Management Accounting & Reporting
Unlike statutory accounts, management accounts aren’t something you have to prepare or file. They’re designed for you, to give you up-to-date information about how your business is performing while there’s still time to do something about it.
We bring together the information that matters to your business and help you understand what it’s telling you. Instead of relying on gut feeling or waiting until year end to find out how things went, you’ll have a much clearer picture of what’s happening as you go.
What to Expect
Reports built around you
There isn’t much point giving you a 20-page report full of numbers you don’t need.
By understanding the things that are important to you, we can identify what information matters and build your reports around it. You’ll be able to see how the business is performing against the things you’re trying to achieve, rather than wading through paperwork that looks impressive but isn’t actually much use.
We're not just number crunchers
We look at your data in the context of your business, your plans and what you’re trying to achieve. But we won’t limit ourselves to the things you’ve asked us to look at. If we spot something important, we’ll tell you.
That might mean understanding why profit has fallen despite sales increasing, where margins are being squeezed or why there’s less cash in the bank than you expected. We’ll help you understand what’s driving the results, what needs your attention and what you can do about it.
Seeing the bigger picture
One month on its own only tells you so much. Looking at your management accounts regularly means we can see patterns developing, understand what’s normal for your business and spot when something starts to change.
Over time, you’ll have a much clearer picture of how your business behaves, what drives good and bad months, and be able to respond sooner when something starts to shift.
Pulling it all together
Regular management accounts bring together much more than your monthly results. By reviewing and reconciling everything as we go, we can keep an eye on your tax position, plan ahead and consider how decisions in the business might affect you personally.
It means your accounts, business decisions and tax planning aren’t treated as separate things. When year end comes around, most of the work has already been done; we’re formalising a position we already understand, rather than looking back over the year and finding out where you ended up.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are management accounts?
Management accounts are financial reports prepared during the year to help you understand how your business is performing. Unlike statutory year-end accounts, they aren’t filed with Companies House or HMRC, so there’s no prescribed format.
We like to think of management accounts as a running commentary on your business. They help diagnose what’s happening as you go, so you can ask questions, understand changes and do something about them. Your year-end accounts, on the other hand, are more like the story of the year once it’s already been written.
How often should management accounts be prepared?
For most businesses, we prepare management accounts monthly or quarterly, but there’s no fixed rule. A relatively straightforward business with predictable income and costs might only need quarterly reporting, while a retail or eCommerce business with seasonal peaks, changing margins and lots of moving parts may benefit from looking at things every month.
We’ll recommend a reporting schedule that suits the way your business works, without producing reports for the sake of it.
What will my management accounts include?
That really depends on what you want to know! We’ll take the time to understand your goals, both for the business and personally, and what you’re trying to achieve. That way, we can tailor your management accounts so it’s easy for you to see whether or not you’re on track.
Your reports might include a detailed profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, budgets and forecasts, margins, costs or KPIs specific to your business.
Whatever we include, we’ll also give you a summary of the key points, explain how the results tie in with your goals and take a closer look at anything we think needs a bit more explanation.
Do I need management accounts?
There’s no statutory requirement for most businesses to prepare management accounts, so no, not every business needs them.
If your business is predictable, you understand how it performs throughout the year and you’re confident about what you earn, what you spend and how much cash you need, you may be perfectly fine without them.
However, if you regularly find yourself wondering how you’re doing, why there isn’t as much cash as you expected, whether you’re making enough profit or whether you can afford your next move, management accounts can help answer those questions. Even having them for a fixed period can be useful, particularly if you want to understand what a typical year really looks like for your business.
What's the difference between management accounts and year-end accounts?
Year-end accounts are primarily prepared to meet your company’s statutory reporting and tax obligations and look back at a completed financial year.
Management accounts are prepared during the year for you. They give you more regular information about what’s happening in the business, so you can use it while there’s still time to make changes or act on what you’re seeing.
Can you report on information outside my accounting software?
Absolutely. Some of the most useful information about your business may not sit in your accounting software at all. We prefer to look at the business as a whole, so we’ll ask questions and get to know how things work, rather than limiting ourselves to what’s in the accounts. Depending on your business, that might mean looking at sales data, advertising spend, stock, customer behaviour or other information that’s useful to understand.
After all, the more we understand about your business, the more relevant and timely our reports and advice will be.
Keen to move from ‘I think’ to ‘I know’?
Management accounts replace assumptions with facts, and the better you understand your business, the easier it is to decide what to do next.
Let’s see what we can find out.