I am bringing up the balance sheet again as we have been seeing some sets of accounts coming into our business with insufficient information to be a credible balance sheet.

I am seeing far too many prepared using the cash accounting system. I know this is not the easiest of documents to understand when you’re reading a set of accounts so I wanted to tell you some of the differences between a good balance sheet, and one that has been thrown together as a last resort.

I have been preparing and reading this document for a number of years and have seen all shapes and sizes. Part of my training was to read ones prepared by the FTSE 100 companies, not recommended. The financial statements can be complex and lengthy.         But micro and small companies are done fairly simply so you don’t have to read 50 pages of detailed technical language.

Be sure that not only does the balance sheet contain information about the profit or loss you’ve just made during your trading year but has a number of components.

I would expect you to receive a detailed set of pages describing the different figures in the balance sheet. This doesn’t need to go to Companies House as small and micro businesses are abbreviated, but you should have a full copy that you can use for your business going forward, if you don’t you need to question this.

If you are going to sell your business or go to the bank to borrow money, you are going to need this important document. This is an accumulation of your whole trading history whether you’ve been trading for a year, or 50 years. A company that is 50 years old balance sheet will look different and may have complexities that a new business will not.

Components to expect.

Fixed Asset Register

There should be a summarisation of the fixed asset register detailing accumulative costs and deprecation and changes happening during the financial year. There should be a net book value at the end so you know the value of your assets.  Fixed assets are your machinery, vehicles, refurbishment, furniture etc.

Intangible assets

These can be patents, trademarks, goodwill. This needs to be highlighted in detail, with amortisation or not.

Debtors

This can be money in the bank Trade debtors, customers that owe you money Other debtors can be prepayments, accrued income, if the company has loaned money to a member of staff etc.

Creditors

Overdraft facility at the bank Trade Creditors, Suppliers you owe money to Taxation HMRC any of the taxes, Corporation tax, VAT, PAYE Other Creditors Accruals, invoices you havent received from a supplier, but paid, directors loan etc.

Long term liabilities

Can be bank loans, lease agreements, hire purchase. If these components are known to you and are not in your accounts, you must question this.

The balance sheet is a financial document that tells the reader the financial position of your business it is vital to be correct. It is even more important than a profit and loss, that only tells you one year timeframe.

Make your business a strong one, a weak set of information will not help you move forward, it can have the opposite affect and hold you back.

Its in your hands!

We covered looking at your balance sheet some time ago, and wanted to refresh you on why it is so important.

Building up your balance sheet can help you with your future with the business, if you were ever to sell your company on to a potential buyer, this is an important area that the buyer will be looking at.

Its not just about profitability and turnover, the balance sheet is an indication that you are growing your branding, a business that has thought about strengthing and building up the balance sheet is worth considerably more than one that focuses just in the present.  ie turnover and profit.

The example we have below, is fine for a small business and will probably have a good credit score as its positive in both the net current assets (Working Capital) and the overal value.

But if youre talking about a business thats worth selling you are going to need a plan, this could be a 5-10 year plan, its certainly not short term.

Will need to be assets in both the fixed assets sections and current assets, this could be by buying equipment or machinery to make yourself more efficient and do a higher volume, buying a company with skills or equipment that brings Goodwill into the assets section, quite a lot of larger companies do this, they purchase mailing lists, and client lists, from smaller companies, to rapidly increase their net worth, and increase turnover.  

Current assets would be building up your turnover, and therefore your debtors increasing. Keeping an all important eye on the costs, and keeping the creditors to a reasonable level.

Long term liabilities are usually loans that are paid more than one year ahead, and maybe the director loans, if the owner hasnt taken back all of their investment.

The balance sheet value needs to increase tenfold, and self sacrifice for the owner is a must for this kind of exercise.  Its not all about your current year anymore, but your long term future, and future sales opportunity.  Think of it as a potential pension plan?  Investment for the house by the sea, whatever your dream future this is your opportunity to make it a reality.

This blog is intended for information purposes only and is only advice from past experience, you may have other suggestions of your own. It is not intended to be used to make all of your business decisions but as a guide only.

How Graphs Can Be Used For Your Business

Graphs can be used by Financial and Non Financial managers in a variety of ways.

Sales

Sales Managers have targets that are set for them by the company they work for.  They can track their sales in a variety of ways.

Our example shows Sales split by category/or segment and shown against budget. Targets that were set at the beginning of the year.

This graph also tells you the most popular and productive products on sale.
You can take this further and look at the margins of each product category, you might not sell a lot of something but if it returns a higher margin/profit rate, you don’t have to sell as many to get the same profit figures. There may also be seasonality in that product line.

Ie in hot weather a newsagent may sell a lot more drinks than bars of chocolate.
In cold weather the icecream freezer might go untouched. Easter, Half Term, Christmas. You would tailor your sales targets to match demand.

Apply this method to your particular product line.

 

Cashflow

You might want to set yourself a target bank balance for you to meet your overheads and make a profit.

The graph will show against budget whether you are meeting that goal.

It also gives indication of the business behaviour, see our example the graph shows above the line at first, then dips over February to April then comes back up.  Back into the target position and above.

If the graph had shown erratic it would give an indication of how well the manager is managing the business. In a planned approach, or finger in the air approach.

Gross Profit

This is a key figure in your accounts, it indicates whether you have made enough sales to now cover your overheads and make a profit.

Our graph shows a rise and then a sharp dip in May, this could be down to several factors.  The Sales themselves were generally low that month, an error in charging the right selling price for a new product line, an operational issue.

If you see a dip in any of these things, look for the reason, if easily explained, you could be putting action in to put yourself back on track.  Also look out for high peaks, these should be explainable.  ie a new contract, timing issues, seasonality, or it could be an error.

This blog is intended for information purposes only and is only advice from past experience, you may have other suggestions of your own.  It is not intended to be used to make all of your business decisions but as a guide only.