Outside-in reviews of real businesses from public information, and practical guides from our team. Client case studies are published only once the client has approved every word.
Public information only A 28-person online tech retailer grew revenue 24%, cut its loss by 87% and turned cash flow positive. What the published numbers show, and the questions we would ask next.
Finance and controls
The biggest change to the income statement in decades. What IFRS 18 changes, the systems work behind it, and the areas auditors will look at hardest in the first year.
ECL is a statistical modelling exercise wrapped in an accounting standard. How the framework fits together, where implementations go wrong, and the six areas auditors look at hardest.
A good board pack is short, arrives on time and ends with the decisions the board needs to make. Here is what to put in it, and how to stop it taking two days to build.
Some businesses must be audited by law; many more are asked to by a lender, investor or funder. How to tell which applies to you, and what the lighter options are.
Four roles that are easy to confuse, and expensive to get in the wrong order. What each one does, the signs you need it, and how they fit together.
Segregation of duties is hard with a small finance team. These are the eight controls that matter most, and how to run each one with the people you actually have.
A slow close is rarely one big problem. It is reconciliations left to the last day, journals rebuilt from scratch and reviews that happen in a rush. Here is how to fix each.
Spreadsheets around the edges, add-ons that do not talk, and month-end that keeps getting longer. The signs you have outgrown your accounting software, and the options in order.
An email asks you to update a supplier’s bank details. It looks real, and the next payment goes to a fraudster. Here is how it happens and the controls that stop it.
The brand matters less than the fit. The questions that decide between cloud accounting and an ERP, and the costs that never make it into the quote.
Most audits run long for the same reason: the auditors ask, the business goes looking. Here is what they ask for, so it is ready before they arrive.
Technology and systems
Supplier invoices keyed into two systems and expense claims chased on paper are some of the most common time sinks in growing businesses. Here is how to automate them, one step at a time.
Most ERP projects that go wrong were decided in the first month. Requirements first, total cost honestly, independent advice: a practical guide for businesses of 10 to 100 people.
An assistant that answers from your own policies, procedures and contracts can save real time, if it is scoped properly. What they are, where they help, and where they do not.
A leaver who can still read company email a month later is one of the most common security gaps in small businesses. Here is the checklist, in the order to do it.
Your website can look fine on the office screen and still lose enquiries. Six checks you can run yourself, most of them in under ten minutes.
Tell us what is going on. We will tell you whether a Snapshot, the Full Diagnostic or neither is the right next step.