Management accounts
Financial reports for directors and managers, monthly or quarterly. Less formal than year-end accounts, and tailored to the people using them.
An essential tool to identify opportunities and improve performance
Management accounts are usually a profit and loss account and a balance sheet, prepared monthly or quarterly. In theory they are similar to year-end accounts, but they are less formal and shaped around the needs of the people reading them.
Unlike year-end accounts, they show how the business is performing throughout the year. That lets you stay in control of your finances, identify trends early and respond quickly to changes in your business environment.
Reports you can run the business on, in a format you can read without an accountant sitting next to you.
What’s included
Monthly or quarterly accounts
A consistent pack, delivered to an agreed date every period.
Profit and loss reporting
Revenue, margin and overhead set out so you can see what is driving the result.
Balance sheet analysis
Debtors, creditors and working capital reviewed, not just presented.
Cash flow monitoring
Where cash is going and what the next few months look like on current trends.
Budget versus actual
Performance against the plan, with the variances that matter explained.
Expense and cost control
Cost analysis that shows where money is leaking and what to do about it.
Real-time reporting from a cloud ledger
We specialise in management accounts for businesses on cloud accounting. Xero lets us produce accurate reports efficiently, so your pack reflects the current position rather than last quarter.
How the reporting cycle runs
Agree the pack
We work out which measures matter to you and design the report around them.
Close the period
Bookkeeping brought up to date, accruals and prepayments posted.
Prepare and review
Accounts produced, then read properly so the commentary is worth having.
Talk it through
A short call each period on what changed and what it means for the next one.
Questions about management accounts
Monthly suits businesses with tight cash flow or fast change. Quarterly is often enough for steadier trading. We will recommend one and you can change later.
Within days of the bookkeeping being complete, assuming records are kept current. That is why we usually take on both together.
Yes. Every pack comes with commentary, and we talk it through with you. Reports nobody understands are not worth producing.
Year-end accounts tell you what happened after the fact. Management accounts let you act while there is still time to change the outcome.
Yes. Regular management information is usually the first thing a lender or investor asks for, and it makes the conversation much shorter.
Know where the business stands, every month.
Tell us what you need to see and we will design the pack around it.