Your business is growing, and things are going well. But with that growth, the decisions in front of you have gotten bigger and more complex.
You might be thinking about your next few hires, or a change in how you price your work, or whether now is the right time to invest in something significant. These are not small calls, and you want to be sure you’re making them with a proper picture of where things stand and all the possible consequences.
What most owners at this stage find is that they don’t have anyone to think it through with. They get the figures, but not the conversation.
The business has moved beyond the point where an annual meeting is enough, but the support around it hasn’t kept up.
At this stage, you need to know what’s about to happen because the cost of getting it wrong is higher.
Hiring the wrong person at this stage costs more than it used to. Getting the timing wrong on an investment, or letting margins drift without noticing, has real consequences when the numbers are bigger.
Without a proper plan to measure against, you can be up on where you were last year and still be behind where you should be. A £1M business making 5% is not doing better than a £300k business making 30%.
Most owners at this stage have some picture of how things are going. But they’re making significant calls without anyone sitting alongside them and working through the numbers properly before they commit.
That tends to be what changes when they come to us.
We work with you as a long-term partner.
At the start of the year, we build a proper Business Roadmap together, which is a plan that reflects where you’re trying to take the business. You get a Growth Report, which is a clear picture of how the business is performing against that plan, and we sit down with you to go through it. We look at whether the work going out of the door is turning into profit, and whether the cash in the bank reflects that.
Most owners spend their week in the middle of the business, focusing on clients, supporting the team, and making decisions. The work keeps moving, but it’s hard to see the full picture when you’re right in the middle of it.
That’s what our board meetings are for. They take you off the dance floor and up onto the balcony.
They give you a dedicated time to work on the business, not just in it, look at the numbers, and think properly about where your business is going.
It’s where decisions get worked through properly before they become urgent. There’s a regular check-in between board meetings as well, so there’s always a way to pick something up quickly if it cannot wait.
Cash flow is forecasted through Float, so you can see what is coming and plan around it. When a significant decision is on the table, we model the numbers before you commit.
The relationship gets more useful the longer it goes on. We get to know the business properly, and you have someone who knows the business well enough to give you a considered view when you need one.
Our most comprehensive service. Everything is handled, you have a dedicated Account Manager, and a structured programme of reporting, cash flow forecasting and board meetings built around where you want to take the business.
|
Get You Sorted For business owners who are tired of feeling constantly on edge about their numbers |
Stay On Track For firms that are growing and starting to feel the limits of guesswork |
Grow With Confidence For owners who want to grow deliberately, not just keep things ticking over |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accounts and tax returns sorted and filed on time | Included | Included | Included |
| Keep bookkeeping, VAT and payroll running properly, so the figures can be trusted and wages, tax and returns are dealt with on time | Included | Included | Included |
| Deal with Companies House admin | Included | Included | Included |
| Personal tax return, salary and dividend planning, so you pay yourself properly | Included | Included | Included |
| Ethical tax planning to reduce tax without taking unnecessary risks | Included | Included | Included |
| Business Roadmap (business budget) showing what the year needs to deliver | Not included | Included | Included |
| Growth Reports showing how the business is performing against the plan | Not included | Included | Included |
| Ongoing company tax planning, including larger asset purchase advice | Not included | Included | Included |
| Cash flow forecasting and planning, so you can sleep at night | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Board Meetings that take you off the Dance Floor and up onto the Balcony! | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Strategic support for hiring, growth, structure and bigger decisions | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Help Me Grow With Confidence |
If you already work with a bookkeeper or payroll provider, we can work alongside them.
Part of every Benson Wood package
Whichever package is right for you, these are included throughout the year to give you practical support when you need it.
Why Benson Wood & Co?
We’ve been working with professional service businesses across Lanarkshire and Central Scotland since 1936. You have a dedicated Account Manager who knows your business inside out, and is thinking about your business between meetings.
We’re also straightforward about who this suits. If you want someone who will ask the difficult questions before you make a significant move, and be honest about what the numbers are saying, that’s what we are here for. If you’d rather not have those conversations, we’re probably not the right people for you.
This isn’t a fixed programme with a start and end date. It’s an ongoing working relationship, and it should feel like one.
Let’s Get Started
A regular board meeting gives you a fixed point to work through decisions properly and look ahead, rather than letting important things get pushed back by the day-to-day. For owner-managed firms especially, having someone alongside you to challenge assumptions and keep focus on the bigger picture is usually what makes the difference between reacting to things and staying ahead of them.
Pre year-end tax planning means reviewing your financial position before your accounting year closes, while there’s still time to take action. That might mean timing a purchase or reviewing your salary and dividend structure before the year closes. Pension contributions are another option worth considering ahead of time. Doing it after year end means the opportunities are often gone.
You should review your business structure whenever the business grows significantly or the ownership structure changes, such as taking on a partner, or starting to think about exit. The structure affects how much tax you pay and what your options look like if the ownership or direction of the business changes.
The earlier you start planning the better, because how the business is structured, and how the sale is timed, both affect how much you end up with after tax. Most owners leave it too late to make the most of the options available to them.
Cash flow forecasting shows what money is expected to come in and go out over the coming months. It means you can see a cash shortfall or a surplus before it arrives, plan around it, and make bigger decisions with a clearer picture of the financial consequences.
The clearest way to assess a new hire is to model the impact on profit and cash before you commit, looking at the fully loaded cost against the revenue or capacity gain. Last year’s accounts alone won’t give you that answer.
The clearest sign your business is ready to grow is that it’s consistently profitable, with a cash position that reflects it and a clear picture of where the fees are coming from. If any of those aren’t in place, growth tends to amplify the problem rather than solve it. Getting proper visibility of the numbers before you push for growth is usually the most important first step.
Float is cash flow forecasting software that connects to Xero and projects your cash position forward based on what’s coming in and going out. Rather than looking at what’s in the bank today, you can see what the next three, six or twelve months are likely to look like. We set it up and run it for you as part of the Grow with Confidence service, so when a significant decision is on the table, you can see the financial consequences before you commit.
In our world, it’s about more than numbers, it’s about spotting the details others miss, counting what really matters and discovering hidden value! If you can find them all, you might be exactly the kind of client we work best with.
Find Out More
You’re now entered into our quarterly Tunnock’s hamper draw and have unlocked a complimentary financial health check.
Our free monthly eNEWS email keeps you up to date with the latest news from the world of accountancy.
Take our 2-minute assessment and find out how prepared you are.
Answer 8 yes/no questions. Each answer is weighted equally and you’ll see your growth readiness score at the end.
Question 1 of 8
This gives you a starting point for seeing how ready your business is for growth, and where a few gaps might be making things harder than they need to be.
Book a call with us and we’ll talk through your results properly.
CEO BA CA
And... how do you eat yours?
Straight down the hatch, nae messing about!