One of the most common things we see with new clients is this:
“The business is doing alright—we’ve got a decent bit in the bank.”
And we get why people think that.
The account looks healthy, payments have come in, and on the surface, things feel okay.
But what’s sitting in your bank doesn’t always reflect how the business is actually doing.
We’ve seen this too many times.
You think you’ve got £25k to work with, but after we look through everything, only a small portion of that is really yours.
What You’re Not Seeing
That balance in your bank includes money that’s already spoken for.
You’ve got VAT sitting in there.
Maybe some CIS deductions that haven’t been sorted yet.
Wages that are about to go out.
Materials for jobs you’ve already been paid for but haven’t completed yet.
And maybe a corporation tax bill just around the corner.
Before you know it, that £25k is actually closer to £8k. And that’s without any surprises.
A Real Example
A client came to us thinking they were in a really strong cash position.
They’d had a good few months—jobs were done, invoices paid, and money coming in regularly.
But once we dug in:
- They hadn’t submitted VAT for the last quarter
- There were outstanding supplier invoices that hadn’t been processed
- They hadn’t set aside anything for tax
- And their payroll hadn’t been factored in properly
On paper, they looked solid.
In reality, they were close to running into problems.
It wasn’t that they were doing anything wrong—they just didn’t have the systems in place to see the full picture.
What Helps
It doesn’t need to be complicated.
But you do need some structure.
Here’s what we usually help clients put in place:
- Reconcile the bank regularly (weekly is ideal)
- Keep track of what’s owed for VAT, tax, suppliers, wages
- Use simple reports to understand actual profit—not just what’s come in
- Check in with someone who can look at the full picture with you
We’re not here to make things harder.
We’re here to make sure you’ve got what you need to make better decisions—before the problems start.
If This Sounds Familiar
If this feels like you—you’re not alone.
Most people didn’t get shown how to manage the financial side properly when they started out.
We’ve helped plenty of business owners untangle this stuff and get on top of it.
If you want help making sense of where you actually stand, give us a ring or send a message.
We’ll have a chat and work out what needs fixing. No stress. No judgment. Just help that makes a difference.