Augment

Traditional accountancy services, often known as compliance services, are crucial for ensuring your business adheres with tax and company laws/regulations. These services are typically carried out by your accountant and/or bookkeeper and include:

• Financial statements - annual accounts are required
• Bookkeeping - keeping accurate financial records
• VAT returns - typically filed quarterly or monthly
• Tax returns - filed annually based on the annual accounts
• CIS returns - filed monthly and annually

While traditional accountancy (compliance) services are essential for meeting legal and tax obligations, they fall short when it comes to actively contributing to your business's growth and profitability. Businesses pay for these services and sometimes receive the bare minimum in return. For example:

Annual Accounts
Prepared retrospectively, often 9+ months after the financial period they relate to. This renders them essentially zero value for real-time decision-making. You shouldn't be making business decisions based historical information looking back 12 months that is 9+ months out of date - it's too late!

Compliance services serve as a baseline, ensuring your business meets regulatory requirements but they lack the proactive insights needed to drive growth and increase profits.

Bookkeeping is tracking the day-to-day transactions, recording what goes in and out of the business. Accounting is reporting the numbers in a specific way and interpreting them so the bigger picture can be assessed. So, think of bookkeepers as the note-takers and accountants as the storyteller. If the notes aren't accurate then the story won't make sense.

Now, here's where Augment stands apart from the traditional outsourced accountants or setups with internal bookkeepers and external accountants. Unlike disjointed setups, Augment seamlessly integrates bookkeeping and accounting. No handovers, no lost details - just a fluid, accurate financial story.

We are the note-takers, the storytellers and the analysts - revealing the bigger picture of your business.

While management accounts are crucial for timely insights, most businesses receive them in a standard format:

• Balance Sheet
• Profit & Loss
• Cashflow Statement

The real value lies in interpreting these numbers to understand your business's performance and make changes for the future. For example:

Profit Discrepancies
If turnover is up but net profits are down, standard management reporting might not delve into the underlying reasons. Is it increased overheads, decreasing margins, or specific projects causing setbacks?

Receiving management data is just the beginning; the real value of management accounts comes from transforming raw information and numbers into tailored insights that are focussed on the future. Do you need to look at cutting overheads, do you need to look at your markups or are there variations on projects you need to charge for.

Remember - management accounts are historical information and of little value unless you use them to make changes to your business.

Traditional Outsourced Setup:

• James (bookkeeper) does the bookkeeping for 20+ clients.
• Sarah (accountant) prepares accounts for 30+ clients across all industries.
• Andy (manager/director) reviews them and meets clients quarterly.

The Problem

• Disjointed Process: Andy relies on information from Sarah, who, in turn, relies on James' bookkeeping. This disjointed process results in generic information.
• Generic: You get generic accounts and Andy, involved only four times a year, can't efficiently tailor advice to your specific industry, business, or goals.

The Augment Approach

• Seamless Integration: Jon or Andrea is hands-on in every step - from bookkeeping to management accounts. There's no handovers between staff required.
• Never Generic: We specialise in construction so we deal with construction industry businesses day in, day out. The accounts and advice we provide are specifically tailored to you - never generic.
• Regular Engagement: Our continuous involvement means you'll speak with us regularly, not just on a quarterly basis. This ensures timely advice and assistance.