I’ve run AdvanceTrack for almost 20 years, and this is the most exciting (and busy) time we’ve experienced.
But such a path was rarely smooth. In fact there have been instances, as many business owners will have experienced, where things were so tough that we had to run on an incredibly tight budget at home.
Questions about the business’s long-term future were also on my mind (and sometimes part of our family conversations) during those times.
And another budget has been a big part of everyone’s discussions in the last few days – the ‘mini’ Budget with ‘big’ implications and ramifications.
I am not a politician, nor am I an economist – but a chartered accountant and business owner.
I’ve built a great business employing hundreds of staff and am experienced enough to understand the fundamentals that have helped me succeed: a stable and ambitious family; good business advice; and learnings through my accounting experience. Equally importantly, a stable and ‘fair’ economic/fiscal environment.
The current policies and decisions led by chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng – and the impact of those decisions, therefore, leave me frustrated and concerned.
Tax and levy cuts for those who are well-off (including me) just don’t make sense. I imagine that very little of those extra thousands will find their way quickly, or at all, into the pockets of the hard-working – and that includes small or local businesses.
And those businesses are dealing with rampant inflation, a devalued sterling (making imports more expensive) and a customer base with rapidly shrinking disposable income.
As we saw through the Covid pandemic, some of this burden will fall upon the accountancy profession to help manage cashflows, funding and forecasting. I know that accountants are increasingly like my family’s accountant – an indispensable business adviser.
AdvanceTrack’s reason-for-being is to help accountants provide a better service, and to more clients. And, with your drive and ambition we are supporting more of you, more than ever.
Unfortunately, I fear that the blunt and political policymaking of recent days will leave us all offering remedial advice, rather than growth.
Written by Vipul Sheth
