OPS Advisory | SME accounting that makes sense

Performance Accounting for Small and Medium Businesses

OPS Advisory provides accounting and business services with the sole purpose of improving the performance of your business.

We aren't tax accountants - we provide management accounting and CFO-services based on decades of experience supporting business owners and managers.

Current accountant not cutting it? There's a reason for that.

You'll know yourself if you feel you have the right numbers to make the best decisions for your business.

If your gut tells you there has to be a better way, there probably is.

Struggling with the numbers?

The reality is that the majority of business owners and managers don't have an in-depth understanding of their numbers and how they can be used to drive improved performance.

And nor should they be spending valuable time building that understanding when they have a business to run.

But getting the right financial support for your business can be tricky.

If you are relying on your external accountant, they are more likely to be tax experts first, and business advisors second.

If they have spent decades developing their tax expertise, they wouldn't have spent the same time working on the inside of a business, understanding the inner-workings, supporting decision-makers and driving improved performance.

Or, you might have internal finance roles in place but are finding it hard to get the balance right if you want to cover transaction processing, accounting, cashflow management, planning & analysis and strategy.

These areas all require different levels of expertise and experience.

At OPS Advisory our engagements are tailored to fill the gaps in your business.

We set up the optimum financial management support structure and work with you as your business grows, identifying when it makes sense to move to permanent resources in these roles.

Business owners are making hundreds of decisions a day, and accurate and meaningful financial information is crtical to making the right ones.

How it works

Our approach is intentionally simple but extremely effective.

It is based on the four most common issues we see in small and medium businesses (SMB's) when it comes to financial management and decision-making.

1. NO LONG TERM PLANNING

It might seem like a 'nice-to-do' but identifying your medium to long term objectives (5 to 10 years) and setting specific targets has a flow-on affect to the other finance-related improvements your business most likley needs.

No goal = no direction.

Here we cover things like the annual salary and/or profit required to support your desired lifestyle and what value you want for your business on exit.

The key to this is quantifying any gaps between where you are now and where you want to be, and developing plans to close them.

2. POORLY STRUCTURED FINANCIAL REPORTS

Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet reports used by SMB's are often poorly structured and are usually designed for your accountant and their requirements. If these reports aren't structured to help with the key decisions YOU need to make (not your accountant) - you will always struggle to get a good grasp of your numbers.

If you don't feel comfortable looking at your Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet on a monthly basis this is a red flag.

Without trust and understanding of these reports you really are flying blind.

3. SUB-STANDARD SYSTEMS AND INEFFICIENT PROCESSES

Having the right systems in your business provides two main benefits:

1. Giving the decision-makers the right information; and

2. Capturing it and summarising it in the most efficient way possible

If you have poor systems, or you've invested in new systems and aren't getting full bang for buck from them, you will most likely be making misinformed decisions and potentially paying people doing tasks that could be automated.

And supporting processes, particularly bookkeeping, can often be automated with today's technology.

Remember, your bookkeeper is not incentivised to do things more efficiently as less time equals lower fees.

This is a key area to reduce cost through efficiencies and improve information flow in your business.

4. NOT USING DATA AND INSIGHTS

Without addressing the above issues it is impossible to fully leverage the data that your business is generating.

Your data should, and can be, an assset in your business.

Armed with clear direction, accurate and meaningful reporting and fit-for-purpose systems and processes you can add the cream on top.

Making full use of the data and taking your decision-making to the next level with clear connections between the non-financial drivers of revenue, cost and profit in your business.

Learn more...

Book a free consultation

Book a free 30-minute consultation where we can quickly identify the high-priority areas you can address to make better business decisions.