Effective strategies to help your cash flow.
Stop running your business blind. Know where your cash is, when it is coming in and where it is going - in real time, with an accountant who cares whether you make payroll.
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How we change your cashflow.
You don't need a crystal ball - you need live numbers and a strategy. Knowledge of your numbers transforms the way you run the business.
Cashflow strategies
Practical fixes matched to your business: invoicing speed, payment terms, deposits, supplier timing and a tax provision that ends BAS-day panic.
Xero in the equation
Real-time bank feeds and reporting mean you and your advisor watch the same live picture - and spot bad situations while they are still avoidable.
Fixed fees for consistency
Your accounting cost is one predictable monthly amount. Ironically, that is a cashflow strategy in itself.
From stressed to steady.
- 01
Consultation
We get to know you and your business over a relaxed first chat (and a good coffee). You tell us your goals, we show you how we work. No cost, no obligation.
- 02
Set-up
We set your structure and Xero file up properly, or tidy up what you have. Our team does this every week, so it is quick and painless.
- 03
Action
Your advisor gets to work: tax strategy, compliance, bookkeeping and the numbers you need to run the business, all handled and explained in plain English.
- 04
Review
We meet regularly through the year to review performance against your goals, adjust the strategy and catch opportunities while they still matter.
If cash keeps surprising you despite the business being profitable, the fix is usually a forecast that looks forward rather than a report that looks back. That is the core of a virtual CFO engagement: a rolling twelve-month cash forecast, updated monthly with what actually happened.
What this looks like in practice.
A commercial services business, $4.4m revenue, consistently profitable, permanently tight.
Case study · CashflowProfitable on paper, on the overdraft in practice.A thirteen-week forecast, and the three working-capital levers that closed the gap. See what changed
The background
The business had been profitable for six consecutive years. The owner drew a reasonable wage, the team was stable, and the annual accounts always showed a result worth being pleased about. The overdraft was also drawn most of the year, and had been quietly increased twice.
The challenge
Profit and cash had come apart, and nothing in the reporting explained why. Invoices went out at month end for work finished early in the month, so the clock started up to four weeks late. Debtor days sat in the high fifties against thirty-day terms, and collections happened when somebody had time. Deposits were not taken on jobs that carried real up-front material cost. Meanwhile suppliers were paid promptly, sometimes early, because that felt like good practice. Each of those is defensible on its own; together they meant the business financed its customers and its suppliers simultaneously, out of an overdraft.
The approach
The forecast comes first, because it converts a vague, permanent anxiety into a dated, specific number - and because it shows which lever is worth pulling before anybody spends effort pulling all of them.
How the work ran
Weeks 1–2
Thirteen weeks, updated weekly
A rolling thirteen-week cash forecast built from the actual debtor and creditor ledgers, payroll dates and known commitments - not from a smoothed version of the profit and loss. Updated weekly with what really happened, so the forecast earned trust instead of being argued with.
Weeks 3–8
Invoice sooner, chase on a schedule
Invoicing moved to on-completion rather than month-end, which pulled the whole cycle forward by up to four weeks before anybody chased anything. Collections became a scheduled weekly process with an owner and a written escalation path, rather than something done under pressure.
Weeks 9–16
The other two levers
Deposits were introduced on jobs carrying material cost up front, which stopped the business funding its customers' materials. Supplier terms were renegotiated where there was standing to do it, and early payment stopped where it bought nothing. The forecast showed the combined effect before the changes were made.
What changed
- Cash forecast
- none13-week rolling, weekly update
- Invoicing
- month-end batchon completion
- Collections
- when there was timeweekly, owned, escalated
- Deposits
- not takenon material-heavy jobs
- Overdraft
- drawn most of the yeara facility, not a float
A profitable business on an overdraft is almost never a profit problem. It is a timing problem, and timing problems are the most fixable kind - they respond to process rather than to trading harder.
A worked example, built from the pattern these engagements follow in cashflow. The business is composite and unnamed; the mechanics, the sequence and the order of work are the ones we use. Talk to us about your own numbers.
Frequently asked questions.
Why is my business profitable but always short of cash?
Profit and cash are different animals: timing of invoices, tax bills, loan repayments, stock and drawings all pull cash out in ways the P&L never shows. We map exactly where yours goes and fix the timing.
What cashflow strategies actually work?
Faster invoicing and firm terms, deposits and progress billing, direct debit, supplier terms that match your cycle, a tax provision account so BAS never ambushes you, and a forecast you check against reality monthly.
Can you see problems before they happen?
Yes - that is the point of real-time Xero data plus a forecast. You see the dip six weeks out while there is still time to act, instead of discovering it at the ATM.
I'm behind with the ATO. What now?
Don't ignore it - the ATO is far more workable when approached early. As registered tax agents we deal with them on your behalf and put a realistic plan around the debt while we fix the underlying cashflow.
Avoid a cashflow crisis with an accountant you can talk to.
The earlier we look, the more options you have. The first conversation is free.
Or call 07 3899 8311.