Lucinda Meek
Finance Director, IABM
There are a number of warning signs that a company is in financial distress and action is required.
Insolvency isn’t always avoidable but the chances of doing so are always improved if action is taken early and rapidly to give the company the greatest opportunity of trading its way out of difficulty. The warning signs can be singular but usually accumulate in a financially poisonous cocktail and it is important that directors and company accountants are prepared to recognise them.
Warning sign # 1: Creditor Action
Many companies and businesses occasionally miss payments; however, if this begins to occur frequently, it suggests that a business cannot meet its liabilities as and when they fall due.
This is especially the case when arrears of employment and sales begin to accrue. Tax agencies are never pleased about being used as unofficial bankers and failing to pay tax when it’s due is the number one reason why Directors may find themselves responsible for a company’s debts when it goes into insolvency. Directors are expected to know that continuing to trade with the knowledge of insolvency can have ramifications for them personally and it is important that they take professional advice from a licenced Insolvency Practitioner or to at least speak with their accountants.
Warning sign # 2: Cashflow
Most businesses suffer periodic peaks and troughs and in these circumstances, cash becomes king. Naturally, if the business is continually spending more than it earns, it will lead to financial problems. When facing cashflow difficulties, directors very often either try to increase their overdraft facilities and/or introduce personal monies either from their own resources or family and friends. While this may alleviate current cashflow difficulties, it doesn’t necessarily address the cause of the company’s cashflow issues.
Warning sign # 3: Falling Margins
We live in an extremely competitive environment and in most businesses profit margins are under more pressure than at any time in history. Sales are critically important but it can be said that while turnover is vanity, net profit is sanity. No amount of turnover can compensate for a lack of profitability and if margins are being squeezed, it suggests that the costs and expenditure are too high and the sale price of goods to the end user is too low. Narrow margins make a business vulnerable to the impact of small changes in other areas of its operations from sales levels, the cost of raw materials, interest rates and even the impact of staff absences.
Warning sign # 4: An increase in Creditor and Debtor Days
An increase in delayed payments to creditors is a sure sign that the business is sustaining financial difficulties and very often leads to restricted credit facilities, poor credit ratings, difficulty getting supplies and increased costs due to lost discounts.
It is also extremely important that you have an effective credit controller who pursues debtors on a regular basis and is able to manage the inflow of debtor monies. When a company is facing financial instability, cash is king.
A company should always have a business plan and maintain cashflow projections on a regular basis but, when facing financial uncertainty, those cashflows should be produced on a weekly basis and payments should be prioritized to ensure that funding levels are sustainable. If choices have to be made as to where priorities are created, that decision process should be documented and signed off by a director and should at least disclose the rationale behind the decision, the cashflow impact and identify a point at which cashflow will be regularized again and payments restored to normality.
Directors need to be realistic about the prospects for resolving issues of cashflow or profitability and however unpalatable it may seem, if losses continue to accrue or cashflow doesn’t improve, then they ought to take appropriate action and speak with a business turnaround advisor or Insolvency Practitioner.
