Getting ready for an audit is unlikely to be one of your favorite things to do as a business owner.

But being prepared, organized and ready can take some of the pain out of an audit.

Planning for your audit helps your auditor get their job done more quickly, and also means there’s minimal disruption to your staff and business during the process.

Let’s take a look at five key ways to be ready for an audit.

Carrying out an audit of your business finances is a mandatory requirement for many companies. The rules and regulations will vary depending on the territory you trade in, but once you’re over a certain threshold for turnover or number of employees, an audit is likely to become a legal requirement. So, what can you do to make this process less of a hassle?

In advance of the audit date, be sure to:

• • Gather all the relevant documentation – this documentation will include financial statements, bank statements, expenses, management information and any other documentation that your auditor is likely to ask you for.
  • Organize your documentation in a logical way – the whole audit will be far easier to complete if your financial data and documentation is well-organized. Make it simple for the auditors to find what they need, and ensure there’s easy access to all information.
  • Identify any potential financial issues – the last thing you want is a giant problem coming up in the middle of your audit. So, it’s a good idea to check for any financial issues or irregularities that the auditor may flag up. Doing this well in advance gives you enough time to address any issues and resolve them before the audit begins.
  • Be prepared to answer questions – it’s likely your auditor will want to ask some probing questions about your business and financial records. Make sure you’re up to speed with your accounts and be prepared to answer these questions honestly.
  • Cooperate with your auditor – the auditor’s job is to ensure that your financial statements are accurate and that your business is in compliance with all applicable regulations. This will be much easier to do if you cooperate with them, answer their questions with good grace and quickly provide them with any information they need.

Talk to us about getting audit-ready

If you’re thinking that your company finances might not be quite ‘audit-ready’, you’re definitely not alone. Many businesses are not quite as organized with their financial management as they’d like to be. But don’t worry, help is at hand!

If you’d like some assistance with reviewing the health and organization of your financial processes, we can help you get in control of your finances

Get in touch to review your financial management.

The following content was originally published by BOMA. We have updated some of this article for our readers.

Running an online business has become a reality for a huge number of business owners in recent years. There are an estimated 12 million-24 million eCommerce sites across the globe and those numbers have risen sharply since the pandemic. But although online shopping may be convenient, there’s still a real desire for physical shops and in-person retail.

So, if you’ve been running a successful eCommerce business or online side hustle, should you be thinking about getting yourself a brick-and-mortar retail space?

Let’s take a look at the core reasons why a physical space might be right for you.

Why move from online to bricks and mortar?

In short, it’s about one key thing: face-to-face selling to your customers. Yes, people can buy your products online, but in a retail space they can see the products with their own eyes, pick them up, get hands-on demo and generally get to know the things you produce.

There’s also the invaluable relationship-building advantage of having you and your team members on hand to ask questions. People buy from people, and you’ll build a much stronger seller/consumer bond when you’re both in the same room at the same time.

So, having that retail space has many tangible advantages over online. But there are also several key differences to running an online shop and a physical store.

Seven ways to successfully turn your online business into a physical store

One of the big attractions of running an online business are the simplicity, minimal hardware and low operating costs involved. Opening a physical retail store is a very different story and will mean you reassessing your strategy, promotion and operational budgets.

So, what are the big considerations before you take on that new retail space? And what can you do to make this transition as smooth as possible.

To get started:

1. 1. Define your core audience – it’s important to know your audience and how these existing customers might be transitioned over into a real-world audience. Look at your sales stats and CRM data to work out where your customers live, how much you can expect to sell in a quarter and where the best locations for a store might be.
   2. Know what your customers want – think about surveying your existing customer base to ask if a) they are interested in a physical store b) what products they’d love you to sell in the store and c) what they would want from their in-store customer experience.
   3. Decide on a retail location – location is vital, so think hard about where you open your first store. It’s sensible to locate your retail space in a town where you already have an existing online customer base and where footfall is good. But you also need a location where rent/rates are cost-effective enough for you to run the store with a profit.
   4. Define your in-store product range – the limitations of physical retail space won’t allow you to sell every item in your online store. Instead, you’ll need to decide on a core product range for the store, one that highlights all your best-loved items. Remember, this is a literal shop window for selling your business, so think carefully about what you stock.
   5. Rent or buy a property – in most cases, leasing an existing retail space and becoming a business tenant is your best bet when starting out. This will kickstart your real-world presence, but it’s sensible to aim for ownership of a property at some point in your journey. Ownership gives you the freedom to redesign and rebuild the space as you want, and the property will also become an asset on your balance sheet.
   6. Work out your costs and budget – as we’ve already mentioned, running a physical retail space can be much more expensive than going the eCommerce route. It’s vital to work out all your monthly overheads and to forecast your predicted sales and revenue. This allows you to work out if you can run the store in a profitable way, and where slimming down your costs and overheads will keep you on budget.
   7. Consider all expenses – don’t forget to include essential expenses in your costings and budget. Remember to include costs like business rates on the store, utility bills like electricity, gas, phone and internet and the extra public liability insurance you’ll need to run a physical shop and keep your customers safe.

Talk to us about setting up your bricks-and-mortar store

Making the switch from online retailer to real-world retailer is a BIG step.

There are plenty more operational areas to think about and your costs and overheads will become a lot more complex. But, opening your first store could well be the start of a brand new chapter in the growth and success of your business.

If you’re looking to make the jump into a bricks-and-mortar store, do come and talk to us.

The following content was originally published by BOMA. We have updated some of this article for our readers.

It’s a common struggle and we probably don’t talk about it. Imposter Syndrome affects individuals from all walks of life, including business owners.

It’s characterized by a persistent feeling of inadequacy, despite evidence of your competence and accomplishments.

A Harvard Business Review study found that nearly 70% of entrepreneurs have experienced imposter syndrome at some point in their careers. This self-doubt can be particularly debilitating for entrepreneurs, as they navigate the multiple challenges of running a businesses. Understanding and addressing this issue is crucial for personal and professional growth.

Many business owners, despite their achievements, constantly question their abilities and attribute their success to luck or external factors. This mindset can hinder their progress, hinder decision-making, and lead to burnout. So how do you overcome it?

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

While conquering imposter syndrome is a personal journey, there are practical steps that business owners can take to manage it effectively:

• • Acknowledge and Normalize – Understand that imposter syndrome is common and experienced by many, if not most, successful individuals. Normalize these feelings as a part of the entrepreneurial journey.
  • Track Achievements – Maintain a record of your accomplishments, no matter how small they seem. Regularly reviewing these achievements can help boost confidence and counteract self-doubt.
  • Seek Support and Talk to Others – Talk to your business advisor, a mentor, and others in similar roles. Sharing your thoughts and feelings with someone you trust can provide valuable insights and strategies for overcoming imposter syndrome.
  • Set Realistic Goals – Break your long-term goals into smaller, achievable milestones. This can help you see your progress more clearly and reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed. One step forward can make a huge difference.
  • Embrace Failure – Understand that failure is a part of entrepreneurship. Instead of seeing it as a reflection of your worth, view it as a valuable learning experience. We are all on a path of continuous learning.
  • Practice Self-Compassion – Be kind to yourself. Focus on your strengths and abilities. You may not have all the answers today but that’s entirely normal.

Imposter syndrome is a common challenge faced by many business owners. It can hinder personal growth, decision-making, and overall well-being.

Remember, you are not alone in this struggle, and your achievements are a testament to your capabilities and hard work. We can help you create a plan for your business that removes the uncertainty and builds on your strengths.

The following content was originally published by BOMA. We have updated some of this article for our readers.

Running a business will always mean incurring certain expenses, or ‘spend’.

Whether you’re a large family business or a small fledgling startup, there will be costs, overheads and supplier bills that mount up – and these expenses will gradually chip away at your cash position, making it more difficult to grow and make a profit.

So, what can you do to reduce your spend levels? And what impact will this have on your overall margins, profits and ability to fund the next stage in your business journey?

Getting proactive with your spend management

Spend management is all about getting in control of your expenses – and, where possible, aiming to reduce the level of costs and overheads that you incur as a company.

Why does this matter? Well, excessive spending eats into your cashflow, reduces your profit margins and stops you from achieving the profits that you’re capable of as a business. So if you can get proactive with your spend management, you can actually make your company a far more financially productive enterprise – and that’s great for your overall business health.

So, what can you do to reduce spend and slim down your company expenses?

Here are some key ways to reduce expenses:

• • Reduce your overheads – Your overheads are the unavoidable costs of running your business, producing your products or supplying your services. If you have bricks and mortar premises, these overheads will include rental payments, utility bills and even the cost of paying your staff. Drill down into the numbers and see where there are opportunities to reduce these overhead costs. That could mean moving to smaller premises, or reducing the size of your workforce, to reduce payroll expenditure.
  • Put limits on staff expenses – If your employees can claim expenses, or buy raw materials and equipment with the company’s money, these costs can soon start to rack up. It’s a good idea to put a spending limit in place, so each staff member can only spend up to an agreed amount. Having a clear expenses policy helps, as will training up your staff in good spend management techniques. Specialist expenses card software allows you to quickly set spend limits, track expenses and pull your expenses data through to your cloud accounting platform for processing.
  • Look for cheaper suppliers – If you can reduce your supplier costs, this will go a long way to bringing down your overall spend. If you’ve been with certain key suppliers for years, look around for new quotes, look at current market prices and see if you can negotiate better deals. And if your old suppliers aren’t flexible enough, try swapping to newer, more eager suppliers who will be willing to meet you in the middle on price.
  • Make your operations leaner – the bigger your operational costs are, the less margin you’ll make on your end products and services. One way to resolve this is to aim for a ‘lean approach’, paring back your staff, resources and operational complexity to the bare minimum. By making the business as lean as possible, whilst still delivering the same output, you keep your revenue stable, but reduce the spend level that’s eating into your cost of goods sold (COGS). The smaller your COGS, the more profit you make on each unit or sale – and that means better cashflow, more working capital and bigger profits.
  • Explore tax reliefs – Tax costs are an unavoidable expense when running your business, but it’s worth exploring which tax reliefs, grants or other business benefits you may benefit from. For example, research and development (R&D) tax credits may be available to you to help cut your corporation tax expenses.

Talk to us about improving your spend management

If you’d like to get in control of your expenses, we’d love to chat. We’ll review your current costs and will highlight the key areas where expenses can be cut. Then we’ll help you formulate a proactive spend management program, to reduce your unnecessary spending.

Get in touch to start reducing your spend.

The following content was originally published by BOMA. We have updated some of this article for our readers.

Tax planning is a strategic approach to managing your business’ financial affairs, with the aim of legally minimizing your tax liability.

In other words, you plan ahead to make sure you pay the taxes you should be paying, but not a penny more.

Working with your tax adviser, you can look for deductions, credits, exemptions and tax-saving strategies that will help to optimize your company’s overall tax position.

How does tax planning affect your business?

The primary goal of tax planning is to reduce the amount of taxes your business owes. But it’s also about making sure you stay compliant with all the tax laws and regulations applicable to your business.

But what are the main advantages? Let’s take a look at five of the big benefits of careful, strategic tax planning.

By planning your tax across the year, you can:

1. 1. 1. Maximize your profits – strategic tax planning helps your company find the best available tax incentives, deductions and credits. This reduces your overall tax liability, cuts your annual tax costs and increases your overall profitability as a business.
      2. Boost your cashflow – tax planning is a great way to open up more liquid cash and achieve a better cashflow position for the business. When you cut down the company’s tax payments, that frees up cash and helps you achieve a positive cashflow position.
      3. Stay compliant and mitigate your risk – being proactive with your tax planning keeps the company compliant with the relevant tax laws and regulations. It’s a sensible way to tick the compliance boxes and reduce the risk of costly penalties and legal issues.
      4. Drive your strategic growth – smart use of tax planning helps you reduce your tax costs and reassign those funds to your strategic business goals. It’s a golden opportunity to invest in areas that promote long-term growth and competitiveness.
      5. Give your business a competitive edge – if managed well, efficient tax planning leads to lower operational costs for the business. This gives you a competitive edge when it comes to pricing, innovation, sales and revenue generation.

How can our firm help you with tax planning?

Getting strategic with your tax planning has many advantages for your financial stability as a business. But to maximize your planning, it’s important to work with an experienced adviser.

As your tax adviser, we’ll help you look ahead across the whole financial year, looking for the opportunities to reduce your tax liability and find the best tax deductions and incentives.

The following content was originally published by BOMA. We have updated some of this article for our readers.