An operator of several residential care homes had been badly let down by his accountant and was struggling to have his books made ready for audit. We agreed to carry out a one-time "catch" up exercise to review his records, prepare management accounts for 11 months and organise the records for audit. The review identified several profit making opportunities for Company including reductions of bank charges, highlighted lack of interest on spare resources, and identifiedtify debts not recovered and income not charged. Invoices for over £20,000 were raised and the Company’s bankers agreed to a new operating package which resolved both overcharges and ensured adequate interest is now being received. The accounting side of his business has now been reconstituted and we produce monthly management accounts on a day-per-month basis, together with ad hoc advice as required.

An established contract hire company was contemplating acquisition of a competitor and engaged us to carry out financial due diligence enquiries on a fixed fee basis. Our charges were significantly lower than other quotes they had obtained. The review highlighted a raft of errors of principle, accounting inconsistencies and simple mistakes. Detailed reports were produced in non-technical language and identified heads for negotiation approaching £1 million - the asking price for the business was close to £2 millions - and our client was able to achieve a very significant reduction in the final purchase price. Additionally the detailed research was instrumental in highlighting changes needed to accounting policies and management practices.

We specialise in one-to-one or small group training of Microsoft Office products, and in particular Excel and Word. The most frequent comment received back from trainees is that they had no idea that the software could be used to resolve so many of their problems. Our training style is very much tailored to the needs of our clients and usually involves an initial meeting to identify job requirements. One private client controlled a sales force of 12 and had to report monthly on performance monitors (monthly and year to date). Excel training enabled this manager to cut the administrative time from 2½ days per month to less than a morning whilst producing more usable data. It also revolutionised his budget setting processes and the manager was subsequently appointed Sales Director.

We were asked to assist in the production of a detailed Strategic Business Plan for a start up company. The plan was to be used to raise the equity capital needed to ensure a smooth launch and cover the costs of the first two years trading. Working with the Ddirectors of the company we were able to steer their enthusiasm and produce a high quality document which was used to successfully raise over £500,000. As the majority of investors were private individuals we negotiated with the tax authorities to confirm that the business was a qualifying trade under the Enterprise Investment Scheme ensuring that the equity investment was tax efficient.