Most growing businesses ask the wrong finance question. It is not whether you need a CFO. It is whether your finance function is actually ready for one. Claire Hancott explains the difference between a bookkeeper, financial controller, and CFO, why most seven-figure businesses are missing the middle layer, and what to fix first.

You know your overall profit margin. But do you know which trucks are making money and which ones are quietly dragging it down? Most transport businesses cannot answer that question, not because the information does not exist, but because their accounts are not set up to show it. Here is what to look at and why it changes every decision you make about pricing, fleet investment, and growth.

Accountant, financial controller, or Finance Director? Most business owners only ask this question when something has already gone wrong. Here is how to work out exactly what level of financial support your business needs right now, and what getting it wrong costs in both directions.

Most business owners don't leave their accountant because something went wrong. They leave when they finally notice what they've been missing. Here's how to recognise the signs and what changing accountants actually involves.

If your business is constantly watching the bank account, the problem might not be your cash flow management. It might be your margin. Here is why low margins and poor cash flow almost always go together, why it gets worse as you grow, and what to do about it.

Chasing invoices takes more time and headspace than it should. The businesses that get paid fastest are not the ones with the toughest credit control. They are the ones that make paying the easiest thing their customer does all week. Here are seven ways to remove payment friction and get cash in faster.

Your P&L says the business is profitable. Your bank account tells a different story. This is one of the most common and least talked about problems in growing businesses. Here is why it happens and what to do before it becomes a crisis.

Your P&L says you are making money. Your bank account tells a different story. Here is what your profit and loss statement is not showing you, why profitable businesses still run out of cash, and what to look at instead if you want numbers you can actually trust.

Most businesses get reports. Not management accounts. There is a significant difference. This post explains the four steps that separate a basic financial report from management accounts you can actually trust and use to make decisions.

If you run a limited company and you haven't reviewed your annual tax allowances before 5th April, you could be handing money back to HMRC that you were legally entitled to keep. For limited company directors, the end of the tax year is a firm deadline — miss it, and those allowances are gone for good. The good news is that a handful of straightforward actions, taken before the tax year closes, can make a meaningful difference to your cash flow and overall tax position. Her

Most business owners think they need complicated systems to scale. They imagine that reaching eight figures requires sophisticated...

A 70-year-old strategic framework that's more relevant than ever for scaling profitable businesses As a 7-figure business owner, you're drowning in growth opportunities. New markets beckon, innovative products tempt you, and competitors seem to be expanding in every direction. But here's the uncomfortable truth: most business growth strategies fail because owners choose the wrong path at the wrong time. The solution isn't newer, flashier tactics. It's a 70-year-old framework

If you're running a 7-figure business and wondering whether your record-keeping would stand up to HMRC scrutiny, the answer for most business owners is uncomfortably clear: probably not. And that's not because you're doing anything deliberately wrong—it's because the goalposts have moved dramatically, and most accountants haven't warned their clients about the new reality. HMRC has just recruited 500 additional compliance staff, invested £1.7 billion into enforcement technolo

Stop drowning in meaningless metrics and discover the one KPI that truly matters for your business profitability As a 7-figure business owner, you're likely drowning in data. Your management accounts are thick with numbers, your finance manager sends you weekly reports, and your bookkeeping system generates beautiful dashboards with the click of a button. But here's the problem: most of this data is noise, not signal. The biggest challenge facing successful business owners to

Why every 7-figure business owner with multiple companies needs to understand Substantial Shareholding Exemption before it's too late When you're running multiple 7-figure businesses, the complexity of your financial structure can either be your biggest asset or your most expensive mistake. A recent client conversation perfectly illustrates this point – a business owner was about to face an unexpected tax bill of thousands simply because nobody had explained one crucial tax r