Keeping tabs on financial indicators is vital to managing your business. Surveys show that small & medium businesses do not give enough attention to their profitability and cashflow. This is where Sterling Financial can help. We can support business throughout the Bristol, Bath & West region, covering Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire, Gwent, North Wiltshire and North East & West Somerset.

Book-keeping & VAT

Whether you are a start-up or an existing business, you will need a financial system which can handle the basic book-keeping that includes processing of invoices and receipts & payments, bank & VAT reconciliations. Whilst this level of data entry is sufficient to allow you to pay your suppliers and settle your VAT dues, it does not provide an accurate indication of the financial health of your business.

Management Accounts

In order to accomplish this, management accounts need to be prepared which will take into account all activities of your business. Management accounts produce a profit & loss account and balance sheet which will involve an in-depth appraisal of the operations of your business, in order to establish where the revenues and costs of the business originate from and determine what internal controls are in place to establish the completeness and accuracy of the records. Areas of scrutiny will include period cut-offs, sales & profit margins by product group and/or location, overheads particularly people costs, accruals & prepayments, bad debt provisions, fixed assets & depreciation method, stock valuation, cash, debtors, creditors, bank loans, finance agreements, salary, PAYE & VAT controls, sales & purchase order processing systems and other operational systems.

Credit Control & Cashflow

One of our specialities is to focus on the credit control function, since this is extremely vital to the cashflow and profitability of all businesses. Prompt collection of overdue debts improves cashflow and reduces of the risk of bad debt which can have a serious effect on the financial health of your business. Credit control is one side of the cash management equation, supplier payments is another. Attention paid to purchasing in relation to stock levels and maximising credit terms from suppliers is essential since both also have a major impact on cashflow.

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