The Cash War Room

When I talk about what we do here at Insight Associates, I often describe it this way…

“We give companies turning over £1 – £10 million the financial management that a corporate would take for granted.”

Here’s a good example.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been talking in my blogs about how critical it is to build a cashflow forecast, and then manage your cash daily, with an eagle eye…

…Especially in uncertain times like this.

Now, that idea might feel somewhat novel if you’re the owner of a company that has just achieved 7-figures.

You may never have worked before in a company that does this…

…Or if you have, perhaps you simply never saw that financial side of things.

So you might not really appreciate just how integral cashflow management is in a larger company.

But have a quick listen to this podcast interview with Imran Nawaz, Tate and Lyle’s CFO (Starting at 6:19)…

He describes how, as soon as Coronavirus hit, the food giant “refocused our energy to protect our strong cash position”.

They created a “cash war room”, where the sales, finance and treasury teams met every single day…

This team tracked their cash situation and addressed any issues – for example, raising $200 million of extra debt.

Now, I’m 100% certain that cash flow forecasting, monitoring and management is already a daily occurrence in this £2.7 billion company. You don’t get to that size without watching the kitty very carefully…

…In fact, it’s probably a large part of the reason they grew to that size in the first place!

But note what happened here…

When crisis hit, taking care of their cashflow was the very first thing they did.

That’s because they know that you simply can’t operate if you run out of, or run dangerously low on, cash…

And in a volatile situation where many of their clients – like restaurants and bars – were in serious trouble, they had to make sure that didn’t happen.

That’s top priority for corporates, because they know their future depends on it…

And should be top priority for you, too.

That’s just one of the many lessons in financial management that companies turning over £1-10 million can learn from the giants.

But you don’t have to learn them yourself.

If you, too, want the kind of financial management that corporates take for granted – then call us right now on 01279 647 447 or email to get in touch with me today.

We know all the secrets – and would be delighted to help you implement them.

Regards

Garry

PS. There was something else about Imran Nawaz’s interview which really hit me…

Something else I think we can all learn from.

Have a listen, if you can (the interview is only 3-4 minutes long… starting at 6.19)… And I’ll share my thoughts with you in another blog over the next couple of weeks.

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The company owner took responsibility for building an accounting function which they understood very little about.

They had no idea what an efficient, successful finance department that helps propel a company forward looks like.

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