How Brokers Can Help Optimise a Business's Financial Performance

Driving Optimisation Through Core Areas

While financial priorities differ between companies, these vital aspects exert the most significant influence on overall performance.

Improving Profitability and Cutting Costs

Analysing sales data can reveal more profitable products/services while also emphasising loss-making ones to limit. Avoiding unnecessary expenses like redundant tools and identifying efficiencies in inventory and supply chain areas reduces operational costs. Simple strategies like consolidating purchases can yield significant savings too. These measures directly boost profit margins.

Enhancing Liquidity Management

Robust liquidity management maximizes available cash flow to fund growth. This involves accelerating receivables collection, optimizing payable terms with suppliers, and securing access to working capital financing. Cashflow forecasting enables better planning for liquidity needs and identifies instances where excess should be strategically deployed.

Lowering Tax Liability

While tax reduction has limits, brokers can guide clients on legitimate tax planning strategies related to income timing, business structure, expense deductions, retirement plans, and accounting methods to minimise their tax burden.

Managing Risk and Uncertainty

Implementing robust risk assessment processes and mitigation strategies enhances resilience against threats like supply chain disruptions, cyber-attacks, financial misconduct, and economic fluctuations. Suggesting appropriate insurance against different exposures also lowers financial risk. 

Steps to Optimise a Business’s Financial Performance

• Conduct a deep analysis of the company’s finances to identify areas for improvement across sales, costs, liquidity, taxes, and risks.
• Set specific targets and key performance benchmarks tailored to the client’s business to track progress.
• Recommend technologies like accounting software, CRMs, and data analytics tools to provide real-time financial insights.
• Suggest training like financial management courses to enrich internal expertise and leadership capabilities.
• Help create comprehensive budgets, forecasts, and action plans to achieve targets. Conduct regular reviews.
• Where beneficial, recommend consulting services and specialists to implement complex initiatives like restructuring or risk audits.
• Ensure necessary access to capital through traditional lending relationships. Explore complementary alternative financing options like multifi’s revolving credit facility to optimise working capital.