To illustrate why cash flow forecasting is critical for advisors and accountants, we will be launching a new white paper ‘Cash is King - Cloud Style’ at Xerocon South in Brisbane. This white paper covers: embedding cash flow advisory services; scenario planning; cash flow management; pricing and debtor process reviews; and debt and capital review. If you’re heading along to Xerocon, the first 100 visitors will receive a limited edition printed copy of our white paper.

Here’s a sneak peek by Richard Francis:

When I founded Spotlight Reporting a few years back, one of my goals was to ‘democratise’ data. I wanted to help unlock and share the powerful data that core systems (accounting, financial and non-financial) have on hand and to serve this data up in more useful and customisable ways. The cloud have made that easier than ever before.

This need for sharing curated data is perhaps most pressing in the area of cash flow. With most accounting done on an accrual basis and majority of banks just show a daily snapshot of cash on hand. This leaves too many businesses and their accountants flying blind on the issue of cash flow.

We all know that cash is the lifeblood of all businesses. Without liquidity, businesses wither and die. Every year in most major economies, tens of thousands of businesses fail or are in acute distress.

Even good businesses sailing too close to the wind can fail, often unexpectedly and with alarming speed. Without cash and liquidity, eventually a good business will be starved of oxygen, fail to meet its commitments and gasp its last breath.

It may seem paradoxical, but you can be profitable and still go out of business. Or you can make massive ‘bottom line’ losses but be in good fiscal shape. The reason - cash.

Accountants and advisors are best-placed to do something about this massive problem in our economies. With access to cash data and, crucially, the ability to project this forward so that businesses not only have an early-warning system in place, but can make smart decisions in a timely manner. Accountants should be putting cash flow management and forecasting at the heart of their service offerings.

My basic proposition to the accounting industry is that every business client deserves a cash flow forecast. Every business client deserves an understanding of cash and liquidity for better decision-making – and your care and attention as a trusted advisor to “make it happen”.