Managing your cash flow
With increasing supplier prices and economic uncertainty, managing your business’s cash and understanding the flow are now vital tools in maintaining resilience and being able to adopt flexible strategies for success.
Cash flows are a reflection of all the cash that is flowing in and out of a business. Owners can look at the direction of the cash flows for insights about the health of specific products or services and overall market patterns.
Some types of business are more likely to run into cash flow problems, while other types appear to be more resilient. If you are a business owner, you might be wondering which category your business falls into. No matter how inventive or simple your business model is, you can still have problems with cash flow. Here are our thoughts on managing the flow of cash in your business:
The first stage of understanding and predicting how funds flow is to perform a health check on your accounts. Look at your latest profit and loss statement and check that your income is sufficient to cover your expenses. If your profit is falling behind your expenses and cash flow is slowing down, you might need to take action. Prepare a funds flow statement so you know where the money goes.
Next create a yearly budget – look where cash could become tight and months where you can save to cover off the quieter times. Look at those quieter months and think about flexible work scheduling, new products or services, or other activities to tide you over.
Finally make sure you collect your money from those who owe you quickly. Set credit limits and payment terms to ensure customers follow the rules or reward customer loyalty by offering early bird discounts. If you take on new customers, make credit checks. Penalise late payers and request up front deposits or payment.
Talk to us about preparing a funds flow statement and annual budget so that you can work on your business for maximum success!
Rates and thresholds for employers 2023 to 2024
Employers should be aware that from April 2023 several statutory payment rates increase for the 2023-24 financial year.
Statutory Maternity, Paternity, Shared Parental and Adoption Pay
From Sunday 2 April 2023, Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay and Statutory Bereavement Pay all increased from £156.66 to £172.48 per week.
Statutory Sick Pay
From Thursday 6 April 2023, Statutory Sick Pay increased from £99.35 to £109.40. The lower earnings limit remains at £123.
Statutory Redundancy Payment
From Thursday 6 April 2023, the Statutory Redundancy Payment was limited to £669 a week. The maximum Statutory Redundancy Payment payable is now £20,070.
See: Rates and thresholds for employers 2023 to 2024 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Coastal communities to receive funding for recreational sea fishing
Up to £1 million has been made available for coastal communities across the UK to invest in new and improved infrastructure for recreational sea fishing.
Eligible applicants will be able to bid for between £10,000 and £100,000 for projects to upgrade recreational fishing facilities, reduce carbon emissions, support the protection and recovery of the marine environment, and provide training to help recreational sea fishermen operate in a more sustainable way.
Recreational sea fishing involves fishing for the purposes of pleasure, tourism, or sport. With an estimated two million recreational sea anglers taking to the water every year, recreational sea fishing contributes over £800 million to the UK economy annually and boosts local economies through activities such as fishing tournaments, boat rental, bait and tackle supply, and local tourism.
Part of the £100 million UK Seafood Fund infrastructure scheme, this funding will ensure recreational fishing continues to prosper by backing projects which could enhance piers and harbours; create more accessible paths, floating walkways, and pontoon dockings; and promote fishing tournaments.
See: Coastal communities to receive funding for recreational sea fishing – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Changes to business rates rules for self-catering properties
From April 2023, new eligibility rules for business rates will apply to self-catering properties in England and Wales. If you don’t meet these rules, your property will become eligible for paying Council Tax. The rules will be used in assessments from 1 April 2023. Information about lettings during the 2022/23 operating year will be used to determine whether a property is eligible.
The new eligibility rules are different depending on whether your property is in England or Wales.
If your property is in England:
To continue to be eligible for business rates, from 1 April 2023 your property must be:
- available for letting commercially for short periods that total 140 nights or more in the previous and current year; and
- actually let commercially for 70 nights or more in the previous 12 months.
If your property is in Wales:
To continue to be eligible for business rates, from 1 April 2023 your property must be:
- available to let commercially for short periods that total 252 nights or more in the previous and current year; and
- actually let commercially for 182 nights or more in the previous 12 months.
The VOA looks at whether the property was occupied immediately before midnight to establish whether a property was let on a certain night.
For example, this means that a property let out from Friday evening to Sunday morning would have been let for two nights for the purposes of meeting the self-catering criteria.
See: Changes to business rates rules for self-catering properties – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Welsh Government on a ‘mission’ to support export growth
Whilst digital technology and video calling make it much easier to maintain customer relationships, businesses tell us that people do business with people, and nothing builds new relationships better than face to face contact.
Visiting markets to meet new and potential customers is a crucial element of winning and keeping business.
To support businesses in Wales to do that, Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething, recently unveiled a packed programme of international trade missions and exhibitions.
The programme consists of a mix of visits to leading trade shows that align with Wales’ priority sectors as well as opportunities to explore overseas markets that offer real opportunities for Welsh businesses. We will be visiting markets across the globe, from San Francisco in the West to Tokyo in the East, as well as Europe, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates. Whatever sector your business operates in, we have an opportunity for you.
At the recent Explore Export Wales conference in North Wales, Wrexham based Platts Agriculture’s Managing Director, Caroline Platt, said, “I urge both new and experienced exporters in Wales to make use of the Welsh Government’s overseas trade missions and fairs programme. We have attended a number of missions over the years and the support provided and platform it has given us has been invaluable in helping us grow our exports. We simply wouldn’t be as further along on our export journey as we are today without this support.”
To find out more details about the 2023 to 2024 trade mission programme, please visit the Business Wales Overseas Events page where you can also register for your chosen event.
See: Welsh Government on a ‘mission’ to support export growth | Business Wales
