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How to maximise your cash reserves

Maximising your cash reserves

The Covid-19 crisis highlighted the inadequacy of current cash reserves for many businesses. They simply don’t have enough cash to sustain the business in a crisis.

Now is the time to make permanent change to your business processes and cost structure so you can build those reserves. At the same time, business owners need to be part of a world solution, and that means paying our bills on time where possible.

How to maximise cash reserves

11 strategies to maximise your cash reserves:

  1. Invoice your customers immediately upon supply of products and services. The faster you bill, the faster you’ll be paid.
  2. Shorten your payment terms, e.g. from 20th of the month to within 7 days of invoice. You’ll need to reflect any changes in your Terms of Trade, in key customer contracts, and on your website.
  3. Invoice directly from your accounting software. This can enable faster payment.
  4. Negotiate prompt payment discounts with your suppliers. Don’t be bashful, there is no harm in asking.
  5. Get better at collecting the money you’re owed. Ask nicely to be paid by customers as soon as an invoice is overdue. The fast cash is in the 30-day column, not the 90-day column.
  6. Outsource proactive debtor management to a collection agency. This can be surprisingly cost-effective.
  7. Perform credit checks on new customers and make sure your Terms of Trade give you as much protection as possible if a debt goes bad. For example, put personal guarantees in place.
  8. Develop a personal spending budget and stick to it. This will reduce cashflow pressure on the business.
  9. Take costs out of the business where you can, but only where you should. This is an ideal time to review every line item in your Profit and Loss Statement. The shift to working online may allow you to change spending patterns.
  10. Have clear spending limits for team members who incur expenses on behalf of your business and regularly monitor these.
  11. And finally, prepare a Cashflow Forecast. Know what’s ahead of you and understand how positive changes will improve your cash reserves going forward.

Cash is oxygen for your business. Contact us now so we can help you put a Cashflow improvement plan in place.

If you’d like more help on how to maximise your cash reserves or producing a Cashflow Forecast, ping us an email to [email protected] or call us on 0161 410 0020.

It is important that you take professional advice before making any decisions based on the information that you learnt here. While every effort has been made to make sure it is accurate it cannot be precisely tailored to your personal circumstances. This article is for general information only and no action should be taken, or refrained from, as a result of this information.  Professional advice should be taken based on specific circumstances in each individual case.  Whilst we endeavour to ensure that the information contained in the article is correct, no liability  will be accepted by Krystal Clear Accounting which is a trading name of Kim Marlor Associates Ltd or damages of any kind arising from the contents of this communication, or for any action, inaction  or decision taken as a result of using any such information.

What are Bank Feeds and how do they work?

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In short, bank feeds create a digital link between your business bank account and your accounting software, such as Xero or QuickBooks.  

This means bank transactions are automatically downloaded into the accounting software. This simple piece of automation, completely removes the need to manually input every bank receipt and payment into the accounting software. 

Having bank feeds in place, saves a HUGE amount of time bookkeeping. That’s because it completely removes the need to manually input bank transactions into the accounting software. 

Saving time bookkeeping isn’t the only benefit for the business…. 

 

 

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What are the main benefits to a business using bank feeds?

Bank feeds automate, what was previously, a time-consuming task of entering all the bank transactions into the accounting software. 

 This saves the business a HUGE amount of time (& money) spent on bookkeeping.  

With bank transactions being downloaded from the bank every day, it means it’s quicker and easier to keep the bank balance in the accounting software up-to date. 

With the accounting software up-to date, the bank is updated daily which gives you a clearer, real-time view of your business’s cash flow.  

This makes it easier for you to plan your cashflow, and take action to improve it. 

There is always the risk of errors being made when data is being manually inputted into the accounting system. It is often time-consuming to find and correct any errors. Also, if an error is large then the Profit & loss and Balance Sheet reports will be inaccurate and potentially misleading. 

 Automating the bank transaction entry previously manual process, reduces the risk of errors being made and ensures that the bookkeeping records and reports are accurate. 

How to Link Your Bank to Xero

Ensure that your bank account is set up for online banking. This feature is typically available from all major banks. 

Log into your Xero account and navigate to the banking section. Select ‘Add Bank Account’ and follow the prompts to search for your bank. 

After adding your bank account details, you’ll see an option to set up bank feeds. Click ‘Agree’ to the terms, then securely log into your online banking portal through Xero to authorize the connection. 

 

Are Bank Feeds Safe & Secure?

Yes. 

Firstly, having bank feeds in place ONLY means bank transactions are downloaded into the accounting system. They do NOT give anyone else access to the business bank account. 

 Secondly, XERO has various security measures in place to give you a piece of mind that your financial data is safe and secure: 

 

  • Encrypted Connections: Xero uses advanced encryption technology to secure the data transmission from your bank to Xero. This means your sensitive information is encrypted during transit and cannot be intercepted or read by unauthorized parties. 

 

  • Compliance and Standards: Xero adheres to high standards of data security compliance, thus ensuring that its practices meet or exceed industry security standards and regulations. 

 

  • Regular Renewals: To maintain a high level of security, XERO requires that the bank feed connection is renewed every 90 days. This process is straightforward and helps ensure that the integrity of your financial data is always protected. 

 

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KIm Marlor the MD of Krystal Clear Accounting
krystal clear accounting

In Summary

In short, having bank feeds really saves businesses time and money on their bookkeeping.  

 They automate and eliminate what is otherwise a time consuming and error prone manual process.  

 Bank feeds is just one of the ways technology can be used to help business owners improve the financial side of their business.

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