Beyond the Return
Essays on the shift from filing returns to growing your business.
Most accounts tell you what happened months ago. Beyond the Return is my series of essays for business owners who want their numbers to do a different job: to support the decisions they are making now.
Three themes run through the series: management reporting that supports decisions while they still matter, KPI analysis that links behaviour to profit and cash, and structured advisory meetings that turn numbers into decisions.
I publish a new essay each month, drawing on fifty years in practice. Each one takes a single question and works it through properly.
The essays
- The Goldmine in Your LedgerWhere value is moving in UK accountancy, and what it means for the owner of a small business.
- Hiring the First Three EmployeesWhen to hire, who to hire, and how to manage out the ones you wish you hadn’t.
- Exit, Succession, and What the Business Is Actually WorthThe four routes, the gap between perception and reality, and why the exit conversation starts ten years before the exit.
- How Claude Became My Executive Assistant… and Can Be Yours TooBuilding an assistant from plain instructions and one spreadsheet.
- Should You Actually Grow?Most owners assume the next stage is bigger. The more useful question is what shape of business their life can carry.
- The Numbers Worth KnowingHow small business owners find the few numbers that turn intent into performance.
- Nobody Saw It ComingWhy the smartest people in the room keep getting the future wrong, and what it means for your business.
- The Capital You’re Not UsingPrivate credit, hidden cash, and the funding decision most business owners get wrong.
The books
The essays sit alongside three published books:
Numbers Don’t Lie: what your accounts are really telling you, written for business owners in plain English.
How to Build a Business and Achieve the Lifestyle You Want: designing a business that serves your life, rather than the other way round.
Practice!: for accountants building an advisory practice of their own.
Ready for a conversation?
If anything in these essays raises a question about your own business, let’s talk.