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.

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.

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.

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.

Vending machines and coffee vending machines that serve hot drinks like coffee, hot chocolate or soup, cold drinks, sandwiches, snacks and confectionery on the premises, can give a professional and friendly image of your business. Also, if there are no shops close to the company, vending machines or coffee machines can benefit employees too. You can provide refreshments for employees, customers and visitors via vending machines that will cost them little more than a few pounds. Choosing the right vending machines for your business needs is not as easy as it seems. Companeo has reviewed the many different options available to help you make an informed choice on different types of vending machines.

The concept of electronic storage and online document management first emerged in the 1980s as office computing systems became widely available and affordable. Before that, documents were managed in filing cabinets and other kinds of storage, along with card indexes - a system that many businesses retain to this day. Since the 1980s, document scanning and electronic storage have progressed to the point where it is a wide-ranging and encompassing area of information technology, variously referred to as ' content management ', 'digital asset management', 'enterprise content management' or 'records management' among other things. Each of these areas of electronic storage and online document management implies slightly different issues, but this guide will stick with the main question of electronic storage, online document management and document scanning, as the most relevant terms for most SMEs.

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.

First contact, follow up, after sales service, ... Phone reception / contact management is very important in the commercial relationships between you and your clients and prospects. Virtually all your customers call you one day or another. In other words, telephone reception / contact management and business phone systems ( PABX or VoiP) are a major concern to your business ! It is crucial to ensure telephone reception / contact management is of top quality and therefore benefits fully from all incoming calls and converts prospects into customers while increasing customer loyalty.

The launch of a new product, a new website or a new business needs to be well orchestrated. There is a preparation that often requires a few weeks time, in some cases a few months (excluding product conception / website / brand). Various techniques and services are available to insure a successful launch for your product / brand or website. Identify the stages that are most appropriate to your situation and get going!

Exhibitions and shows are usually quite costly and take a lot of time and energy to prepare. For this reason you need to optimise their output and get the most out of them in terms of brand awareness and potential new customers. With exhibition stands, invitations and brochures, make your business stand out and maximise the end result of your participation.

Are you running out of space in your office? Find out more about our range of solutions to complement your business expansion. From office space optimisation to new office space and document storage solutions, improve efficiency in your premises with Companeo Agreed Suppliers.

A flawless organisation is key to the life of your staff on the road. First of all, they must be contactable at any time. Thanks to devices such as a company mobile phones, PDAs, smartphones, pocket pcs, blackberries or laptops your staff is no longer isolated and can reach you anytime they want. With online document storage and management solutions, they can also access any data necessary to conduct their task properly from anywhere in the world. Finally, their financial and physical comfort is very important too: provide them with a corporate card to pay for all their business expenses as well as the best vehicles available through car leasing, short or long term rental, or simple purchase. A vehicle tracking device can also be fitted on those to optimise their time and efficiency.

From first contact to purchase, there are numerous stages to your relationship with a customer. To make the best out of them you need to use a wide array of presentation tools. This goes from traditional business cards, presentation booklets/ brochures, to company films and website. Learn more about every one of those tools!

To be renowned is to have a brand your consumers associate instantly with your products and services and vice versa. This is as much applicable to a restaurant wishing to attract customers in the neighbourhood for dinner on a Friday night, as to a private plastic surgery clinic drawing patients from all around the world. Browse through the different marketing strategies in the checklist below and find the ones adapted to your target sector.