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Practical finance and business support for businesses that make things
Engineering and manufacturing businesses don’t always fit neatly into standard bookkeeping.
There can be materials and suppliers to manage, stock and work in progress, deposits and staged payments, projects running over several months, labour and production costs, customer invoices and outstanding debts.
I understand that environment.
My own finance career included working within manufacturing, and today I support engineering and specialist manufacturing businesses with their accounts and wider financial administration.
More than processing the accounts
Depending on your business, my support can include:
- Bookkeeping and reconciliations
- VAT
- Customer invoicing
- Deposits and staged payments
- Supplier administration
- Credit control
- Stock and WIP
- Product, job and project costings including labour costs
- Management accounts and reporting
- Cost and margin monitoring
- Cash-flow information
- Year-end preparation and accountant liaison
- Wider finance and business administration
The exact role depends on what your business needs.
Stock, work in progress & costings
For manufacturing and engineering businesses, understanding what you’ve spent is only part of the picture. You also need to understand where those costs sit within the business.
I can help maintain and monitor information relating to stock and work in progress (WIP), helping ensure the financial records properly reflect materials purchased, work underway and completed projects.
Costing is another important part of this.
The true cost of producing something isn’t simply the materials that went into it. Labour costs, subcontractors and other direct costs can all have a significant impact on whether a product, job or project is actually as profitable as it appears.
I can help bring this information together so you have a clearer understanding of what work is costing the business and the margins you’re achieving.
Invoicing, deposits & getting paid
For many engineering and manufacturing businesses, invoicing isn’t simply a case of raising one invoice when a job is finished.
Customers may pay deposits, interim or staged payments and final balances, while several projects can be at different stages at the same time.
I can help manage that process, keep track of what’s been invoiced and paid, and make sure outstanding balances are followed up.
Making or delivering something successfully is only half the job. The money still needs to come in.
Management information that means something
A healthy order book and strong turnover don’t necessarily mean strong profits.
Depending on the business, I can help provide regular information around sales, material and labour costs, WIP, stock, margins, profitability, outstanding debtors and cash flow.
And if something doesn’t look right, I’m comfortable digging into the detail to understand why.
That’s the part of finance I’ve always enjoyed.
When the business grows faster than the back office
A business can grow quickly because it’s good at what it does.
More orders come in, more people are employed, more suppliers are used and more money starts moving through the company — but the systems and administration behind it don’t always grow at the same speed.
I can help identify where things are being missed or duplicated and put practical processes in place so the financial administration catches up with the business itself.
Systems that work for your business
Xero is the accounting platform I use most frequently, and I also have experience with systems used within engineering and project-based businesses, including WorkflowMax.
I’m comfortable working with specialist software already in place.
I’ll learn how you work first. If something works well, we’ll use it. If it doesn’t, we can look at a better way.
Preparing everything for your accountant
I don’t prepare statutory year-end accounts.
Instead, I make sure the financial records behind them are properly maintained, reconciled and ready for your external accountant.
I can prepare year-end information, deal with queries and liaise directly with your accountant where required.
Manufacturing, engineering — and businesses that don’t fit neatly into a box
The businesses I support aren’t necessarily mass-production manufacturers.
They can be engineering companies, project-based businesses and specialist manufacturers producing high-value or bespoke products, where every order can be slightly different.
That’s an environment I’m very comfortable working in.
Need someone who understands more than the bookkeeping?
You might need somebody to take over the accounts, experienced support in a particular area, or help bringing some structure to the financial administration as the business grows.
You don’t need to know exactly what the solution is before contacting me.
Tell me how the business currently works, what’s taking up your time and what isn’t working as well as you’d like. We’ll take it from there.