Money

Two questions that will buy your business the most valuable commodity of all


The start of a new year prompts many of us to think about how we can improve our lives – and if you ask business owners what they’d like more of, frequently the answer is time.

But it’s a finite commodity and, with the new year and decade well under way, this is a good point to stop and to ask yourself two important questions.

  • Are you using your time in the most effective way?
  • Are your staff using their time effectively?

In the UK, the average employee overworks by 10 hours per week. This means there is 26% extra time being spent at work by each employee each week. How can you, your team and your colleagues get all, or at least some, of this time back? This is one of the challenges business owners face.

If we look specifically at a finance function for a moment, a really effective way of getting time back is to find a technology driven, flexible solution designed to fit your business requirements and take care of time-consuming tasks.

Traditionally, businesses would try to achieve this through outsourcing but nowadays businesses can opt for a Virtual Finance Function (VFF) which goes above and beyond outsourcing.

VFF advisors take on time-consuming tasks such as accounting, bookkeeping, tax, payroll, data capture, project management and VAT, all under one roof and tailored to the needs of your business. The service also gives you access to specialists as and when you need them.

The key to VFF is working in partnership to create your ideal finance function so that you have access to real-time, accurate and meaningful financial information to help make decisions and drive your business forward.

There are numerous benefits to introducing a streamlined and tailored VFF:

Remove tasks that do not add any value to your business

Removing tasks which may not be within your, or your team’s, areas of expertise frees up time to focus on running your business.

Replace outdated financial processes

If your business still uses paper expense claims for instance, where you have to chase staff for paper receipts, there are many user-friendly technology-driven solutions that can streamline this process. In return you’ll gain time, improve processes and reduce workloads.

Lauren McIlroy of Anderson Anderson & Brown

Access financial information for quick decision-making

Your advisor can assess whether your financial information allows you to make quick decisions based on meaningful management information. For instance, are your management reports based on real time data? Do they contain the information that is needed for effective decision-making? Do you prepare succinct financial and management information that people read and interact with?

In 2020 the answer to all of these questions should be yes, and if not, your advisor can help you.

Comply with legislative reporting requirements

We are all facing more and more HMRC requirements and changing regulations with penalties for non-compliance and it is becoming increasingly difficult, or very expensive, to have the necessary expertise to deal with them in-house.

VFF offers peace of mind because full-time experts with up-to-date knowledge of the relevant requirements and legislation can ensure you are always compliant.

Whether you run a start-up or an established business, time will always be finite and valuable. The VFF team at Anderson Anderson & Brown works alongside clients’ finance and commercial teams, evaluating the needs of their business, reviewing current processes and putting recommendations that make full use of relevant technology-based solutions into action. Ultimately, clients recoup time to focus on running their businesses and achieving their goals.

Lauren McIlroy is head of Virtual Finance Function at Anderson Anderson & Brown



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