InsightNov 26
The World Won't Wait for Your Business Plan
Waiting for economic certainty can cost your business opportunities. Discover how financial leadership helps you make confident decisions.
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Insights
Notes from the finance function.
Short, practical perspectives on the questions we hear most often — cash, margin, reporting, funding, systems, exit.
AccountingAug 2026
Getting the Most Out of Your Accountant (and Why Many Businesses Don't)
Many business owners have a relationship with their accountant that can best be described as cordial, transactional, and largely seasonal. A bag of paperwork is dispatched at year end, a bill arrives shortly afterwards, and everyone politel
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BankingJul 2026
Can You Bank on Your Relationship Manager?
Let’s begin with a familiar scene. It’s a Thursday afternoon and you’re on hold to your bank, listening to a tinny loop of elevator jazz while scrolling through an inbox full of emails marked “URGENT”.
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ProfitJul 2026
Are You Cutting Costs or Simply Moving Them?
There’s a particular kind of meeting happening in boardrooms across the UK at the moment. Energy costs are up, input costs are rising, margins are tightening, and the consensus tends to be that there’s a need to reduce costs. What follows i
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ProfitJun 2026
Over-Servicing Customers: How Good Intentions Quietly Wreck Profits
Imagine a business, let’s call it BrightSpark Solutions Ltd , a perfectly respectable SME turning over a healthy few million pounds, staffed by well-meaning professionals who pride themselves on being ‘client-focused’. Driven by the pursuit
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ComplianceJun 2026
Identity Verification for Directors: A Minor Admin Task That Can Become a Major Headache
It begins innocently enough. You’re a director of an SME and you receive an email explaining that, under new legislation, you must verify your identity with Companies House. It sounds straightforward. Two steps: A login. Possibly a photogra
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SystemsMay 2026
When Dinosaurs Roamed (and Still Roam) the Accounts department
Every business owner has encountered one at some point along their journey – perhaps even employed one. They’re loyal, deeply knowledgeable about the business, and possess an impressive ability to remember what the bank balance was on the t
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ReportingJan 2025
How to Bring Your Dull Management Information (MI) to Life
Management Information (MI) is often seen as dry and technical, filled with unhelpful numbers and jargon; and far too long!
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ReportingJan 2025
What You Have Every Right to Expect from Your Management Information (MI)
In today’s data-driven world, management information (MI) is no longer a nice-to-have; it is a must-have.
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SystemsDec 2024
UK Small Business Accounting Software Showdown 2025
In today’s digital age, small businesses in the UK have a plethora of accounting software options to help them streamline their financial operations.
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M&ANov 2024
A Deep Dive into Buying a Business
Buying a business can be a strategic move to complement and accelerate growth of an existing business you own, a way to diversify your portfolio, or simply to fulfil a lifelong dream of entrepreneurship.
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Business DevelopmentAug 2026
Getting the Most Out of Your Accountant (and Why Many Businesses Don’t)
Many business owners have a relationship with their accountant that can best be described as cordial, transactional, and largely seasonal. A bag of paperwork is dispatched at year end, a bill arrives shortly afterwards,
Continue reading →
InsightsMay 2026
When Dinosaurs Roamed (and Still Roam) the Accounts department
Every business owner has encountered one at some point along their journey – perhaps even employed one. They’re loyal, deeply knowledgeable about the business, and possess an impressive ability to remember what the bank
Continue reading →
Business DevelopmentJan 2025
How to Bring Your Dull Management Information (MI) to Life
Management Information (MI) is often seen as dry and technical, filled with unhelpful numbers and jargon; and far too long! But it does not have to be this way. It is not that difficult to prepare MI that can be a powerf
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InsightsJan 2025
What You Have Every Right to Expect from Your Management Information (MI)
In today’s data-driven world, management information (MI) is no longer a nice-to-have; it is a must-have. It is the lifeblood of any organisation, providing crucial insights that should drive your decision-making and str
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Business DevelopmentMay 2024
Signs to look out for which could mean that a fractional FD/CFO might be the right solution for you.
Running a business is rarely easy. Change is the new normal and this brings its own challenges. If you are running a business and there is significant change, these are the sort of signs to look out for that could mean t
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InsightsMay 2024
What are the 4 key benefits of having your own fractional FD/CFO?
These are what we see as the 4 key benefits of having a fractional FD/CFO rather than a full-time permanent member of staff: Expertise – you will get someone who is not only a highly qualified finance expert, but someone
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Business DevelopmentMay 2024
What are the main differences between a full time and a fractional FD/CFO?
We have already outlined the role of an FD/CFO in this article, whether that is full time, interim or fractional. A fractional FD/CFO provides the financial oversight but they will be supporting multiple businesses – per
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Business DevelopmentMay 2024
What is the role and what are the responsibilities of an FD/CFO?
Soundbite: A FD/CFO is a highly experienced finance profession who is responsible for the strategic financial management of the business. What does this really mean? We can view this as two main areas: Tactical – Helping
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Business DevelopmentMay 2024
CFO – Full time or Fractional
It is all too easy to make assumptions, isn’t it? And, as I found out to my cost, doing this can come back to bite you. More specifically, when asked what Tectona does, my answer is usually something along the lines of:
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FD RoleApr 2024
R&D tax credits: What you need to know in 2024
Understanding and benefiting from Research & Development (R&D) tax credits can be crucial for businesses, especially with recent updates and increased scrutiny from the government and its agencies. In January 2024, the N
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BankingSep 2023
Failing to plan, or planning to fail in FX?
Plan for the worst? There’s no shortage of advice or opinion on currency markets but, the truth is, most of it is unhelpful, unactionable, and usually wrong. Financial executives needn’t be plugged into second-by-second
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InsightsSep 2023
Discounting – what the numbers tell you
In our previous 2 articles we looked at: Pricing vs. Charging: What’s the Difference? The 5 Gotchas of Discounting Discounting certainly has its place. But make sure you are clear just why you are doing it. Here are some
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Business DevelopmentAug 2023
The 5 Gotchas of Discounting
Discounts can be a powerful tool for businesses, but there are also some perils for the unwary. Here are 5 of them: Discounting … Can erode brand value: If you offer discounts too often, customers may start to see your b
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