Busy isn’t a financial metric. And making a hiring decision based on how stretched you feel, without looking at the numbers, is one of the most common (and costly) mistakes service-based limited company owners make.

In this blog we’ll walk you through the practical steps to prepare your bookkeeping for year-end, whether you do it yourself or work with a bookkeeper.

If you’ve ever wished you could peek into the future of your business; spot cashflow crunches before they happen, see whether you can afford to hire, or know if that “busy” month actually made you any money—management accounts are the closest thing you’ll get to a crystal ball. They don’t just tell you what happened last year (or even last quarter). They tell you what’s happening now, what’s likely to happen next, and what you can do about it.