IT & Telecoms

Getting a corporate credit card for yourself and your employees may seem like a simple, good idea. It is, but the range of benefits and services that come along with these business credit cards may surprise you. Today, having business credit cards is no longer just a matter of separating your business expenses from your personal expenses, it is an entire branch of corporate finance with its own trends and competitive pressures. This guide takes you through the main options you will be offered and suggests ways to achieve the best deal and find the perfect corporate credit card for your business.

There are several options when it comes to managing the accounts of your business. You can allow your staff to do it themselves. You can do it yourself; you could buy in an accounting software package or an accounting solution for your business; you could bring in a chartered accountant or simply outsource all of your accounting to an accounting practice.

This guide will help you work out which method is most appropriate for your company’s needs.

Cash flow management is a major concern for businesses. Unpaid debts, bad payment terms or delays in payment can be the difference between success and failure of a small business. At best, bad cash flow management will slow down business growth and affect your ability to pay for your own purchases and expenses. This guide is designed to help you keep on top of your cash flow and give your finances a proper health check.

The internet has become an extremely important business tool, with most companies relying on email and web-based applications to do business. A website is recognised by even the smallest company as being key to successful marketing. But a good site is not enough, unless it works hard to drive potential business to your site through SEO or Pay per Click listings for example. The majority of web users rely on search tools, like directories and search engines, to find products or services online; this guide from Companeo will give you advice and information on how to increase the amount of traffic your website receives and how to boost its listing on search engines.

Increasing the turnover of your business is not always enough to improve your profit margins. Cost control and reduction of overheads play an important part in managing the margins of small businesses. Some costs are hard to cut back but others can be easily controlled to stop direct and indirect costs getting out of hand. This guide from Companeo helps you consider your business spending and highlights areas where you can make some easy reductions.

Invoice factoring means that you can release funds more quickly, through getting an advance based on the value of your outstanding invoices. You can also save the time and cost of administering your sales ledger, because factoring companies in the UK can do this for you.

In recent years, invoice factoring has enjoyed a remarkable rise in popularity, with both large and small companies taking advantage of the opportunity to get discounted cash flow. It is now often combined with asset-based lending (on vehicles, property or IT for example).

Invoice discounting is a similar process, with the difference that your customers are not aware of it happening.

This guide takes you through the main stages of factoring and invoice discounting, to help you decide whether it is suitable for you and, if so, what options you can choose.

After salaries and premises costs, vehicle finance is often the largest expense for many SMEs. Making sure you get the right vehicles, at the right cost, with the most effective type of vehicle finance, will make a major difference to your business.

This guide takes you through the main options, giving tips on the kinds of vehicle finance that best suits your business and suggesting ways to minimise your liabilities.