By day ninety, the numbers behind your next hire arrive on a date already in your diary
Owners who can see the month decide on the hire or the price rise while it still matters. Owners who wait for year end find out what the decision cost. Ardein keeps the records straight and sends a monthly pack on cash, debtors, creditors and performance, on an agreed date.
Three things you’d know before you signed anything
Know which customer or job carries the margin
Performance is reported by the lines you actually run, rather than as one company total.
Sign off the hire with cash in front of you
Cash, debtors and creditors sit in the same pack, so affordability becomes a question of fact.
Explain why profit and the bank disagree, on the day
Debtor and creditor movements are set beside the profit figure every month.
The decisions that go wrong when the figures arrive six months late
Three things owners tell me in the first conversation, usually about a decision already made.
- Purchase
“We bought the second van in March. By September it was barely covering its own finance and fuel.”
The job-level numbers that would have shown this were in the records all along. Nobody produced them until the year-end accounts landed.
- Hire
“I held off hiring for two quarters because cash felt tight. We turned down work we could have taken.”
Cash was tight because of debtors, not trading. A monthly debtor list would have shown that in an afternoon.
- Price
“We put prices up across the board because margin was down. The two accounts that caused it left anyway.”
Margin by customer sat inside the same records. Without it, a general price rise was the only move available.
- Day 90
What it looks like when the answer is in the room
The pack arrives on the same date each month, before you need it. You open it and see cash, who owes you, who you owe, and where the money was made. The purchase decision takes an afternoon because the payback is already calculated. When something looks wrong, you ask me that week, not the following spring.
What year-end accounts tell you well, and what they cannot answer in March
Both have a job. Only one of them is any use on the day you decide.
Year-end accounts, filed properly
They satisfy Companies House and HMRC, and they should be accurate.
They confirm the tax position and the balance sheet at one date.
They support lenders, funders and any sale conversation later on.
They describe a year that finished before you read them.
A monthly pack, on an agreed date
Cash, debtors and creditors as they stand this month.
Performance split by the parts of the business you run.
The reconciliation between profit and the bank balance, explained.
Delivered early enough that the hire, price or purchase is still open.
Eight decisions your current numbers should already cover
Answer each one yes or no as things stand this month.
- 01
Could you say today which customer produced the most profit last month?
If the only split you have is total sales, the answer is a guess.
- 02
Do you know the payback period on the last piece of equipment you bought?
It can be worked out monthly, from the job figures you already generate.
- 03
Can you see what customers owe you, by age, without opening the bank?
A monthly debtor list turns cash worry into a collection task.
- 04
Do you know what you owe suppliers over the next sixty days?
Creditors decide whether a purchase is affordable this quarter or next.
- 05
Could you tell a lender your monthly trading position this week?
Funding conversations move faster when the figures are current.
- 06
Do you know whether the cheaper supplier actually cost you less?
Wastage and rework show up in margin, not in the invoice price.
- 07
Can you explain the gap between profit and your bank balance?
The gap is usually debtors, stock, VAT timing or drawings, and it is measurable.
- 08
Do you know the point at which the next salary stops hurting cash?
That number exists in your records and should be in front of you before you advertise.
Ask your accountant these three questions about this month, not last year. Anything less and, for a business of your size, you have the wrong accountant
- 01Could they tell you this week which jobs or customers made money last month?
- 02Could they tell you today whether you can afford the next hire, and what it does to cash?
- 03Could they tell you why profit says one thing and the bank balance says another?
Three yeses and you’re fine. Anything else is what the review is for.
Entry 01
What we commit to, and what it changes about your month
One promise carries most of the value in monthly reporting.
Figures as recorded in client work · names withheld
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What lands in your inbox in ninety days, and what has to happen first
Four stages, each ending in something you can use rather than something we have tidied.
You know what the records actually say
We agree the scope, complete client checks and collect the records. If you have an existing accountant or bookkeeper, we handle the handover and obtain what we need.
Your first month you can act on
Books complete, banks reconciled, debtor and creditor balances that make sense. You get a first view of cash and performance, plus anything historic that looks wrong.
The pack arrives without you chasing it
Bookkeeping, supplier bills, credit control and payroll run to a routine. The reporting date is fixed, and we agree who supplies what by when.
Decisions take an afternoon, not a quarter
Cash, debtors, creditors and performance arrive on the agreed date. You ask about the hire or the purchase and get the answer the same day, with the reasoning.
What is in the monthly pack, and what each part decides
Four views, produced from records that are complete before the pack is built.
Cash, debtors and creditors together
What you hold, who owes you and what falls due. This is the section that answers the hire and the purchase.
Performance by the parts you run
Sales and costs split by job, product, site or customer group, so you can see which part of the business makes money.
The commentary that goes with it
What changed this month, what looks wrong, and what I would do about it. Written in plain terms, not accounting notes.
Where monthly reporting from Ardein is the wrong answer
We do not take on cash businesses, whatever the reporting need.
CIS-dependent construction work sits outside what we take on.
We walk away from anything illegal or reportable, from falsified VAT records, and from anyone who will not complete client identity checks.
The relationship does not work if an owner cannot explain their own business or say what they need from the numbers.
If none of that applies, the review is where we find out whether monthly reporting would change any decision you are facing.
The questions owners ask before the first call
Is the review a sales call?
No. It is a piece of work with a fixed review fee, credited in full against onboarding if we go ahead. You leave with the top five priorities either way.
We already have an accountant. Does this replace them?
Often it does, because most of our clients had an accountant and no month-by-month support. We will tell you honestly if what you have is working.
What happens with our current accountant or bookkeeper?
We manage the handover: professional clearance, records collection and a transition plan around your year end. There is no separate charge for it.
What are we committing to?
A monthly fee scoped after we have seen the records, and a reporting date we both agree. Capacity is capped at four new clients a month, so timing matters more than paperwork.
What do you need from us each month?
Bank feeds running, sales and purchase records supplied on time, and prompt answers to queries. The agreed reporting date depends on that information reaching us.
Make the next decision with the number already in the room
Tell me what you are weighing up: the hire, the purchase, the price rise. The review shows whether your current figures could answer it this week.