Strangulating Side Effects

Everyone knows a tourniquet around the neck really isn’t a sensible suggestion to stop a head wound from bleeding!

In fact we’d go as far as saying it’s a ridiculous suggestion…

…yes it might stop the bleeding but the strangulating side effect is, I would suggest, something most patients are unwilling to accept!

Why then is the Department of Health asking accountancy firms to review the way NHS Trusts report their finances? And why are NHS directors being put under pressure to be less prudent in their forecasting?

The Daily Telegraph reported that briefing documents suggest that trusts will be asked to review 19 specific areas such as reclassifying assets so they are kept off the balance sheet, or extending their asset lives so they can be valued more highly.

These suggestions, like the tourniquet around the neck, are dangerous.

It pushes problems into the next financial year rather than solving them and is definitely viewed as a ‘fiddle’.

Figures from NHS regulators show that the deficit for the first three quarters of the year is already £2.26bn – which is triple that for the whole of the previous year.

There are several key things we can learn from this example…

  • Don’t bury your head in the sand or change your reporting to make the figures fit your forecast. If you’re going to do that what’s the point of forecasting in the first place? You’re just kidding yourself and setting yourself up for failure ahead.
    If something doesn’t add up, investigate what happened and put measures in place to correct it. However painful that may be!
  • Keep control of the costs. It doesn’t matter how large the organisation is, if you instill a cost competitive culture at every level it will avoid unnecessary waste.
  • It’s vital to have a robust and accurate accounting structure set up from the outset. If you don’t have the skills in-house to do this use a professional outsourced service who will account for everything correctly.
  • If your organisation is leaking money put measures in place as quickly as possible to stem the flow while still allowing you to operate effectively. Leave it too long and there may be nothing left to salvage but if controls are too tight you run the risk of strangling your business. You need to find a good balance.

If you want help on any of this just drop us a line.

Why you hire the wrong accountants

The company owner took responsibility for building an accounting function which they understood very little about.

They had no idea what an efficient, successful finance department that helps propel a company forward looks like.

Read More »

Testimonials

Invest in your business today

Ready to step up, invest in your business and reap the benefits?

Get our blog posts directly to your inbox

"*" indicates required fields

Update Frequency
*
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.