As accountants rush to calculate the net present value of Santa’s sleigh and work out the employment tax status of Santa’s helpers (we all know they’re elf-employed), Fluidly has been helping them with their Christmas gift ideas for small businesses.
Like delicious seasonal appetisers, our 12 days of Christmas are a little taste of the fantastic products that all accountants could offer their clients during this difficult time.
We’ve been having a bit of fun (I think we all need it!) and have shared our suggestions each day via our Twitter feed, but below are our 12 days in full. So whether it be Xero’s accounting software, or a flexi-loan from Iwoca, there is help out there for small businesses.
Delving into Santa’s sack, what do we have first?
1. Access to Fluidly
Well of course we’d suggest you work with us. After all, there’s nothing more important for a business than being on top of the money moving through it – to create accurate forecasts, chase debtors, and secure vital funding. We’re proud to be the only platform in our space to provide all of those tools in one place.
We can help your clients understand a business’ cash position and ensure they secure the funding they need quickly. So go on, you know what you need to provide your clients with this Christmas!
2. Xero’s accounting software
No doubt you have already recommended accounting software for your clients. But for too many businesses the data in their accounting software is out-of-date, which can limit how well it works with cashflow forecasting tools.
Reconciling on a quarterly basis and enabling Xero’s bank feeds will put companies in a stronger place as they enter what is likely to be a turbulent 2021.
3. Soldo’s spending card
Helping clients stay on top of their spending as we head towards the new year will help you sleep that bit better at night.
We recommend managing business spending via Soldo or Pleo and carrying out a subscription or cost review, which reveal unusual payments or increasing costs that might otherwise go unnoticed. Pre-paid company cards and automated expenses will put your clients in control and save their teams tedious expense form filling.
4. iwoca’s flexi-loan
Businesses may well need to think beyond their current bank when looking for finance. iwoca means less time ticking boxes and more time running their business, so as an advisor it’s worth looking at the alternative lending market too.
At Fluidly we have finance specialists on-hand to discuss the many options and types of finance available to your clients.
5. Cash in the bank
Small businesses aren’t always aware of what’s available when it comes to funding, like alternative lenders and who they should speak to in order to assess the options. Fluidly can provide pre-qualified funding quotes within minutes – from a lending panel that includes Funding Circle, iwoca, NatWest and more.
January isn’t just tax season, it’s also a crucial time to help your clients access government loans with nothing to pay in 2021. CBILS has kept thousands of businesses afloat, but supporting clients with their applications takes time and effort. Fluidly makes it easy – simply refer clients who need funding to us and we’ll handle their applications, so they can get the cash they need.
6. A longer cash runway
And with cash in the bank comes time to plan and take action. Having cash that will last longer, or create more ‘runway’, allows for the space to consider different scenarios and prepare for every eventuality.
As an accountant, this is your chance to use Fluidly’s Goal Planner to model a range of financial decisions and play with sales forecasts, marketing budgets and more.
7. A health score from Xavier
A post-Christmas health check may be in order for you if you overindulge, but more importantly, it may be a good time to get a handle on the health of the transactional data across your client base.
Xavier Analytics’ business insight tool Resilience is designed to help accountants’ advisory decisions, identifying where strengths lie or where they might be at risk. This includes tracking things like revenue movements, a business’ net assets value over time, and where a high reliance on single customers or suppliers is developing.
8. Business banking from Starling
Christmas is a great time to switch banks and get a better deal. And this year Starling Bank has gone from strength to strength.
What’s more, founder Anne Boden’s book Banking on It: How I Disrupted an Industry, is topping the charts of business books right now, so why not treat yourself or a loved one to a cosy yuletide read?
9. GoProposal’s real-time renewals
Winning and retaining clients is more important than ever. And as an accountant, a tool like GoProposal will help you get ahead in 2021, as it enables you to create professional proposals or renewals during meetings with clients.
Too often, accountants end up over-servicing clients, which leaves them undervaluing what you do. GoProposal’s onboarding and repricing system is designed to provide a profitable approach to pricing.
10. Invoice from AutoEntry
Don’t let those paper invoices stack up and hold you back from more pressing work. Go paperless with AutoEntry, which extracts the data you need and publishes to your accountancy package.
Part of the Sage Group, but integrated with Quickbooks and Xero, AutoEntry was created to help boost accountants’ productivity, cut their costs, and give them a competitive advantage by automating manual data entry of invoices, receipts, bills and statements. So why not make your clients’ lives easier?
11. Direct debits from GoCardless
We all know chasing payments should not be a full time job, so why not free up more time this Christmas by improving clients’ cashflow whilst reducing costs and failed payments?
GoCardless, which itself secured a timely Christmas boost of $95m in VC funding, has made it easier to collect recurring payments, such as subscriptions and regular B2B transactions, for many businesses through its simple direct debit solution. As an accountant, you can set these up for your clients and help them say goodbye to late invoice payments.
12. Loans from Funding Circle
And finally, don’t forget the pre-Christmas gift from the Chancellor, who extended CBILS once again. Businesses are still able to manage uncertainty or adapt and grow with a government-backed business loan until the end of March.
Funding Circle has accounted for around a fifth of processed CBILS loans, putting it up alongside the big banks. Fluidly makes access to finance easy and if your clients apply for CBILS now, there’s a good likelihood Funding Circle will be at the other end. And if not, we’ve got other options, so do your client a favour and try our funding platform. Happy Christmas all!
