"Our mission is to help our customers succeed in their business, while supporting them every step of the way"
Keeping yourself, your business and your customers safe online
Access to the internet is a business imperative to connect to customers, transact business and network across geographies and industries. Likewise, a concern for individuals and companies operating online is keeping sensitive data and information secure from cybercriminals and hackers.
Supporting customers with security
The day to day impact of cybercrime has become a fact of life and a permanent reality for businesses. So, it's important for small businesses to take precautions to keep data safe from hackers. Just as a hospital is charged with protecting patient security, businesses operating online need to take measures to ensure customer data is safe.
Advice for staying safe online
Here are some simple, easy-to-implement tips for better protection:
- Always have two step authentication for all bank payments, one person loads the bank payments and someone else then need to authorise these payments.
- If someone asks you to change their bank account details for a payment, always double check this is this is correct and get it in writing.
- Always use strong, unique passwords for each site or service you log in to, and never share passwords. Having a unique password helps prevent a compromise of one login becoming a compromise of many. Password-safe software can help you manage your multiple logins.
- Use two-factor or multi-factor authentication (2FA/MFA) wherever this is available. This is particularly important for your email account, which is usually the means to reset your passwords for other sites.
- Update anti-malware (anti-virus, anti-spyware) software. It is one of the easiest and most effective things you can do to protect yourself.
- Keep all of your software up to date with security patches.
- Make sure your data is backed up regularly, and backup copies are kept separate to the source systems.
I will go into each of these steps in detail over the next month and make suggestions on how you can make sure this is implemented in your business/personal life.
https://www.xero.com/blog/2018/11/business-clients-safe-online/?utm_source=boma&x=boma
The value of cashflow forecasting during a crisis
During the ongoing coronavirus crisis, many sectors are seeing income either disappear completely or drop to dangerous levels. To be able to navigate the future path of your cashflow, you need to start forecasting – so you can map out your financial position over the coming months and can take the appropriate action to safeguard your cash position.
Forecasting your future cash pipeline
Projecting your cashflow pipeline forwards during a crisis is vital. Having access to detailed forecasts helps you to scenario-plan, search for cost-savings and look for strategies that will preserve your cashflow position.
Remaining in control of the cash coming into (and going out of) the business is the real focus, so you can accurately predict your financial position and can resolve any issues.
Key ways to get more from your forecasting
- Run regular forecasts – The financial landscape is changing on a daily basis at present. A cashflow forecast is not a document that remains static. Variables and external drivers are literally changing each day, so it’s vital that you run frequent forecasts and react swiftly to any projected cash issues as they become apparent.
- Use the latest cashflow forecasting apps – cashflow forecasting apps, like Fluidly, Float, or Futrli, integrate with your Xero accounts, giving a drilled-down view of how your cash inflows and outflows will pan out over the coming months – information that will inform and justify the decisions you make during these extremely challenging times.
- Explore the right revenue streams – most sectors will have seen their face-to-face sales drop to absolute zero since quarantine restrictions came into place. To overcome this, there’s a real imperative to explore revenue streams and new opportunities for income. An example of this is coffee shops that now sell roasted beans online (this will depend on lockdown restrictions). The idea is to find ways to increase the money that’s coming in the door and balance out your unavoidable expenses.
- Get proactive with cost-cutting – if you can reduce cash outflows to a minimum, that will have a real impact on the health of your future cashflow. Pare back your operations and aim to reduce things like unnecessary software subscriptions, or over-ordering of basic supplies. Negotiating cheaper rates with suppliers, if possible, will also help.
- Review your staffing needs – now’s not the time to make anyone redundant, but you can look at ways to reduce the costs of staffing and resourcing. Reducing working hours or redeploying staff in different roles are all options that reduce payroll costs, while also looking after your staff’s welfare.
- Run a variety of scenarios – changing the financial drivers in your forecast model allows you to scenario-plan different strategies and options. Many of these will be in a long-term plan when restrictions ease. Scenario-planning lets you answer questions and will give you some hard evidence on which to base your decision-making and strategic outlook over the coming months.
- Look at various ways to access funding – if forecasts show a giant cashflow hole coming up, you’re going to need additional funding to get through this crisis. We can assist your business to investigate funding opportunities from grants, banks, loan providers, alternative lenders and crowd-sourcing funders.
Talk to us about setting up cashflow forecasting
Forceasting is an important step to give you the business intelligence to support your decision making.
Get in touch to improve your control over cashflow.
Some dates to remember
PAYE for April is due for payment 20 May.
GST for March & April due for filing and payment by 7 May 2020
Provisional Tax payment 3 is due for payment 7 May 2020 - standard method
P O Box 49080, Himatangi Beach
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