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A word from Simon
Throughout Small Business Week, Simon Cox, FCCA, will be contributing to our 'a day in the life of an accountant' blog.
Day five: Friday 23 October, 2009
Reflecting on the week and considering the future outlook
Good news for clients is good news for us
Overall it has been a good week, managed to get lots of important work completed, had some excellent staff and management meetings. Things are definitely moving forward.
The word amongst the majority of clients is that business is good, and trade is picking up. Recalling a conversation earlier in the week with a client he said since placing an online advert with a well known online directory the phone has not stopped ringing and he is fully booked until the middle of December.
From our point of view, good news for clients means good news for us too. We are busy doing proposals for new business and new clients are coming through the door.
Holding on
Personally I am unsure as to how quickly the economy will recover from the current situation. I live in Lytham St. Anne’s which is a coastal town and relying to a large extent on the tourism industry. Since the end of the summer several restaurants, pubs, and shops have gone into liquidation and I am starting to wonder how many more businesses were holding out over the summer hoping that things would turn around. Now that summer is over and winter is approaching I feel that there will be many more businesses having to close down.
Supporting SMEs
Having said that, we have a good list of clients who are looking for opportunities in the current climate and looking to grow and diversify. Clients are being supported by the government in a variety of ways, such as gaining access to Business Link grants and funding, and also by way of assistance from HMRC with paying outstanding tax liabilities.
Access to essential finance is not as easy as it could be however and it is this sort of finance that is very much needed by most businesses to help see them through to the new year. Whilst I have personal examples of clients who have been able to get access to the Enterprise Finance Scheme I have also had personal experience in the past three months of having to explain about the funding to a Business bank manager!
I feel that in our role as accountants it is vital that we are able to adapt to the economic conditions around us so we are able to respond to clients needs, understand where their pain is, and be proactive in helping them find solutions.
It is only when the accountants, banks, HMRC, other government bodies, and clients work together and pull in the same direction will things work. As soon as one part of the chain puts a blockage in the system the client will not be able to get the help required and their business will not be able to grow.
I am looking forward to helping clients come out of the current downturn in a stronger position and in turn this will help Rotherham Taylor become stronger also!
Day four: Thursday 22 October, 2009
Fatherly duties, drive time and best made plans…
It’s always nice when I get the chance to take my three year old girl into nursery in the morning, she loves getting in 'Daddy's car', dancing in her car seat and singing along to the radio.
Time to think
The drive to the Chorley office from nursery takes approx 45 minutes and I always enjoy the drive in, it is a great time to think. Driving is probably the longest period in the day that I have to myself and a great time to listen to business related podcasts on the iPhone.
I planned my day last night and on the to-do list was staff meetings, one-to-ones, management meetings, reviewing accounts, and catching up with the week's emails. Things don't always work out as planned though!
Options for a guarantee
A phone call from a major client puts paid to the rest of the morning's plans, and phone calls to the client's bank manager have to be made to discuss the options for a guarantee to be given to one of the client's suppliers. The supplier is a major worldwide distributor and appears to be about to lose the custom of our client if they insist on a five figure deposit as guarantee.
The final one-to-ones for the month were completed then a management meeting followed by a working lunch tidying up emails and the time is running away with me today.
A meeting request from a client came through on Outlook for next week - it is going to be a busy week!
Left the office at 3pm to attend my first parents' evening at my son's school. All the feedback was good – I don’t know who he gets it off!
Day three: Wednesday – 21 October, 2009
The week is going too fast already
Calls to debtors
Wednesday morning kicks off with making further calls to debtors. Although the reason for the call is not a pleasant one, the call itself is an opportunity to listen to the client and sympathise with their circumstances.
The majority of the morning is spent finalising our own Company accounts amidst constant phone interruptions.
Access to finance
I spoke to our local Business Link broker to arrange for a client to obtain funding for leadership and financial management training. We have been proactive this year helping clients to obtain funding where it is available and relevant and Business Link have been excellent in helping clients secure the maximum amount available.
The afternoon resumes with one-to-ones with the staff at Preston and again some great ideas and suggestions are put forward to how we can help clients and grow the business.
So far this week I have seen both sides of the coin when it comes to access to bank finance. I took a phone call from a client this afternoon who has had every door to finance slammed in his face so far. It is really frustrating to see banks unwilling to help, unwilling to take even the slightest of risks, and abandoning people in their time of most need. All is not lost, as we are looking to explore every avenue possible to try to get the finance he requires.
Harnessing new technology
I always try to reserve a small part of the day (usually lunchtimes) to try to keep the company website up to date, we have a company blog post on there and also our very own Twitter feed. I’m all for the new methods of social networking and you have to move with the times don’t you? My view is that if clients are doing it, then we have to do it.
Working with HMRC
Had another call from a client wanting to discuss contacting HMRC with a view to deferring a corporation tax liability. To be fair to HMRC they are being very helpful this year in agreeing to sensible payment plans and clients are more than happy to accept.
Had to deal with a letter from HMRC, a client is having a VAT inspection. Is this the first of many HMRC investigations I wonder...they have been worryingly quiet recently!
Back home to Peppa Pig and In The Night Garden...thank god for young kids!
Day two: Tuesday – 20 October, 2009
Sharing ideas and positive indicators
Thankfully no early morning texts from clients and I was able to do my fatherly duties at home before heading off to the office at 8am.
One-to-ones
The plan for the day is to have an office admin day, with staff one-to-ones planned in the morning at the Chorley office.
The office day began with a review of WIP (work in progress) and Debtors, vitally important parts of the job. I made a few calls to clients chasing in debts, not exactly the part of the job that I enjoy too much!
The staff one-to-ones went really well with all staff members contributing well to the session. It is great to listen to ideas and issues and try to get small steps achieved on the road to resolving issues and meeting targets.
The signs look good
I managed to sit down with Michael, Senior Partner, and finalise a billing proposal for a large client in the South East, so fingers crossed it will pay off. It is sometimes difficult to measure how effective your day-to-day activities are, but the number of new proposals I am doing and the more client meetings I am having is always a good indication that things are going in the right direction.
This week sees a change of personnel in our Chorley office with a current member of staff transferring from one office to the other. It is surprising how culture and attitudes differ within different offices of the same firm. Small things like what time brews are made, how much milk people have are actually vitally important things to get right!
Personal and business development
I had to eat lunch whilst driving as I didn’t want to be late for my coaching session. The coaching session was part of my being enrolled on the LEAD programme. The programme concentrates on two areas of the business: the business itself and the personal development of the owner-manager, providing a framework to increase profitability, diversify and grow the business. I am only three weeks into the ten month programme but already I am starting to see things differently. The hope is that it will also help me to assist clients with their business issues more effectively.
The coaching session went great this afternoon, it is good to have an independent, non-expert perspective of the business and how things are run.
A couple of missed calls and voicemail messages to deal with after the session when back at the office, managed to set up a couple of meetings for next week with clients to discuss how Rotherham Taylor can help them further.
My thoughts are also turning to my weekly BNI networking meeting that is held on a Friday morning. We are trying to grow a new group so inviting visitors is a must. BNI is not for everyone, but several of our existing clients have come to us through BNI referrals.
What better than finishing off the day with a five mile run through the wind and rain down Lytham St. Anne’s promenade?
Day one: Monday - 19 October, 2009
Early starts, organising my week and good news stories
The working day is usually planned the night before but it is rare that the day goes to plan, especially Mondays!
My day starts at 5.05am
Today was no different, the day started (unplanned) at 5.05am when a text message came through to my iPhone from a client who was driving down to London for a 9am meeting and needed to clarify something in his financials before the meeting. Thankfully my wife is very understanding and allowed me to leave the house at 7.30am whilst she dealt with our three young children.
It's worth pointing out that this is the same client who called me on my mobile phone whilst my wife was giving birth to our first child almost five years ago to the day!
Staff meeting and a herd of cows
Monday mornings in the Preston office means staff meeting, where all the team have a chance to plan the working week ahead and talk about any difficulties they are facing with certain pieces of work. Today's meeting was slightly more jovial than usual as the issue of the tax treatment of the sale of a herd of cows for a farmer client we have raised a few jokes.
Staying organised
Microsoft Outlook is my saviour when it comes to planning tasks and organising my calendar. Every morning I print out my tasks for the day and strive to complete as many tasks as possible, this usually includes client phone calls, meetings with clients, office admin, and practice development.
A welcome phone call came through mid morning from a prospective client in reply to a proposal I sent to him and his fellow director last week. It was good news, they wanted to go ahead and employ our services on a monthly 'Part-time Finance Director' basis. This is how we can help companies most effectively, as they look to expand their business whilst having a fluid flexible finance function managed by my firm. The closer we can get to clients the more we are able to help them to achieve their goals. On the down side, the closer I get to clients the more likely it is that I will keep on being woken up by text messages from clients at 5am - no pain no gain though.
Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme
Despite what I have been reading in the press recently about how banks appear to be unwilling to lend money to businesses, several of our clients are taking advantage of government secured funding from the banks in the form of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme, and I spent a couple of hours in the afternoon reviewing the bank loan agreement forms to secure a client another £125k of funding. Clients are looking to expand their businesses and take advantage of the opportunities in the market that are presenting themselves in this current environment.
The good news continues
A quick catch up meeting with the senior partner, Michael Barton, revealed another good news story in the form of a client we service in the South East who is the subject of a £5m acquisition.
Tried to leave the office as near to 5pm as possible as my family were due at my mum's for tea, only to be held up on my mobile phone sat in my car till 5.30pm talking a client through a SAGE problem.
Maybe I should get myself a Bluetooth headset so I can drive and talk at the same time...