The Australian Government will be ending the JobKeeper scheme on Sunday 28th March. Here are some tips to help business owners prepare for life after the wage subside.
Review Your Cash flow
With as much detail as you can, it is advised that business owners put together a forecast for the next few months. Get out the spreadsheets and take note of the following; From an incoming perspective: Sales figures (based on both last year and other – more normal – years, plus recent activity), any incoming grants, any royalties, franchise fees or license fees, any investment in the business or any tax refunds. From an outgoing perspective: Office space rental cost, product and operational costs, marketing, salaries and any loan repayments.
Balancing these will give you a positive or negative flow figure. Examine this closely with an accountant if required. As soon as you have a clear understanding of how the next few months will look financially, you can realistically consider making necessary spending adjustments to your business.
By reviewing your cash flow, you will have a better understanding of what is coming in and what is going out. You should ask yourself if there are any costs you can cut? Are there any cuts that aren’t essential to make and can be put on hold until the business is back on its feet? Are there cheaper alternatives to products or services you’re currently using?
ATO Debt
It would also be a good idea to check if you have any ATO debt. Find out if you have payment plans in place? Are those payment plans currently on hold? When will payments be recommencing? Are your lodgements up to date?
Loans
At the start of the covid-19 enforced lock many lenders offered loan holidays, some more generous than others. Personal loans, car loans, business loans, mortgages, look at what loans you have, where your repayments are at, and if any payments are due to recommence. Make sure all of these are factored into your cash flow.
Superannuation
It is also vital to make sure you been meeting your employee’s superannuation obligations. Have they been paid in full? If you need to cut staff numbers you will need to pay superannuation obligations, do you have the capital make these payments?
Forecasting
After you have looked at your cash flow it would be wise conduct some basic forecasting. This should be done to determine if you’ll be able to make ends meet now that you know what your profits and expenses will be. Look at your best-case and worst-case scenarios.
Capital
Have you got access to capital? If you don’t think about if there are any ways you can increase liquidity? Look at your payables, is there any room for flexibility when it comes to these payments?
Profitability
You should also try to conduct a profitability review. This can be done by taking a look at the services and products you’re offering, are they still providing a reasonable profit margin? Are some performing better than others? This is the perfect opportunity to determine if you should be adjusting your service or product offerings based on profit margins. There’s nothing to say you can’t revert back once the business is tracking nicely.
While you are looking at profit margins, look at any opportunities to build in recurring revenue? Do your products or services potentially work on a subscription basis to enable your revenue to be reliable and frequent?