Finance

  • Budgeting

    No business can know exactly what the future holds. But budgeting reduces the level of uncertainty, helping you anticipate problems, learn from the past and improve your ability to control the business. This briefing will help with...

  • Business Angels

    Finance of £25,000 to £750,000 can be surprisingly difficult to obtain. Banks generally require security and most venture capital firms are not interested in financing these amounts. Business angels are wealthy,...

  • Car Finance

    If you have decided to invest or reinvest in cars for your business, raising the money is unlikely to be a problem. Provided you have the cash for the deposit, and a reasonable credit record, any dealer will arrange terms. But arranging...

  • Credit Control

    Optimising cashflow and avoiding bad debts are two key objectives of any successful business. Setting up a good credit control system is the starting point for both. This briefing will help you to decide what approach is appropriate for...

  • Debt Recovery

    Most businesses experience some problems getting paid on time by their customers. Good credit control helps to prevent this becoming a serious problem. However, there are occasions when a customer cannot, or will not, pay. To avoid a bad debt, you...

  • Factoring and Invoice Discounting

    Factoring allows you to raise finance based on the value of your outstanding invoices. Growing businesses, in particular, often find that factoring is a more flexible source of working capital than overdrafts or loans. Factoring also...

  • Finance for Non-Financial Managers

    Whatever your area of expertise, you need to understand the basics of financial management. This will give you an informed view about the company’s performance, and allow you to play a full role in shaping its strategy. This...

  • Financing Equipment

    Hiring or leasing equipment is one way of making your working capital go further Instead of paying out up front, you can spread your payments over a set period, and benefit from the use of the equipment in the meantime. Of course you have...

  • Finding Information on the Internet

    The Internet is a vast store of information and data, some of which could be highly valuable to you. But finding the specific information you need can be difficult and time-consuming. This briefing will help you to overcome the obstacles,...

  • Getting a Grant for Your Business

    Getting grant-funding could really help your business develop and grow. But even experts can find it difficult to keep track of the hundreds of different grant schemes which keep appearing and then disappearing. This briefing outlines the...

  • Insolvency

    Companies or individuals with debts they are unable to pay are said to be insolvent. By the time a business starts thinking about insolvency, things are already going badly. Simply allowing yourself to run out of money is the worst possible way of handling...

  • Interest on Late Payments

    All businesses have a legal right to claim interest from late-paying customers. The statutory right to interest, introduced under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, applies to all contracts agreed after 7 August...

  • Key Dates for the Tax Year 06/07

    This briefing is a month-by-month schedule of important deadlines in the tax year 6 April 2007 to 5 April 2008. It will help you to prepare and send off the main forms in good time — to HM Revenue & Customs and Companies House. ...

  • Managing Your Cashflow

    A business can survive for a short time without sales or profits, but not without cash. It is cash which pays the bills and allows trading to continue. And if you are growing, and extending credit to more customers, the need for cash is greater. ...

  • Managing Your Creditors

    You rely on good relations with creditors for the smooth operation of your business. Suppliers (trade creditors), the bank, and statutory bodies such as HM Revenue & Customs all effect the cashflow of most businesses. When your cashflow is tight, you may...

  • Overdrafts and Bank Loans

    Overdrafts and loans are the most common form of external financing available to businesses. Used properly, they provide a simple and effective way of financing the growth of your business. But despite their widespread use, they are not...

  • Payroll

    Payroll is a crucial part of your operations. The government requires you to collect tax and National Insurance (NI) under the PAYE system, and imposes penalties for failure and missed deadlines. The many complications include processing...

  • Preparing for Your Annual Accounts

    This briefing is aimed at smaller limited companies. Companies with an annual turnover of less than £5.6m and total assets (fixed and current) under £2.8m must file a set of accounts with HM Revenue & Customs and with Companies House....

  • Subsidised and Guaranteed Loans

    If you have a promising business but cannot provide the security needed for a conventional bank loan, the Government’s Small Firms Loan Guarantee may be what you need. Alternatively, other supported loan schemes (loans subsidised by...

  • The Euro

    The euro is the single currency shared by 13 of the EU’s 27 member states (see margin note, page 2). Euro notes and coins were introduced on 1 January 2002. The UK is not currently part of the European single currency. But as the...