Making a financial plan for 2013

Making a financial plan for 2013

As the new year approaches, now’s the time to look at your forward financial planning. Here are my top tips for businesses looking to grow their bottom line and enjoy financial stability in 2013.

1. Make sure you are getting the best deal from your bank. It’s not as difficult as many would imagine to switch.

2. Are you paying heavy interest on bank loans? If you’ve got a large pension pot, why not borrow from that instead and swop the interest payments?

3. Would it be cheaper to buy the property you are renting? If the combined pensions of the directors would cover the cost of the property you are renting, you could rent it from your pension funds.

4. Offer difficult customers incentives to pay their debts quickly.

5. If you employ even one person, it’s important that you learn about your new responsibilities under auto-enrolment. The legislation started in October 2012 and will catch every employer out unless they have made provisions to get prepared.

6. If you are looking to buy life cover, but have a medical condition that makes it very expensive, a group scheme could help you due to the reduced medical underwriting requirements.

7. Review your shareholder protection policies and cross option agreements to ensure they still fit. If not, the death of a shareholder may destroy the company.

8. Do you have any employees that are difficult to replace? If so, look into relevant insurance cover to see you through if they died or developed a critical illness.

9.  Check that your insurance policies are as inclusive and as competitive as you think they are.

10.  Your financial adviser and accountant are your closet allies when it comes to managing and planning your finances.

Carl Martin is a financial planning consultant at Carpenter Rees.