Accountant who Coaches?
When I started my career in accounting, the role was well defined. You looked after the books. You submitted the returns. You kept the client compliant. The relationship was transactional: the client provided data, the accountant processed it, the output was financials and a tax return. That model still exists. For many South African accounting […]
Xero reports to plan the next quarter
As with anything without data, planning a quarter without financial data is guesswork. Planning one with current, accurate Xero reports is strategy. In this post I will give you a practical 60-minute quarterly planning workflow using six specific Xero reports. The six Xero reports for quarterly planning 1 Profit and Loss: last quarter vs prior […]
Management accounts for SMEs: your competitive advantage
Management accounts for SMEs in South Africa come in two versions. There is the compliance version: prepared because the bank requires them, filed and forgotten. There is another version that is a competitive advantage: a monthly financial picture that gives a business owner information their competitors do not have, at a speed that allows decisions […]
A rolling budget – why you need one!
A static annual budget prepared once at the start of the financial year is not a useful management tool for a South African SME. In fact, not having one is just as unhelpful. Twelve months of trading brings changes that no budget prepared in February could fully anticipate: shifts in client mix, changes in cost […]
Mid-year Review
We are now at the midpoint of the content journey that began with post 1 and, for many South African businesses, at or near the midpoint of the financial year. This is the right moment for a structured mid-year review. A mid-year financial review is not just a performance check. It can be used as […]
Scaling up: When are you ready to GROW!
Growth is the goal of most South African business owners. More clients, more revenue, more staff, more impact. But scaling up without the right financial foundation does not produce a bigger, better business. It produces a bigger, more fragile one. Think of a house with a foundation that is not strong enough. Not good! I […]
How to build a business budget that reflects your actual strategy
Most South African SME business budgets, if they exist at all, are built incorretly. They start from historical actuals, apply a growth assumption and project forward without strategic input.
The REAL COST of not knowing your numbers
Over the last couple of months, the blog posts have made the positive case for financial clarity. The improvements it brings to decision-making, the confidence it creates and the strategic advantage it provides. In this post I want to make the opposite argument. I want to show you what financial ignorance actually costs. As specifically […]
Invoicing best practices: how to get paid faster
Cash flow is as much a timing problem as it is a profitability problem. You can have excellent margins, even huge turnover, and still experience cash flow pressure if the gap between delivering your service and receiving payment is too big. For most South African service businesses, that gap is wider than it needs to […]
The strategy and your financial plan disconnect
Here is a scenario: A business owner has a clear vision for where they want to take their business. They want to grow to R5 million in revenue over three years. They want to hire two more senior team members. They want to move into a larger premises. The vision is specific, motivating and real. […]