Business advisory services
The modern business environment is complex, demanding and aggressive.  There is no end to the red tape that businesses must comply with.  Product life cycles are getting shorter and shorter and customer expectations are ever increasing.  However, with a combination of patience, hard work and wise counsel, successful businesses have emerged even in these most daunting of environments.

We have been providing practical support and realistic advice to growing businesses for many years.  Unlike other accountants we don't just offer a few words of wisdom when we meet you to get your tax return signed or when we finalise the audit.

We offer a range of business growth services.  Our "No Surprises" fixed investment policy means that you know exactly what our services will cost you.  We do not charge by the hour.

Click on the links below to find out more about our business advisory services:

Business start-up
Key meeting support
Mini business growth programme
Full business growth programme
Retirement planning

Business start-up
Starting a new business is a major and exciting commitment.

Our job is to make sure you get off to the best possible start by helping you to avoid red tape and by providing you with a service that leaves you free to do what you do best.

We know that control of costs is a major issue with new businesses, so we offer a free initial interview and provide you with a fixed fee quote.

We can ensure that from the start you get the best advice on: 

• Business structure - sole traders, partnerships and incorporated businesses 

• Financial projections and business plans 

• Raising finance 

• Dealing with all the red tape - Revenue and Customs, Companies House

• Accounting systems selection

Once your business is up and running, we can offer: 

• Advice on improving profitability 

• Advice on minimising tax 

• Feedback and advice on your management accounts 

• Help with the day-to-day statutory business requirements, i.e. payroll processing, VAT returns

When you want to grow, we can help you with: 

• Business strategy and planning 

• Acquisitions and disposals 

• Grants 

• Pensions, investment and tax efficient savings 

• Succession planning/passing your business to future generations

Our aim is to maximise your business to its full potential, make you wealthier, and ensure that you retain your wealth.

Call us for a free initial consultation to find out how we can help your ideas become reality.

Key meeting support
Every single one of the UK's most successful and profitable businesses hold regular board meetings to discuss strategy.  Every business holds meetings at some time with suppliers, customers, etc. 

As part of our Key Meeting Support Service, we will come to any of your key business meetings to help you make the very best use of your time.

Some of the benefits are:
• Meetings that rise above office politics to focus on the really important issues, such as how to drive the business on to ever-greater success.
• Meetings that are kept on track so that you get the very most from them.
• An outsider's perspective - which, by challenging preconceived ideas about how things are done in the industry or business, helps to identify breakthrough ideas and strategies that have never been tried before.
• External accountability - so that all the good ideas generated in the meetings are turned into agreed action plans, effective action and impressive results.

In our experience, when smaller businesses - even one man band businesses - start holding board meetings they immediately start thinking like, acting like and achieving like their bigger and more successful counterparts.  So if you're not already in the habit of holding regular board meetings, it is what you need to really give your results a boost.

Mini business growth programme
Our 3 hour Mini Business Growth programme is designed to help you start turning your business dreams into reality.  It does that by focusing on a small selection of the tools specifically designed to help you start identifying and creating strategies for increasing your sales, profits and prospects, so you can see how beneficial this process is before committing to a full programme.

What exactly does it cover?
Some of the key areas that it could cover if they are important to you are:

• How to set and achieve your personal and business goals
• How to identify and tackle the major challenges facing your business
• How to develop systems to make your business even more successful
• How to sell your products and services for their maximum potential value
• How to attract more customers and earn more money from them 
• How to stay ahead of your competitors
• How to turn all the ideas generated into action and results
• And, above all, how to build a much more profitable business that is worth more when you come to sell or retire, turn your business goals and dreams into reality and give you the time and money you need to enjoy the other (non-business) things that are important to you

Full business growth programme
Starting where our shorter Mini Business Growth programme leaves off, the Full Business Growth programme is designed to help you turn your business dreams into reality.  By using a structured 3 day process, the Full Business Growth programme helps you to identify and create strategies to massively increase your sales, profits and prospects.

What exactly does it cover?
Through discussion with you, the Full Business Growth programme will be narrowed down to the 20-30 areas that will have the greatest impact on your business, and will be tailored to your specific needs and circumstances.

Some of the areas it could cover if they are important to you are:

• How to make much, much more of the ideas already covered in the Mini Business Growth programme - for example, defining and achieving your goals, identifying and tackling the major challenges facing your business, selling your products and services for their maximum potential value, attracting more customers and earning more money from them 
• How to develop the systems you need to make your business more successful
• How to develop sales systems that increase your sales and profits
• How to make yours the most talked about customer service in your industry or area
• How to stay ahead of your competitors
• How to turn all the ideas generated into action and results
• And, above all, how you can build a more profitable business that is worth much more when you come to sell or retire, turn your business goals and dreams into reality and give you the time and money you need to enjoy all the other (non-business) things that are important to you

Will it work for you?
In the unlikely event that you are not completely delighted, we will refund every single penny of your Full Business Growth investment with no questions asked, so you've got nothing to lose.

Retirement planning
Everyone hopes to maintain the same standard of living in retirement as they presently enjoy while working, but to achieve this requires considerable forward planning. Here are some important questions you need to ask yourself:

Exit strategies
If you are in business, the first thing you need to consider is your exit strategy. Will you withdraw from the business, leaving it for the next generation, or will you hope to sell the business? If you intend to hand the business over, do you have a workable succession plan? If you intend to sell, how will you value the business, find a suitable buyer, etc.? Are you aware of all the tax implications of the timing of disposals?

Pension provision
Have you made adequate pension provision, and do you have the right type of pension? Are you aware of all the pension possibilities open to business owners and directors? Are you making full use of all your allowances?

Savings and investments
Do you have the right balance between savings and investments, and between high and low risk exposures?

Life assurance and long-term care
Do you have adequate life assurance, and have you made provision for long-term care and medical insurance for you and your spouse in your later years.

We can help you answer all these questions and recommend solutions tailored to your particular needs.

All the Things you Need to do Every Year

We offer a full range of compliance services… all the things you need to do every year. These are our traditional accountancy services.  Click here.

All the Things you REALLY Need to do Every Year!

We also have a range of business advisory services designed to help small and medium sized firms grow and become more profitable.  These are set out on this page.

Annual Business Review

We will gladly carry out an Annual Business Review for you at no extra charge (depending on your service package).  The review process is designed to make sure you and your business achieve everything you have set out to do. 

Accounting Records Quality Report

We want to help you get the most out of your accounting systems.  So, we will prepare a report setting out any weaknesses, the consequences and our suggestions on how to improve them. And, the better your accounting systems - the lower your accountancy fees!

Company Car Tax Planning

Whether to have a company car or not is a question that we frequently get asked.  The next question is how to finance the purchase of the car.  It is an area for confusion, particularly with the recent changes in the basis of taxation of company cars.

We will gladly carry out a planning exercise each time you consider buying a new vehicle to ensure you are aware of the most appropriate method of finance and the minimisation of tax liabilities.

Flexibility

This list of services is not exhaustive. We are pleased to offer advice and assistance on any matters you wish to refer to us and offer considerable flexibility in our function.