S1 Business Finance and Funding

Help the client understand their financial statements and what they show about the health of the business

Use financial ratios and performance measures to interpret the client's financial information and identify trends, risks and opportunities

Help the client build cash flow forecasts and financial projections, and test the assumptions and scenarios behind them

Help the client understand their costs, pricing, margins and break-even point

Help the client identify their financing needs and the forms of finance suited to their stage, sector and circumstances

Help the client prepare to approach funders, including the plans, information and evidence funders expect

Explain the obligations, costs and risks of different forms of finance, including personal guarantees and giving up equity

Present financial findings and recommendations clearly to support the client's decisions

Recognise the limitations of financial analysis, and when the client needs an accountant, a regulated financial adviser or an insolvency professional

Recognise early signs of financial difficulty and help the client to act early

The profit and loss account, balance sheet and cash flow statement, and the financial terms used by small and medium-sized businesses

The relationship between profit, cash flow and forecasting, and how to manage working capital, credit control and late payment

Financial ratios and key performance indicators, and their limitations

Costing, pricing, margins and break-even analysis

The main forms of finance (for example grants, loans, overdrafts, asset and invoice finance, government-backed schemes, equity and angel investment, crowdfunding and community finance) and when each is suitable

What different funders look for, and how to prepare a business for investment

The basics of business taxation and digital tax requirements, and when to refer to an accountant

The boundaries of regulated activity in finance (for example regulated financial advice and credit broking) and how to work within them

The signs of financial distress and the sources of help available

Financial modelling and forecasting tools, including spreadsheets and accounting software