Accountants in the North West: what your numbers should be able to tell you before you decide
Owner-managed businesses and grant-funded organisations across Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester face the same decisions every month: the hire, the price rise, the claim. Some get an answer that week. Ardein runs the finance function remotely from a Chester base so the answer is already sitting there.
Three things you would know before you committed
Sign off the hire with the cash in front of you
Monthly management information shows cash, debtors and creditors while the decision is still open.
Know which job or customer is carrying the margin
Records reconciled every month, so performance splits by line rather than by guess.
Answer a funder the same week, from the register
Restricted money is tracked as it moves, with the evidence filed as it arrives.
The decisions North West owners keep making without the number
Each of these came from an organisation that already had an accountant and still decided blind.
- Hire
“We took on two more people in March because the work was there. By July the bank told me what that work had actually paid.”
Two salaries ran for four months against jobs that were barely covering themselves. The margin by job sat in records that had not been reconciled since January.
- Supplier
“The cheaper supplier saved us on unit price. Nobody added up the returns, the reworked orders and the extra deliveries until year end.”
The switch cost more than it saved for three quarters running. Purchase ledger detail would have shown it by the second month.
- Funder
“The funder asked which salaries our award had paid for. It took us eleven days and two evenings to put an answer together.”
The next application went in late because the team was rebuilding last year’s evidence. The allocation had never been recorded as the money was spent.
- Day 90
What it looks like when the answer is in the room
The purchase takes an afternoon, because the payback is in front of you before the meeting. The price rise goes to the customers where the margin is thin, not to everyone. The board pack and the funder’s question come out of a register that is already up to date. Nothing waits for someone to reconcile a bank account first.
A year-end accountant or a monthly finance function: which one answers on Tuesday?
Both do real work, but only one of them is in the numbers while your decision is still open.
A year-end accountant in the region
Files the accounts and the corporation tax return correctly and on time.
Deals with HMRC and Companies House, and keeps you compliant.
Sees the year once it is finished, usually several months after it ended.
Answers the question you asked, after the records have been brought up to date.
A finance function that runs every month
Bookkeeping complete and banks reconciled to a timetable, so the data is already there.
Management information on cash, debtors, creditors and performance each month.
A finance lead for the hire, the price and the funding application, without a full-time salary.
Year end becomes confirmation of numbers you have already been acting on.
Eight decisions to test your current numbers against
Answer these as they stand today, not as you intend them to be by Christmas.
- 01
Could you decide on a significant purchase this week using figures you trust?
If the first step is asking someone to update the books, the decision is already delayed.
- 02
Do you know which customer or contract carried your margin last quarter?
Turnover by customer is common. Margin by customer is the number that changes behaviour.
- 03
Can you say what next month’s cash position looks like before payroll runs?
Cash feeling tight without an explanation usually means debtors and creditors are stale.
- 04
Would a price rise go to the customers where it is needed, or to everyone?
Across the board pricing is what happens when nobody can see line by line profitability.
- 05
Could you evidence how a specific award or grant was spent, by Friday?
Funders are asking for more detail. Building it after the request takes days you do not have.
- 06
Are salaries mapped to the funding that pays for them as the money is spent?
Mapping them at claim time is where restricted money quietly goes unclaimed.
- 07
Does the board or management pack arrive before the meeting, on the same date each month?
Figures tabled in the room are read, not discussed.
- 08
Do you know your corporation tax liability long before it falls due?
A liability that appears with the accounts is a cash decision made for you.
Ask whoever does your numbers these three questions this week. If the answers arrive after the decision has already been made, or not at all, you have the wrong accountant
- 01Could they tell you this week whether you can afford the next hire, using this month’s figures?
- 02Could they show you which customer, job or contract made money last quarter, split by line?
- 03Could they evidence where a specific award or grant was spent, without a week of digging?
Three yeses and you’re fine. Anything else is what the review is for.
Entry 01
Moving from your current accountant: who actually does the work of it?
Most owners put off changing because they assume the handover lands on their desk.
Figures as recorded in client work · names withheld
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What changes by day ninety, and what has to happen first
Ninety days is how long it takes to go from records you distrust to answers you can use.
You know what moving involves before you move
We agree the scope, complete due diligence and anti-money-laundering checks, and deal with your current accountant ourselves.
Cash, debtors and creditors you can read without a caveat
Bookkeeping brought up to date, banks reconciled, supplier and customer balances that make sense, and any historic gaps named.
Decisions stop waiting for someone to check something
Routines for bills, credit control, payroll and reporting are running, with checks in place and duplicated work removed.
The answer arrives before the decision does
Monthly management information lands on an agreed date, in time for the hire, the price, the claim or the board meeting.
What we run for North West clients, and what it lets you decide
One finance function, delivered remotely, covering the routine work and the reporting built on top of it.
Management information while you can still act on it
Cash, debtors, creditors and performance reported each month, so the hire, the purchase and the price rise are decided on current figures.
Bookkeeping, VAT, payroll and year end on a timetable
Complete records, reconciled banks, returns filed on time and auto-enrolment handled, so year end confirms what you already knew.
A finance lead for the questions that carry real money
Virtual CFO and FD input on hiring, funding, pricing and margin, plus fund tracking, claims and board evidence for CICs and charities.
Who this is not for, and why we say so early
We do not take on cash businesses.
Construction work that depends on CIS is not something we handle.
We walk away from anything illegal or reportable, from falsified VAT records, and from anyone who will not complete anti-money-laundering checks.
Capacity is capped at four new clients a month, and the relationship does not work if an owner cannot explain their own business.
The review is where both of us find that out, before either of us commits to anything.
The questions North West owners ask before they move
Is the review just a sales call?
No. It is a structured look at how your finance runs now, what is missing and what the next ninety days would involve. It carries a fixed review fee, credited in full against onboarding.
We already have an accountant. Is this worth doing?
Most of our clients already had one. The accounts were being filed correctly and nobody was answering the month by month questions. The review shows you which of those questions currently go unanswered.
What happens with our current accountant?
We manage it. Professional clearance, records collection and a transition plan agreed around your year end, at no separate charge. You do not have to make the awkward call yourself.
What are we committing to?
A monthly fee scoped to the work, agreed only after we have seen the records and understood how the business runs. Nothing is priced before that.
Do you have an office in Liverpool or Manchester?
No. Ardein is a remote practice run from a Chester base, working across Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester and UK-wide. Meetings happen by video or by phone, and the work is delivered the same way.
The next decision, made with the number already in the room
Answer a short set of questions about how your finance runs today. If it looks like a fit, we will tell you what the first ninety days would change.