Accountant for established SMEs: by day ninety, the next hire is an afternoon’s decision
Accountant for established SMEs whose owner is still doing, or half-doing, the finance admin, and whose numbers arrive long after the decision has already been made.
You already have an accountant. The question is whether they could tell you this week which customer carries the margin, or what a second van would have to earn to cover itself. Most owners learn that a year after they signed.
Ardein is an outsourced finance function for owner-managed UK businesses, run remotely from Chester by Gavin Jardine MIAB. It covers bookkeeping, VAT, payroll, year-end accounts and monthly management information, with fees scoped to the work once the records have been seen. Capacity is capped at four new clients a month.
“They don't feel like a contractor. They get fully involved in the business and are well respected by all.”
UK SME owner
- IAB member (MIAB 292185)
- Anti-money-laundering supervised
- Established 2021
Three things you would know before you commit
Know whether the next hire pays for itself
Payroll, margin and cash sit in one monthly pack, so the answer is arithmetic rather than instinct.
Sign the purchase with the payback in front of you
Records are current, so the payback can be worked out the day you ask, not after year end.
Know which customer or job carries the margin
Monthly management information splits performance by the lines you actually sell.
The decisions owners get wrong when the numbers turn up late
Three things owners have said to me after the decision was already made.
- Hire
“I took on a second engineer in March. By August I could see we had been carrying him since May.”
The wage was affordable. The drop in chargeable work that made it unaffordable sat in job and debtor figures nobody was producing.
- Supplier
“The cheaper supplier saved us on unit price. Nobody costed the extra deliveries or the wastage until the year end.”
The switch cost more than it saved for nine months. Total cost per delivered unit never reached a report the owner read.
- Price
“We put prices up across the board because we had no idea which jobs were thin.”
The strong customers absorbed it and the thin work stayed thin. Margin by job would have shown which prices to move.
- Day 90
What it looks like when the answer is in the room
You ask on Tuesday what a second van has to earn to cover itself. You get the number on Tuesday, with the working shown. The monthly pack lands on the same date each month, so most of the question is already answered before you ask. Decisions take an afternoon instead of a quarter.
Quick check · no email
Three questions your current accountant should be able to answer this week. If any of them needs a month, or a year end, you have the wrong accountant
Answer these three about the accountant you have now.
Question 1 of 3
Could they tell you by this afternoon whether you can afford the next hire?
Could they show you which customer or job carried the margin last month?
Could they name the date your numbers land each month, and hit it?
No yeses means every decision this year has been made on last year’s picture. The review maps which decisions that is costing you and what a monthly routine would have to cover.
One or two yeses is a reasonable position with one blind spot in it. The review finds it, usually in the foundations stage of the ninety days, where the records and the reporting get put back in order.
Three yeses and you are well served by what you already have. The guide on the first ninety days is there if you want to compare it against how we would run it.
What a year-end accountant gives you, and what it leaves open
Both do real work. Only one of them is in the room when you decide.
A year-end accountant
Accounts filed correctly with Companies House and HMRC.
A corporation tax computation once the year has closed.
A clear view of last year, delivered months after it ended.
A relationship shaped around one deadline a year.
A finance function that runs monthly
Bookkeeping complete each month, so the figures are current.
A same-day answer on a hire, a purchase or a price rise.
Margin by customer, job or product while you can still move it.
Reports on the agreed date, every month, not on request.
Eight decisions you should be able to make this month
Answer yes or no to each one. The nos are what the review is for.
- 01
Can you name the customer that made you the most money last month?
Yes needs margin by customer, not a sales total.
- 02
Do you know what the next hire has to bill to cover themselves?
Yes needs payroll cost sitting next to current revenue.
- 03
Could you price a purchase decision today without waiting on anyone?
Yes needs the books complete to last month end.
- 04
Do you know how much of your cash is other people’s money?
Yes needs VAT, tax and creditor positions visible monthly.
- 05
Can you see which jobs ran over before you invoice them?
Yes needs cost tracking against the job, not the year.
- 06
Do you know who owes you money and for how long?
Yes needs a debtor list reviewed on a routine.
- 07
Could you tell a lender your position this week?
Yes needs reconciled records rather than an estimate.
- 08
Do your numbers arrive on a date you can name?
Yes needs an agreed reporting timetable, kept to.
What the review looks at before anything is agreed
Sixty minutes on your finance, then a written view of what is missing.
Bookkeeping and reporting workflow
How the records are kept now, how late they run, and what that hides from you.
Debtor, creditor and payroll visibility
What you are owed, what you owe, and the recurring costs that move first when cash tightens.
Top five priorities and a monthly structure
The five things to fix in order, and an indicative shape for the monthly service.
Entry 01
What ninety days is supposed to change, and what it is not
One entry from the record, and what it means for the decisions you make after it.
Figures as recorded in client work · names withheld
What clients say
“They don't feel like a contractor. They get fully involved in the business and are well respected by all.”
UK SME owner
How ninety days turns a filing routine into a decision routine
Four stages, each ending in something you can do that you could not do the month before.
You stop running the handover
We agree the scope, complete AML checks and collect the records. If you have an accountant or bookkeeper now, I deal with them, at no separate charge.
Your numbers describe the business again
Bookkeeping complete, banks reconciled, debtor and creditor balances that make sense. Historic gaps named, and who does what agreed in writing.
Month end stops depending on you
Supplier bills, credit control, payroll and reporting run to a calendar, with checks that catch errors before they reach a report you rely on.
Decisions take an afternoon
Management information lands on the agreed date: cash, debtors, creditors and performance. Ask about a hire, a purchase or a price, and get the answer the same day.
Where I say no, and why that should matter to you
I do not take on cash businesses.
I do not take on CIS-dependent construction work.
I walk away from anything illegal or reportable, from falsified VAT records, and from anyone who will not complete AML checks.
The relationship does not work when an owner cannot explain their own business or say what they actually need.
Capacity is four new clients a month, so the review is also how I decide whether I can do your work properly.
Questions owners ask before they start
Is the finance review a sales call?
No. It is a working session on your numbers: how the bookkeeping runs, what you are owed, what payroll and recurring costs commit you to, and where the reporting fails you. You leave with the top five priorities and an indicative monthly structure. It carries a fixed review fee, credited in full against onboarding.
We already have an accountant. Why would an accountant for established SMEs be different?
Most accountants are engaged around one deadline a year, and they do that part well. The difference here is month by month: complete bookkeeping, reconciled banks and management information on an agreed date, so a hire, a purchase or a price rise can be answered while the decision is still open.
What happens with our current accountant if we switch?
I manage the handover. That means professional clearance, obtaining the records, and a transition plan agreed around your year end so nothing is filed twice or missed. You do not chase anyone. There is no separate charge for a normal handover, and most owners tell their existing accountant after the plan is set.
How long do we have to commit for?
The engagement is monthly and scoped to the work, agreed after I have seen the records rather than guessed at them. The first ninety days have a defined shape: foundations, then routines and controls, then dependable monthly reporting. If the fit is wrong, the review is where that comes out, before either of us commits.
What size of business do you work with as an accountant for established SMEs?
Owner-managed businesses from roughly the point where the director is doing or half-doing the finance admin, and typically service businesses with five or more staff. Sectors include professional services, agencies, property, tech, hospitality, e-commerce and healthcare. Cash businesses and CIS-dependent construction are outside what I take on.
Do you work with businesses outside the North West?
Yes. The practice is remote and works UK-wide, with clients from Edinburgh and Newcastle down to Bristol, Exeter and Cardiff. The core area runs across Chester, Liverpool, Manchester, Warrington and the rest of Cheshire. Nothing about the monthly routine depends on being in the same building as you.
Three ways to take the next step
Start the Finance Function Gap Review
Sixty minutes on your numbers, then the five things to fix in order and how the first ninety days would run.
See what you’d be told 02 · A question firstNot sure your business fits?
Send me the shape of it and I will tell you plainly whether this is work I would take on.
Ask Gavin a question 03 · Still decidingStill deciding
The guide sets out what happens in the first ninety days, week by week, so you can judge it against what you have now.
Read the guides →