Many successful and long established businesses have gone into liquidation recently with the papers often reporting the hardships faced by the employees and even owners. It is therefore essential that owners of businesses reconsider the position of their business and consider a ‘health check’ to ensure that they are not going to be the next business failure reported.

Five general warning signs have been established as follows:

• PAYE payment arrears start or increase.
• Needing to negotiate (or renegotiate) extended credit terms with suppliers.
• Needing to renegotiate terms with the landlord to improve cashflow.
• Being at or over the agreed overdraft limit which had been sufficient previously.
• Struggling to pay salaries and wages payments.

Other longer term indicators include falling margins, increasing debtors, increasing stock levels and increasing creditor levels. 

If your business is finding it harder to compete in the current market it is time to take a step back and look with a critical eye at all aspects of the business before it is too late. 

For further details on the above please telephone us to arrange a suitable health check.