Reducing the uncertainty: financial forecasting and planning

Anna Stubbs • April 9, 2025

Uncertainty can be a major threat to your strategic financial planning.

Being unsure of what lies around the corner makes it difficult to make those important financial decisions around operational budgets, investment and growth funding.

But by using forecasting and scenario-planning, you make it easier to manage your finances and reduce some of the financial uncertainty.

Looking to the future with your financials

Analysing your cashflow statements, profit and loss reports and quarterly management accounts gives you an indication of where you’ve been as a business. But these reports don’t tell you much about where you’re going, and what your financial future may look like.

By looking forward, rather than backward, you can start to get a better idea of the landscape that lies ahead – including future cashflow, revenue, profits and operational budgets.


Five key techniques you can use to reduce your financial uncertainty


Cashflow forecasts

Cash is king, so having a detailed overview of your cashflow trajectory is vital.

With cashflow forecasting apps, like Fathom, you can predict your cash availability and spot potential cash shortfalls – while there’s still time to plug the hole. By cutting expenses or seeking short-term funding, you can keep the business in a positive cashflow position. It’s this forecasting and foresight that keeps you trading, despite the uncertainty in the market.


Revenue forecasts

Knowing the future patterns in your sales and revenue data helps you keep your income stable.

Revenue forecasting apps, like Clari analyse your sales data, revenue trends and market shifts to anticipate fluctuations in your revenue. Armed with this future view of your potential revenue, you can adapt your pricing, invest in more marketing and make your income more consistent.


Scenario-planning

There’s always more than one potential outcome of any business situation. Having a plan B (or C, D and E) allows you to understand the multiple potential possibilities – and plan for them.

An app like Modana helps you model potential ‘what-if’ scenarios, so you can see the possible outcomes of an economic downturn or disruption to your supply chain disruptions. This kind of scenario-planning makes it easier to make contingency plans and mitigate the potential risks.


Profit projections

Being a profitable enterprise is important for a number of reasons. It shows lenders you’re a low-risk borrower, allows you to invest in the business and drives your dividend payments.

A tool like Teamwork helps you track your performance and estimate future profitability, factoring in variable costs, sales and market changes. This helps you determine your price point, drive cost-cutting measures or make investment decisions that keep the profits rolling in.


Budget forecasts

Tracking and forecasting your budget performance keeps your expenses in check.

Budgeting apps, like Jirav, help you build dynamic budgets and remain on budget to achieve your financial goals. Budget forecasts help you track your performance, control your expenses and cut any unnecessary spending, keeping you on track with your agreed budget.


Making your financial future clearer and easier to navigate

With so many ups and down in economic conditions and the costs of raw materials and labour, getting serious about financial forecasting really is a must.

Come and talk to us about the key areas of financial uncertainty in your business – and find out how we can guide you through these uncertain times and out the other side.

Six steps to better cash flow

By Anna Stubbs • June 23, 2026
Need a hand managing cash flow? You’re not alone. The key is getting your invoicing right, by invoicing customers as soon as possible and using tools like Xero’s invoice reminders to move payments along. That said, there are a few other simple rules you can apply to manage your cash flow and get your invoices paid even faster:  Keep your books accurate and up to date - so you can see your financial state at a glance. Don’t be too lenient with your customers - you can be direct and still polite. Keep a close watch on your accounts receivable turnover at all times and act sooner rather than later. Keep your accounting simple - so you have a good handle on these business metrics. We can help with this. Keep your business and your professional finances separate - this is essential to understanding your true cash flow position. Mixing your business and personal finances can leave you uncertain about business performance. Build a cash reserve - so you are prepared for unexpected events and can take advantage of opportunities when they pop up. Track your cashflow and forecast - whether it's automated reporting, AI, or a custom report we prepare for you, staying on top of your cashflow and making sure you have funds to operate smoothly is crucial. First you want to get your invoicing right. Get into a habit of sending invoices quickly. Then follow the steps above to collect revenue and keep your finances organised. Get in touch for guidance on your invoicing and business cash flow, if you need support tracking or projecting your cashflow we're here to help.

Cutting costs or increasing your prices? We can help

By Anna Stubbs • June 23, 2026
With many businesses expecting a lower profit this financial year, the more prepared you can be for the unexpected, the better. Managing expenses is a good idea at any stage in your business and you can also consider increasing your prices to improve your margins. Smart ways to get your costs under control Cashflow has been a big issue for thousands of businesses this year, and when the money’s not rolling in, it can help to rethink your costs. To do it effectively involves more than just keeping an eye on outgoings. It’s about looking at all the moving parts of your business to see if your systems (or lack of) are costing you unnecessarily. Here’s how: Muck in - Do a cost control audit to work out where your big cost centres are, and look at your systems for managing them. Be aware - Don’t just slash your expenses without considering impacts. Also track costs and look out for opportunities to trim fat or take a different approach to get the same result. Unite your team - Bring everyone together to monitor and analyse inputs and expenses. Reviewing and developing your systems? Get your team’s feedback. Look to your peers - How do your costs compare to others? If a business of a similar size and production system to you is performing well, but spending less, explore what they’re doing differently. Seek advice - Got a good idea of where the issues are, or feeling totally confused? Talk to your advisors about your next steps. How can I put my prices up without losing customers? If you need to change your pricing to make ends meet, be honest and up-front with your customers at all communication points. Make it clear on your website and social media that prices have changed and why. Send an email to let all your clients and suppliers know about the changes. Meeting people face-to-face? Make sure they’re aware of the price hikes before they’re invoiced, no one likes a nasty surprise and many countries and regions have fair trading and/or consumer protection acts. Provide the best customer experience you can by updating staff on any changes and advising them on how to communicate these with customers. Worried you’ll lose fans? Consider staggering price increases of individual products over time. Get in touch if you'd like us to help with an analysis of your margins and expenses.

Leveraging the seven Cs in a hybrid workplace

By Anna Stubbs • June 23, 2026
It goes without saying that communication in the workplace is extremely important. Oftentimes, people will need to communicate with others, whether that’s a phone call to secure a sale, a chat with a team member, or an email about a cross-departmental project. What’s more, with hybrid working having become more entrenched in the post-pandemic era, effective communication has never been more important. The seven Cs of communication One way to improve the quality of communication in the workplace is to adopt the ‘seven Cs of communication’ - a concept first introduced in the 1950s by Scott M. Cutlip and Allen H. Center in their book, Effective Public Relations. Although these foundational concepts for effective communication have been around for many decades, they remain a useful guideline that can be used by remote, office, or hybrid workers alike. The seven Cs highlight how communications should be: Clear. Messages should be delivered with clarity: that means easy-to-understand language that avoids the use of jargon or slang to convey a point. Being clear in communications also means not using overly technical terms without clarification. Concise. No one enjoys reading stuffy prose that rambles. Removing excess filler from communications will help readers remember the point of your message more easily, while making your overall message more memorable. Complete. All essential details should be included in a message to minimise misunderstanding or confusion. Coherent. To ensure a smooth read, a message’s structure should be logical and consistent throughout. Concrete. Using specific, precise terms can help remove vagueness from your messages, and help avoid misunderstandings caused by ambiguity. Correct. Correct grammar and punctuation is an essential part of communication. Similarly, if using technical language, make sure that any terms are used in their correct context, and can be understood by the target audience. Courteous. Being respectful in how you word your messages, and remaining polite at all times, not only builds goodwill among colleagues, but is essential in fostering a positive workplace environment. Similarly, make sure to be timely in your responses – if you’re backlogged with work and know you’ll take a few days to get back to someone about a query, let that person know upfront. Follow the seven Cs to minimise misunderstandings, and to create thoughtful, memorable messages that encourage teamwork, no matter where your team is located.