Alan Crockert

Bridging the Funding Gap for Contractor Placements 💼💰 Paying contractors before receiving payment from clients can create a significant cash flow challenge for recruitment agencies. Fortunately, there are several funding solutions available, but it’s essential to choose the right one for your business. Our latest guide covers the various funding options, explaining the costs and structures behind each, so you can make the best choice for your agency. 📊 Don’t let funding gaps hold you back, check out the guide and get the advice you need to keep your cash flow smooth! https://lnkd.in/esc5bPn4 #RecruitmentFinance #ContractorFunding #CashFlowManagement

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RecTalk Podcast LIVE from IHR - In-house Recruitment Manchester presents Chris Bryce from the Freelancer & Contractor Services Association (FCSA) Whether you're a recruitment agency owner, talent acquisition lead, or payroll provider, this episode is your essential crash course on the UK government's new plan to move PAYE liability up the supply chain—placing it directly on you, not the umbrella company. Chris breaks it down with clarity and urgency: Why HMRC is targeting "payroll pirates" What due diligence you need to do now How non-compliance could bring £120M-level risks to your door Why FCSA accreditation is no longer a "nice to have"—it's a lifeline From recruiter audits to umbrella company traps and steak dinners with non-compliant providers, this episode is equal parts educational and entertaining. If you've ever uttered the words "but I thought my supplier was compliant," this one’s for you. YouTube Exclusive available here: https://lnkd.in/eNNUCbge

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Power Up Your Business Decisions: How Management Accounts Help UK SMEs Thrive 5 Ways Management Accounts Help You Make Better Decisions 1. Identify Profitability Trends Early 2. Control Cash Flow with Confidence 3. Make Smarter Growth Decisions 4. Stay Ahead of Tax and Compliance Risks 5. Build Confidence with Lenders and Investors Discover more by reading the full blog on the CF Accountancy website #Accountancy #Bookkeeping #Payroll #FD #FinancialDirector #TeamCFAcc

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Sole Trader vs Limited Company – Which gives you more take-home at £77k income? If you are a consultant or project manager supplying the construction industry and pulling in £77,000 a year, how you structure your business can make a big difference to how much you actually keep. Let’s break it down 👇 🛠️ Sole Trader (Self-Employed) Income: £77,000 Expenses: £7,000 Profit: £70,000 Tax & National Insurance: ~£18,281 Take-home: ~£51,700 But there’s a hidden cost… If you or your spouse claim Child Benefit, your £70k profit means you’ll lose half of it. By the time you hit £80k, it's completely gone. 🧱 Limited Company Income: £77,000 Expenses: £8,500 (a bit higher with Ltd company costs) Salary: £12,500 Profit: £56,000 Corporation Tax: £11,000 Dividends: £45,000 Personal Tax on dividends: ~£5,700 Take-home: ~£52,100 ✅ Plus, you keep 100% of your Child Benefit - because your personal income stays under £60k. The difference is worth over £2,000 when you include the Child Benefit you’d otherwise lose as a sole trader. So, who wins? 👉 Even with slightly lower profit, the Limited Company comes out ahead once you factor in tax and family benefits. #construction #profit #growth #elevate

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🎙️ New RecTalk Episode with Chris Fahey and Nitin Sharma With the Employers’ National Insurance (NI) rate rising to 15% in April, the question is—who takes the hit? Many recruitment agencies are facing tough decisions. If end clients aren’t willing to cover the cost, and agency margins are already tight, who absorbs the extra 1.2%? 🚨 What’s happening in the market? Rather than shouldering the cost themselves, some agencies are moving contractors from agency PAYE to umbrella PAYE, meaning the contractor ends up absorbing the NI increase. 📌 Key Takeaways: 🔹 AGPayroll only payrolls the rates provided by agencies—we don’t control rate negotiations. 🔹 Many agencies will shift contractors onto umbrella payroll to offset the cost. 🔹 The contractor may be the one to take the financial hit. This isn’t the way the policy was intended to work, but it’s the reality of how the market is adapting. If you’re an agency or contractor navigating these changes, let’s talk about how AGPayroll can help. #RecTalk #Recruitment #InternationalPayroll

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“We’ve making a profit. Sales are up. So why is there still no CASH?” Classic......and a totally great & common question. Here were the issues on this one… ▪️ You had prior year losses - and were funding that with late HMRC payments ▪️ You’ve got overdrawn director’s loan accounts - they were being funded by previously stretching creditor payments ▪️ You’re repaying loans and car finance on the balance sheet each month ▪️ And your growth in Sales? Well it’s tied up more cash in your working capital Now we all already know that Profit is not the same as cash But you do need to : ▶️ Understand what growth will do to your cash. ▶️ Calculate your working capital and how this changes through the year. ▶️ Remember that you need profit plus your loan/HP repayments (how much are these payments?) Can you service your debt? ▶️ Keep an eye on your DLA and please for the love of god, don't forget taxes......check and add Corporation, s455 and Income Tax in your calculations and cashflow forecasts. 💡 HERE'S THE GOOD NEWS - there’s a fantastic little report hiding in Xero that is really helpful and shows you where your cash actually went and the movements to get your head around 💡 💥 Xero - reports - cash summary - select this month - compare with 'enter 11 months' 💥 Choose Net or Gross, whichever you prefer. This highlights a lot of information, but if you don't FULLY understand this report, I'd say you are still in the majority (and I include Accountants), hey look, I am always happy to spend some time helping explain this report to people......... 📞 📣 I went Emoji mad, as there is a high chance you might find this one useful, it's such a common issue and remember…… YOU CANNOT MANIPULATE CASHFLOW!!! Abbeygate Accountancy #NewFashionedAccountants

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Back when I was a teenager, I read Freakonomics, and one idea really stuck with me: estate agents aren’t always incentivised to get you the highest possible price for your house. Here’s why. Most agents are paid a percentage of the sale price — say 1%. If your property sells for £10,000 less than it could have, that’s only £100 less in commission for the agent. Not a big deal to them — but a very big deal to you. So, they’re often more motivated to push through a quick sale than to maximise the best sale. The book proposed an alternative: tiered commission. Say you offer a standard rate up to asking price, but then 10% of anything above asking. If your agent manages to get £20,000 over asking, they earn an extra £2,000. That’s a serious incentive. We’re about to put our own house back on the market, and I’m thinking about trialling this kind of incentive structure with our estate agent. It’s aligned, it’s motivating, and it just feels like the right kind of behavioural nudge. Has anyone tried something similar? I’d love to hear your experiences — good, bad or just theoretical.

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What's the fastest way for business owners to destroy their business? 🤔 Is it ..... a) Over-riding partner opinions 🚷 b) Undervaluing staff 🚻 c) Letting customer care slip ⛔️ d) Failing to invest in up to date systems ⚠️ e) Using business funds as their own 🏧 f) Ignoring professional advice 🛂 g) Abusing suppliers ☢️ h) Failure to collect debts in a timely manner🫟 i) Not adapting to market changes 🚳 j) Persevering with flawed strategies ☣️ The answer is any single one could do it, depending on the circumstances. But usually there are several working hand in hand to hasten the end 🙄 #failure #businessadvice #mismanagement

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Here are some top tips for business owners that are in current negotiations for selling their business. ⭐️ Make sure the business is running as normal, whether the sale completes or not you need to make sure the business is still doing well ⭐️ Keep your accounts fully up to date, the buyer will expect to keep seeing regular, updated accounts throughout the negotiation period. Otherwise this could delay the deal or even make it fall apart. ⭐️ If you have a broker like Succession Planning Limited they will produce a timetable and keep you regularly informed, often we talk to the buyers and sellers daily at critical points of the deal. If you don’t have a timetable ask for one. ⭐️ Not a good idea to go on long annual leave during heads of terms to completion. save the fabulous holiday for after completion. The odd day or long weekend is fine. ⭐️ Talk to your IFA, tax advisor and personal solicitor before the deal completes. You will need advice, re tax minimisation, what to do with the funds, any change to your IHT forecast and whether you need to adjust your will. ⭐️ Keep the deal confidential, do not speak to clients, suppliers or employees re the deal, unless agreed with other side. I have seen sellers not take this advice, tell key staff members, they resign and then the deal is dead. This is a very big week for completions. The Goringe Accountants business advisory team have two financial due diligence client completing purchases this week. Succession Planning Limited have two deals fingers crossed ready for Heads of Terms sign off and three others set to receive their first offers this month. Hopefully this will be a great quarter for completions.

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Most entrepreneurs panic when their VAT bill goes up. But here’s the truth 👇 A rising VAT bill is often a good sign. It doesn’t mean you’re being punished. It usually means: ✅ Your sales are increasing ✅ Your customers are spending more ✅ Your business is moving in the right direction VAT is a tax on sales — so a bigger bill is often just a reflection of higher turnover. Of course, if your VAT spikes because of poor cash flow management or missed reclaim opportunities, that’s a red flag. But in most cases… ➡️ A growing VAT bill = a growing business. So next time you see your VAT liability rising, don’t just focus on the payment due. Take a moment to celebrate the fact your business is moving forward. 🚀 👉 Has your VAT bill been creeping up lately? Is it growth, or cash flow pressure?

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You don’t need to be big to look professional. Some of the best tender wins I’ve seen this year haven’t come from big-name contractors. They’ve come from sole traders and SMEs who had their paperwork spot on. When a buyer sees: → CHAS, SMAS, SafeContractor or Constructionline → Up-to-date, site specific RAMS ready to send → Professional, branded policies that stand out → Consistent H&S documents across all bids That one-man band suddenly looks like a 10-man team. It’s not about size - it’s about presentation and compliance. If you’re still waiting until you’re “bigger” to get accredited, you’re probably already losing out to those who didn’t wait.

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From Brilliant Technician to Confident Business Owner Most SME owners didn’t start a business to run a business. You were a great accountant/solicitor/engineer… then discovered ownership is a different job. Common signs you’re still “on the tools”: Your diary is full of urgent work, not important work. Sales arrive by luck, not a repeatable process. You fix problems personally because it’s faster. Holidays mean “phone on” rather than “feet up”. The shift (tech → owner) looks like: Doing → Designing: map your core process and standardise it. Busy → Prioritised: ring-fence a weekly CEO Hour. Ad-hoc sales → Pipeline: track leads, stages, and next actions. Heroics → Team: clear roles, simple KPIs, calm reviews. Memory → System: one source of truth for tasks, cash and customers. Quick wins this month Block 60 minutes/week for strategy (non-negotiable). Create a 1-page scorecard (leads, conversion, £ margin, on-time delivery, cash days). Write a 30-60-90 plan for the next hire (or your new sales push). Document the top 5 repeat jobs—then delegate one. Challenge: If you were to disappear for two weeks, would the business keep its promises? CTA: Comment OWNER and I’ll share my 1-page “Technician-to-Owner” checklist (plus a simple 30-60-90 template). #SME #UKBusiness #BusinessOwner #Leadership #Operations #Sales #Process

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Your profit may seem promising on paper, but have you considered your cash flow? Cash flow serves as the lifeblood of your business, without it even profitable companies can collapse. As a business coach in Essex and Suffolk, I've observed that many business owners realise too late that sales alone don't guarantee sustainability. The key lies in proactively forecasting and managing your cash flow to prevent issues before they arise. I'd recommend you to begin by plotting your future cash position. Estimate incoming funds, outgoing expenses, and their impact on your bank balance. Regularly update these figures with actual data to enhance the accuracy of your forecasts. Once you establish this routine, there are several smart ways to strengthen your cash flow - Request upfront deposits to offset initial expenses. - Invoice promptly upon job completion to expedite payments. - Consider shortening payment terms to 7 days for improved liquidity. - Streamline your invoicing process to avoid oversights. In cases of delayed payments, take proactive steps. Follow up at 14, 30, and 40 days with increasing urgency, as each day of delayed payment ties up your funds. Exercise caution with discounts too. While they may seem appealing for securing sales, they can erode profit margins faster than most people realise. Are you actively managing your cash flow or reacting only when issues surface? Do you handle chasing late payments personally or delegate it to a system/team? I invite you to share a successful cash flow strategy that has benefitted your business in the comments. 👇 Let’s share ideas — the more we talk about this, the stronger we all become. For further discussion on optimising your cash flow, feel free to message me directly. #CashFlowManagement #BusinessSuccess #SmartFinance

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