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No business can know exactly what the future holds. But budgeting reduces the level of uncertainty, helping you anticipate problems, learn from the past and improve your ability to control the business.
Cutting costs is the simplest way to improve your bottom line. Introducing a cost control system can bring immediate savings and ensure that you remain competitive in the longer term.
Optimising cashflow and avoiding bad debts are two key objectives of any successful business. Setting up a good credit control system is the starting point for both.
Most businesses experience problems getting paid on time by their customers. Good credit control helps to prevent this becoming a serious problem (see Credit control, FI 16).
Small businesses already have a legal right to claim interest from late-paying customers. The statutory right to interest, introduced under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, will be extended to cover all businesses and public bodies on contracts agreed after 7 August 2002.
Running any business effectively requires good decision-making, which is based on good management information.
A business can survive for a short time without sales or profits, but not without cash. It is cash which pays the bills and allows trading to continue. And if you are growing, and extending credit to more customers, the need for cash is even greater.
You rely on good relations with creditors for the smooth operation of your business. Suppliers (trade creditors), the bank, and statutory bodies such as Inland Revenue all have a major effect on the cashflow of most businesses.
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