accounting Archives - Accountants Stratford Upon Avon

Interactive Diagnostic

Established in 1996, Chase Commercial Ltd is a commercial property development business based in Evesham. Initially part of a larger property group, they now focus solely on commercial property.

They have trusted Grenfell James (GJ) with their accounting needs for over a decade, and we are thrilled with what we have achieved together during this time.

Overview

Partnering with Chase Commercial for over a decade, GJ has provided critical financial support, enabling their growth and stability. Through detailed financial reporting and proactive cash flow management, we have helped Chase Commercial navigate the complexities of the property sector, ensuring their continued success.

Context & Challenge

Key Issues:

Irregular cash flow due to the nature of property development, with capital tied up in projects.
• Need for a detailed and comprehensive financial reporting system.

Project goals

Generate better management information.
Forecast and plan effectively to manage cash flow.
Real-time accounts and support to aid recruitment.
Secure bank financing to support and sustain growth initiatives.
Restructure to streamline operations and embrace the change in management.

Process & Insights

When we first began working with Chase Commercial, we identified the need to overhaul their financial systems to deliver the clarity and precision required to support their operations. Their previous processes lacked the depth and reliability necessary for a business in the property sector. By carefully evaluating their existing workflows, we pinpointed opportunities for improvement, including the implementation of Xero and the design of a management accounts pack tailored to their needs. Regular communication and attendance at quarterly board meetings allowed us to ensure alignment with their goals and provide strategic insights as their trusted financial partner.

Solutions

Updated Accounting Software: Implemented Xero to provide a real-time, accurate financial overview.
Invoice Processes: Established systems for invoice approval and payments.
Management Account Pack: Designed and created a comprehensive quarterly management account pack, including profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and cash flow projections.
Board Meeting Attendance: Regular participation in quarterly board meetings to present financial figures and provide strategic insights.
Daily Bookkeeping: Maintained up-to-date financial records for immediate access to financial information.

Chase Commercial results

Accurate Cash Flow Forecasting: Provided Chase Commercial with reliable cash flow projections, crucial for managing their financial operations effectively.
Enhanced Financial Reporting: The new management account pack provided detailed financial insights, enabling better decision-making.
Client Satisfaction: Chase Commercial’s directors expressed their satisfaction with the improved financial reporting and the ongoing support from the GJ team.

Qualitative Benefits

Working with Grenfell James has allowed Chase Commercial to operate with greater confidence and efficiency. By maintaining up-to-date financial records and offering expert insights, we have become a reliable extension of their team. The streamlined processes for invoice approvals and payments have not only improved workflows but also reduced administrative burdens. Additionally, our ability to deliver real-time financial information has provided the directors with the reassurance that they can make informed decisions quickly and effectively, knowing their financial data is accurate and accessible. This reliable partnership has enabled them to focus on running and growing their business without the stress of managing complex financial systems in-house.

Lessons Learned

The key to a successful partnership lies in building strong, trusted relationships. By understanding the client’s needs and providing clear, jargon-free financial insights, GJ has become an integral part of Chase Commercial’s operations.

This is a testament to how we work with our clients and aim to become an accounting partner; we are thrilled to report that this relationship spanning over 10 years is still as strong as ever. To be able to operate alongside the board of directors and fully integrate with their team is an honour and a role we take very seriously. It’s just another way we choose to partner with our clients.

Conclusion

Established in 2010, CamperKing has grown into the UK’s largest VW campervan converter, turning VW Transporter vans into luxury campervans built for family holidays and adventure.

Overview

CamperKing sought proactive support from GJ Associates to gain real-time financial insights beyond retrospective accounting. We recommended a tailored management accounts pack, empowering their ambitious growth plans with sharper insights for smarter decisions.

Our contributions:

Collaborate and assist the in-house bookkeeping team.
Provide access to real-time financial information.
Assist in creating an annual plan (budgets and forecasts).
Facilitate strategic planning for the upcoming fiscal periods.
Act as a sounding board offering support and guidance.
Support with corporation tax, payroll and director’s personal tax.
Aid the auditing process for smooth and comprehensive evaluations.

Context & Challenge

Background

CamperKing wanted a proactive accounting partnership for a more engaged financial collaboration.

The problem – the why?

Key problems were:

Rapid growth led to cash flow issues and the need for real-time information to manage effectively.
Required back-office support to align key business functions with their expansion.
Sought bank financing to support their growth trajectory.
Embracing a change in management and undergoing restructuring for future growth.

Project goals

CamperKing key goals were:

Generate better management information.
Forecast and plan effectively to manage cash flow.
Real-time accounts and support to aid recruitment.
Secure bank financing to support and sustain growth initiatives.
Restructure to streamline operations and embrace the change in management.

Process & Insights

During the ‘getting to know you’ process, the following points were identified:

Due to expansion and a growing team, directors needed better profitability and cash flow insight.
A need for monthly management accounts to track profit, run rates, and sales patterns.
An annual plan was crucial for growth planning, decision-making, and measuring success.
The client aimed to establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for evaluating performance.
Promptly tracking and provisioning for corporate and personal tax liabilities were top priorities.

Solutions

Our team, led by a director, collaborated closely with the Director of CamperKing to evaluate accountancy solutions to the problems. This resulted in GJ Associates managing a project covering:

Collaborating with the in-house bookkeeping team to offer support.
Creating annual budgets and forecasts, providing a strategic plan for the upcoming fiscal periods.
Delivering monthly management account packs for informed decision-making.
Holding regular meetings with management to analyse accounts and make strategic decisions.
Functioning as an outsourced Financial Director, providing guidance and acting as a sounding board.
Supplying financial reports to the bank and engaging with management to assess performance and set expectations.
Managing financial aspects such as accounts, corporation tax, payroll, and directors’ personal tax.
Offering advice on restructuring for an efficient group structure.
Aid the auditing process for smooth and comprehensive evaluations.

CamperKing results

Partnering with CamperKing for over a decade, our role has been pivotal in their rapid growth. Providing crucial management accounts, we’ve empowered their decision-making with timely insights, significantly accelerating their recent expansion.

As a trusted sounding board, we’ve offered vital guidance, ensuring sound financial strategies aligned with their ambitious growth plans. Our collaborative efforts have been instrumental in driving CamperKing’s success story.

“I attribute a significant part of our success to GJ Associates; their financial expertise has been pivotal in our growth.”
Spencer Grey, CamperKing

What can I do with Dext accounting software?

Limited resources, tight budgets, and the need for meticulous record-keeping can often feel overwhelming. Enter Dext Prepare, modern accounting software designed to help small businesses save time on expense management and business accounting.

What are the benefits of using Dext Prepare?

Dext Prepare collects and extracts your paperwork, then automatically processes it to your accountancy software! Streamlining the process, Dext Prepare saves you time and ensures hassle-free financial management, giving you more time to focus on work that adds value.

What does Dext Prepare accounting software do?

With Dext Prepare, you can effortlessly gather all your receipts, invoices, and bank statements in a standardised, digital format. Simply upload your documents, and Dext will work its magic, extracting the necessary data and seamlessly sending it directly to your accounting software. Say goodbye to manual data entry and hello to accurate numbers at your fingertips!

7 ways to improve your expense management with Dext

At Grenfell James, we free up your time and resources by helping you select the right accounting software. Let’s explore our tips to harness the full potential of Dext and transform your financial management into a strategic advantage:

1. Supercharge productivity with the Mobile App & Snap feature.

Invite your team and clients via SMS to download the app and witness the effortless expense management it offers. Remember to check receipt image quality before discarding, ensuring accuracy for all. Stay on top of expenses with ease and streamline collaboration.

2. Boost efficiency with Supplier Rules.

Invest time upfront to set them up for each client and reap long-term time savings. By consistently applying these rules to new receipts, you can accelerate automation and empower your clients to take control. Streamline your workflow and maximise productivity with the power of Supplier Rules.

3. Stay on top of your finances with regular log-ins.

Instead of monthly check-ins, make it a habit to visit Dext daily. You will get up-to-date insights by ensuring you have real-time information at your fingertips. By spending just two minutes a day on your bookkeeping, you’ll find it much more manageable than the time-consuming task of reconciling and publishing expense paperwork for an hour each week.

4. Get Invoices Delivered for you

Did you know you can use Dext to collect bills with Invoice Fetch? It’s perfect for recurring supplier invoices, such as your mobile and utility bills. It saves you and your clients having to log in and download them and is more secure. What’s not to love?

5. Save time with Autopublish!

Activate Autopublish for your top 10 regular suppliers’ invoices and experience a remarkable time-saving advantage. With Autopublish, 50-60% (or even more) of these invoices will be automatically published directly to your bookkeeping software. Streamline your workflow and eliminate manual entry hassles with the power of Autopublish.

6. Boost document intake efficiency with Email In.

In addition to snapping photos of receipts, you can also forward receipts, invoices, and bank statements to a dedicated Dext email address, utilise Drag and Drop functionality, or establish automatic connections. We highly recommend setting up automatic forwarding for unparalleled speed and convenience to prevent any documents from slipping through the cracks. Embrace multiple pathways to bring your documents into Dext and streamline your workflow seamlessly.

7. Streamline expense claims and reclaim your time with ease.

Dext allows you to create customised automatic expense reports for individual reimbursements, eliminating the hassle of manual claims. Say goodbye to expense claims drama and welcome a smoother, more efficient process. Let Dext handle the heavy lifting, empowering you to focus on more critical tasks.

What accounting software should I choose?

From time-consuming expense management to the complexities of business accounting, these obstacles can drain valuable resources and divert attention away from core operations. Fortunately, accounting software like Dext offers a modern toolkit that empowers small business owners to save time, streamline their financial processes, and regain control over their financial management.

At Grenfell James, our tailored app consultancy service will optimise your business through progressive solutions. Our experts perform in-depth research and tailor recommendations to help your business utilise the platform. We oversee the implementation cycle, add integrations to streamline your application and work with you to develop ongoing timelines. Our team will be on hand to share advice and support – keeping your business running smoothly.

If you are a small business owner in the UK looking for guidance on choosing the right accounting software, the team at Grenfell James is here to help. Get in touch today to discover how we can revolutionise and simplify your business.

Cloud-based accounting software can give you a view of your business finances from anywhere. Here we share a summary of our favourite Xero features to help you run your business more efficiently.

Every SME owner or leader faces the challenge of maintaining a good profit margin. To be as profitable as possible, you need to understand your figures and anticipate any likely costs to prevent budget overruns. Xero accounting software can help.

Xero enables you to create a viable business model with the efficiencies, financing, and systemised processes needed to scale. Plus, Xero helps mitigates the risk of inaccurate figures and offers real-time data on cash flow and other financial performance.

Assessing bookkeeping records can prove difficult for businesses using a ledger or spreadsheet-based accounting system. Spreadsheets make the process of producing an accurate financial report arduous and time-consuming and can lead to costly errors.

If your company uses spreadsheets, your data could be easily flawed. Copy-paste or data entry mistakes and faulty equations are some of the common errors that can occur. Poor data puts you at risk of making decisions based on inaccurate information.

Grenfell James at a Xero accounting software conference — Team Grenfell James at Xerocon, London

Grenfell James is one of hundreds of thousands of accountants and bookkeepers using Xero. Whether you already use Xero or are considering accounting software, our team is here to help.

13 ways to get the most out of Xero accounting software

#1 Bank rules

Xero accounting software can be linked to your bank account, making it easy to do bank reconciliations. But occasionally your bank payments might not relate to a purchase invoice. To speed up the process, you can create Bank Rules for any recurrent transactions.

#2 Find and Recode with Xero accounting software

A fantastic feature is Find and Recode, enabling you to edit many transactions at once. This means you can quickly transfer transactions from one account to another without having to reallocate each transaction. Likewise, you can also change in bulk the tax rate or correct incorrectly assigned to transactions.

#3 File storage

Xero’s File Storage makes file management, sharing, and access easy and convenient. You can attach files to almost anything – from invoices and receipts to bills and transactions. You can also upload multiple files in one go from your computer or mobile phone using the Xero App.

#4 Fixed assets register

With Xero’s fixed asset register, you can automate your depreciation journals. The feature lets you quickly record and calculate book depreciation on your assets and produce the fixed assets report.

#5 Tracking categories

This feature lets you know how separate areas of your business are performing. For example, companies or individuals who can benefit from it are:

Property Investors who can track property by property
Shop Owners who can track by shop location

#6 Item codes in Xero accounting software

Do you sell a range of products or service packages? You can set up Item Codes to include each service or product’s description, price, sales account, and tax rate. Simply select an Item from the drop-down menu, and the description will automatically appear!

#7 Payment services

If you like receiving payments quickly, you’ll love this feature. It enables you to set up an account with Iwoca or PayPal and link to your Xero account. Your customers can pay by card straight from the sales invoice you send them without using BACS.

#8 Xero accounting software quote function

Using Xero Quotes can help you firm up new projects with your customers. Quotes are straightforward to create and email directly to your client’s inbox. Similarly, you can convert the quote into a sales invoice, saving you time.

#9 Repeating invoices

You can save time by using Repeating invoices for sales and purchases in Xero. Handy if your customers pay you a regular, recurrent amount for a service or a monthly retainer. You can also set up Repeating sales invoices to send out during the same period. Equally, you can set up Repeating bills.

#10 Payment dates for payment runs

Xero allows you to add a planned date to a purchase invoice. This a handy feature if you have a daily limit on your bank account. In the awaiting payment tab, just create a planned payment schedule. The schedule will total the value of invoices, giving you complete control over how much money leaves your account.

#11 Lock dates function

You can use Xero Lock dates to set a lock date when a reporting period is complete. Users won’t be able to add or edit transactions if the transaction date is earlier than the Lock date. Plus, it is not a permanent setting; therefore, you can change or remove it anytime.

#12 Bank feeds

This feature allows Xero to import account transactions directly and securely from your bank. You can match this data against your sales invoices or receipts or link it to a category. No more importing CSV bank statements or entering each transaction manually!

#13 Xero accounting software inbuilt calculator function

Xero has an inbuilt calculator that allows you to perform essential math functions directly in specific fields. Using this calculator decreases the chance of an entry error and helps with more complicated accounting formulas.

The inbuilt calculator has addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and group functionality. To use it, type in an equation — like 15 * 1.12 — right into a field. Then press ‘enter’ or ‘tab’, and Xero will calculate the result. You can use this calculator for transactions as well as manual journals but bear in mind that not all fields accept math functions.