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Aug 17
0

Boost your Business by 38%

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At Ross Boyd Limited (RBL) we work closely with clients to understand their results and help them improve their profitability.

 

So how do I make more money from my business? We believe the answer needs to be derived from four areas. One of these areas is ‘enterprise value’, i.e. improving the businesses value, not just its wealth generation. The three other layered areas of earnings generation are: sales; gross profit; and net profit. All are interlinked. Sales is a volume/ price based metric. Gross profit is associated with margin and basically operational efficiency, while net profit features overheads, tax costs, financing and asset efficiencies.

If your business can manage to increase sales by just 2%, while also reducing overhead costs by 2% and increasing operating margin by 2%, overall profitability will increase by some 38%! This means a business with turnover of £2,000k, cost of sales of £1,000k and overheads of £800k would increase profits from £200k to 

 

£277k.

 

This simple example demonstrates the big impact that small changes can have on profitability. If you want to understand the numbers for your own business please contact RBL.

In service businesses ideas for profit, improvement needs initiation and management. www.leap.co.uk and www.xero.com are just two of the great products that we use in RBL to assist increase clients’ performance in the following areas:

 

1. Tracking financial performance easily on a timely basis;

2. Developing centralised records without paper;

3. Working smarter not harder;

4. Improving timekeeping;

5. Improving billing and WIP management; and

6. Winning and targeting profitable new business.

Many firms have been slow to adopt and come to terms with the latest technology. This presents an opportunity to get ahead of the pack and improve your business results. Feel free to contact Ross Boyd if you wish to discuss any aspect of this article at: rb@rossboyd.co.uk

Aug 07
8

Will it ever stop raining?!

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It’s been a rather dull week here in Belfast. We’ve had thunder and lightning at regular intervals, heavy downpours…….and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s been caught outside without their umbrella.

We’ve all been there, sitting in our cars not wanting to open the door, thinking “Do I really have to go out in that rain?”

I don’t just speak for myself when I say it’s quite miserable showing up to work absolutely drenched, suddenly very unprepared for the day ahead.

Remembering your umbrella to avoid the rain isn’t always easy. It’s nearly a cert here in the UK that you are going to get a bit wet every now and again.

But wait, what if I told you that you didn’t have to get out of your car? Or that you could hang about in the café beside the bus stop until the rain clears? Wouldn’t that be nice, not having to worry about being late? Well…. IT’S TRUE!

With cloud technology, you can work from quite literally ANYWHERE and avoid that pesky rain!

There are so many benefits to cloud technology that, in this day and age, if you don’t have it by now….I can only assume you enjoy being rained on.

Contact us today to find out how we can help you avoid the storms!

Jul 31
7

Accounting and The Age of Automation

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Attention business owners, managers and finance professionals! Have you recently stopped to consider the impact of developing automation technologies on your business?

I had my first experience of working in accounting 10 years ago in 2007. Invoices were received in the post, date stamped and manually entered into the system for payment. This was my entire job and it was a full time one. Throughout the past 10 years, I’ve worked with a few different finance departments and they have all had the same processes – full-time jobs existed and still do exist where invoices are received in the post and manually entered onto a system for payment.

Since being introduced in the last 2 years to Receipt Bank, an automation software that can automatically read and sort invoices,  it has become apparent that full-time data entry jobs will soon be a thing of the past. This will be a major saving in labour costs, but also on storage and filing costs.

Automation software is only going to get stronger. It seems that companies that do not embrace the change will lack efficiency, directly impacting profitability in comparison to their competitors.

Now is the time to look at how immerging business software can help you improve efficiency, profitability and stay ahead of competitors. Seeking to modernise your business requirements? Get in touch and see how we can help you.

Phone: +44 (0) 2033 97 77 55

Email: info@rossboyd.co.uk

Written by Jennifer McCaughan, Cloud Accountant 31/07/2017

 

 

Jul 17
7

EXCEL SHOULD NOT BE MAKING YOUR WORKING LIFE HELL

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EXCEL SHOULD NOT BE MAKING YOUR WORKING LIFE HELL

Tofu. Brussel Sprouts. Marmite. Microsoft Excel.

What do the above have in common? People either love or hate them.

While Microsoft Excel may not be an edible piece of food, people either love or hate walking through the doors at 9.00am to sit down with the green “XL” logo. But why the negativity?

Excel is associated with complex formulas and distorted programming codes. It has a reputation for being unfriendly for the average Joe conducting everyday tasks.  It is frustrating when error messages appear or cells don’t add up, however, most problems can be fixed with the click of a button.

One very common problem on Excel is when the numbers in a column just don’t add up.  This can happen when a cell has been accidentally hidden or the wrong cell reference has been used in the formula. This is very easily rectified by selecting the entire worksheet, right clicking on a column/row and selecting “UNHIDE” or double-checking that you have entered the correct cell reference. It’s that simple!

Microsoft offers endless free tutorials on using Excel. Whether you have a basic or complex problem, do not hesitate to take their tutorials. They will make the rest of your working life so much easier.

You can find the training for excel here

Don’t dread that early start in work. Make Excel your colleague for life.

Ross Boyd Limited are experts in modern accounting technology. To see how we can benefit your business contact us on 028 9532 0155 for a no obligation chat anytime.

 

Written by Luke Bradley, Cloud Accountant 17/07/2017

 

 

Jun 27
7

Is your business ready for the next gig?

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The Glastonbury weekend has come and gone, featuring a plethora of music acts, and hundreds of thousands of music fans embracing the world-famous festival. With the festival season in full swing, we have a few pointers on how businesses can take financial inspiration from the event.

  1. Preparation is key

You will be sadly disappointed if you believe you can rock up to the concert ticketless, hoping for entry. Instead, you must apply, get registered, get prepared for the waiting game to obtain tickets. For business, being prepared is also key. Expecting to walk into HMRC at the end of each financial year unprepared with a bag full of paper records will only lead to disappointment. All businesses, large or small, need to be prepared for the financial deadlines and obligations for each year. The future is paperless with Making Tax Digital on centre stage.

  1. Prepare for all weathers

Each year, the fields of music festivals are littered with people, battered by the elements, whether that be too much sun or too much rain. Being prepared for all weathers is the smart option. Running a business to expect only blue skies, will spell for great difficulty when the thunder comes rolling in. Sound financial planning can help businesses shield from upcoming storms. Great entrepreneurs have a vision and plan which can be tested and monitored – how’s your shaping up?

  1. Security

Whilst the vast majority of festival goers will be there for the festivities only, keeping yourself and your valuables secure at festivals has proven difficult over the years. However, with greater availability of security lock ups, and the embracing of contactless card payments, the threat of pickpockets has been reduced. Is your business secure? Cyber security breaches are a modern-day pickpocket. Ross Boyd Limited use secure cloud based technology, keeping data safe. Clouds are here to stay and GDPR is just around the corner so better get ready!

  1. Get Creative

In a crowd of 100,000 people, you have to get creative in order to stand out from the crowd. Businesses can embrace the creative standards of the Glastonbury flag bearers to make their business noticeable in a crowd. USP is not a delivery firm but what you need to tell everyone about your business. If you know the answer to this have you broadcast it clearly on social media – We are special because…

  1. Embracing technology

From contactless tickets, to 24-hour phone charging, festivals have adapted to keep its participants connected to modern technology.  Businesses should keep up to date on the latest technologies to improve and simplify their work. Ross Boyd Limited has embraced cloud-based technology like Xero, allowing you to make key business decisions, from your office, to the fields of Glastonbury itself. How many years ago did you get your first smartphone? Take the answer to that question and look forward the same number of years. What will your business be using then for technology? Chances are to stay competitive or indeed get ahead of the pack you need to change things.

 

Seeking advice? Phone our team of cloud experts on 028 9532 0155 for a no obligation chat anytime.

 

 

 

Mar 14
2

Give Your Business a Spring Clean

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Now is the perfect time to give your business a spring clean, cleaning out all those unwanted or unnecessary expenses and improving your competitiveness. All businesses owners aim to maximise turnover, and ultimately profit, but this can be hindered by an increased expenditure which can go unnoticed. We have years of experience benchmarking costs and coming up with innovative solutions to support profitable growth. Keeping a close eye on those business outgoings is crucial for a successful business.

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Mar 10
5

The Spring Budget 2017 Overview

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On Wednesday the Spring budget was the first of two budgets in 2017, and the last time the UK will have a Spring budget, as it now moves to one annual budget each Autumn.

The budget document may have been considerably lighter on content than normal but it still packed a few surprises.

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