In June 2016 the EU referendum took place, it resulted in 51.9% of voters being in favour of leaving the EU. The government then initiated the official EU withdrawal process on the 29th March 2017 meaning that the UK is due to leave the EU pm the 30th March 2019. However, on January 15th this year a record…
4 years ago, when I made the switch from being an FD in the larger corporate world, to a Finance Director Consultant to SMEs, I was shocked at the lack of financial information many businesses arm themselves with. I saw business owners who put their houses on the line and business owners who would wake…
There are numerous professional accountancy bodies- 9 that I can think of. But chances are, if your finance team are working in industry, meaning NOT in an accountancy firm, they will be interested in one of these three: AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) ACCA (Association of Certified and…
The secret to having a successful business is understanding where you are in the business growth cycle. Knowing what stage you’re in, enables you to determine how to get to the next one. In 1983, academics Neil Churchill and Virginia Lewis devised a classic 5-stage model depicting the stages of business growth. According to Business Coach…
When looking at how companies become successful, one trait which stands above many others is that successful companies have excellent leaders and with excellent leaders come excellent employees. This is why WrightCFO has launched a Finance Mentoring Programme, whereby an experienced WrightCFO Finance Director meets once a month with your finance employee (usually a finance…
80% of private SME owners in Britain are owned by Baby- Boomers looking to sell in the next 5 years. I heard this frightening tid-bit at a networking event two weeks ago. What makes it frightening is that up to now, private businesses based in London, were in a seller’s market. Everyone wants a strong…
With Britain’s vote to separate from the European Union, UK companies need to work hard to limit their exposure and mitigate risks. In this article, we will discuss ways small business owners can Brexit-proof their company. Money Transfers Ever since the Brexit vote, there have been unavoidable currency fluctuations and complications. Sending your money overseas…
According to FastCompany.com 70% of a typical CEO’s workday is sub-optimal. It’s easy to see why. We wade through a torrential storm of emails daily, most of which are not important. Some CEOs spend half their time motivating and coddling employees, and dealing with employee grievances. Others spend all their time planning, budgeting, forecasting, so…
It’s the New Year and many of us who manage finance teams are looking at the year ahead, trying to work out how to improve performance, manage staff and refine systems, so I thought my top tips on how to manage a finance team and get the best out of your department would be…
The papers have been awash with analysis of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, the state of the economy, the impact of Brexit and how the JAMs are going to suffer more for longer. The Federation of Small Businesses said its impact for SMEs would be “modest and medium term”. For me, there are three things which…