more information on the services offered by ESS BIZTOOLS at www.essbiztools.com.au and if you would like to have a one-on-one Zoom meeting with our Managing Director and Founder, Peter Towers, please send us an email, and we will organise that for you – .
Amanda and Peter are looking forward to discussing a wide range of issues relating to the challenges confronting Small and Medium-Sized Accounting Firms and your SME clients at 10.00am AEST.
