Business Advisory

A business viability review entails attending the premises of a business and in conjunction with the proprietors of the business, assessing the present financial position of the business and its short to medium term viability by reference to profit & loss and cash flow forecasts which may be prepared upon several different scenarios. The review is carried out objectively by an independent person. We have found from experience that proprietors often find the process useful for it gives them the opportunity to:

• consider what needs to be done in the immediate short term to maximise survival prospects.
• review and discuss their strategies for the future.
• consider suggestions to amend or vary those strategies to enhance viability.
• review management /personnel issues and succession plans.

Normally the instructions for a pre-lending and/or refinance review would emanate from a financier or potential financier. Such a review would also entail attending the premises of a business to consider the present financial position of the business and its short to medium term viability by reference to profit & loss and cash flow forecasts. However in this case, particular attention is given to:

• the value of the security already available to the financier or the value of the security to be made available to the financier to secure its exposure or potential exposure pursuant to funding agreement(s).
• the ability of the borrower to meet on going monthly commitments under the finance agreement(s).

Once again, instructions for a security review would emanate from an existing financier.

This type of review would concentrate upon the value of the assets that are secured in favour of the financier. Such a review may well centre upon the assessed value of tangible assets but there would be many other circumstances where intangible assets would also need to be taken into account.

It is surprising to find how many businesses, especially in the SME market place, do not have in place adequate financial reporting systems that allow management to make informed decisions about the present and future conduct of a business. We can put in place the appropriate reporting protocols that will over come this problem.

The main driver of any business is cash flow for without it any business will surely fail.

We can assist by putting in place cash flow controls that should assist in cash flow management. At the risk of stating the obvious, those controls would centre upon stock turnover, the granting of credit, the collection of debtors and the incurring of debt.