Category: Blog

If you’re looking to offer the best CFO solution for your clients, CFO On Call can help. Accounting firms call us in to help clients with: Systems – Helping business owners get their accounting and operations systems right with focus on efficiency.  We make suggestions on systems that can help them and assist in implementation […]

The accounting profession has traditionally focused attention on the tax and compliance side of business.  Some accountants are offering day to day financial management advice, but they are few and far between.  Most practising accountants have never worked in a commercial situation i.e. been responsible for the profitability and cash flow management for one business. […]

Growth and exit might seem like unlikely bedfellows, but if you want to get maximum value for your business you need to start planning well in advance. A recent survey of family businesses, which would be similar in most established western markets, revealed that the number of owners aged between 60-69 has increased from 21% […]

Have you ever wondered why your business isn’t as profitable as you would like and keeps running out of cash? Despite your great efforts at making plenty of sales… it just doesn’t seem to end up on the bottom line! The problem is the big gap between sales and profit.  The gap is filled with […]

Doesn’t it just give you the @?%&s when you’ve delivered a great job or product and customers don’t pay you on time? Unfortunately customers don’t always do the right thing, so you need to factor this into your business management. One of the most important factors relating to getting paid on time, is measuring the […]

Running a business can be a process of juggling and keeping all the balls in the air at the same time.  For small business owners this can be an exhausting and frustrating exercise, leaving little time for strategic thinking.  To make business development easier, focus on the five key areas applicable to pretty much any […]

Successful business owners don’t have sleepless nights worrying about cash flow, because they manage it proactively… so it never becomes an issue. Here’s how they do it: Budget A budget is the best place to start managing cash flow.  If you feel uncertain about how you’ll make the sales, don’t worry, you can start with […]

There’s considerable pressure on transport businesses to manage finances carefully to ensure you end up with a profit. At CFO On Call we understand the issues affecting your ‘bottom line’.   Here’s some ‘Key Drivers of Success’ in the Transport/Freighting Business: Laser focus on Cash-flow and Risk: Need to ensure businesses have the most effective […]

When you’re in a service business Work In Progress Days (WIP Days) is a vital number to be in control of.  WIP Days is the number of days, on average, that jobs are in progress prior to invoicing. One way of calculating this measurement is as follows: Days WIP = Total Current WIP/Direct Costs x […]

How to Calculate your Mark-up the Right Way! Costing and pricing is a key issue in tendering and quoting for work and it must be correct and commercially attractive.  A common problem is not understanding the difference between what a mark-up is and gross margin is and ensuring the targeted gross margin is adequate to […]