Payback period calculatorYou may be asked to help decide which resources within your business to allocate to certain projects. One way of doing this is to compare the payback period of those competing for investment.PaybackObviously, what needs to be... Read more

Capital investment proposalCapital investment in new equipment or facilities is usually a significant sum. It could be funded from internal resources or it may require a new source. In either case, a well thought through proposal will ensure that you... Read more

 Bank charges calculatorAs you don't get a bill from the bank manager for bank charges, they are often overlooked as a cost. What can you do to make sure you pay less?Carry out an annual bank charges audit You can carry out an annual bank charges aud... Read more

Project reportMost businesses have a number of projects in progress at any time. When any project is large or important enough to have a major effect on the business's performance (profit or cash), there should be a separate report presented with the ... Read more

Indexing management accountsNearly the entire focus of management accounts is performance against budget and looking at the reasons for variances. However, comparisons with how you were doing this time last year, i.e. "growth", are also critical. Addin... Read more

Evaluating the finance functionIf you've been asked to justify the number of staff in your accounts department and want to understand how much value they're adding, you'll need to record the time spent by your team on the different finance functions and... Read more

Scenario planning templatePredicting the future is never easy, and that's particularly the case when developing business plans. Budgets can become outdated or even an impediment to financial decision-making. How can you rise above this problem?Key var... Read more