Financial coaching for business owners
Understand your numbers and what they mean for your business
You don’t need to be a financial expert to make good financial decisions. But having a clearer understanding of your numbers can give you much greater confidence about what’s happening in your business and what to do next.
If financial reports leave you with more questions than answers, Financial Coaching helps you build the knowledge to understand what your numbers are telling you and why they matter. Working regularly with an ilumin adviser, you’ll learn how to interpret your financial results, understand the relationship between profit and cashflow and develop useful reports that give you greater visibility over your business.
The goal is to help you use your financial information as a practical decision-making tool – not simply something you look at at the end of the year.
Reading financial reports
We’ll help you understand your key financial reports, what the different figures mean and what you should be looking for.
Understanding profit and cashflow
We’ll help you understand the relationship between profit and cashflow, what affects each and why they can tell you different things about your business.
Knowing your key numbers
Not every number deserves the same amount of attention.
We’ll help you identify the financial information that matters most to your business and develop reporting that makes it easier to see and understand.
Making informed decisions
Whether you’re considering pricing, hiring, investment or managing costs, we’ll help you understand the financial implications so you can make decisions with greater confidence.
Managing debtors and creditors
We’ll help you understand how customer and supplier payments affect your wider financial position and cashflow.
Tracking income and expenses
Monitoring what’s changing throughout the year can help you identify issues and opportunities earlier.
We’ll help you understand what’s driving changes in your income, expenses and overall financial results.
Building financial confidence
The aim isn’t to turn you into an accountant.
It’s to help you feel comfortable asking questions, understanding the information in front of you and using it to make better decisions.
Who is financial coaching for?
Financial coaching is for business owners who want to understand their numbers rather than simply receive financial reports.
It can be particularly valuable if you:
Avoid looking at your financial reports because you’re not sure what they mean.
Want more confidence with your numbers and how your business is performing.
Are a woman founder or business owner wanting greater financial confidence when making decisions.
Have a growing business and need better financial understanding as decisions become more complex.
Are making pricing, hiring or investment decisions and want to understand the financial implications.
Wonder why profit is increasing but cash isn’t and want to understand what’s happening
Want to become less reliant on someone else interpreting your numbers for you.
What you will walk away with
Financial coaching is about moving from simply having financial information to understanding and using it.
You’ll gain:
Less confusion
With a clearer understanding of your financial reports.
Better financial knowledge
Including profit, cashflow and the numbers that matter.
Clearer reporting
Focused on the information that’s useful to you.
Greater visibility
Helping you understand what’s changing throughout the year.
More confident decisions
Using financial information to inform your choices.
Greater control
Because you understand your financial position rather than simply relying on someone else to interpret it.
Common financial coaching questions
Don’t see your question here? Feel free to get in touch.
When to start financial coaching
You don’t need to wait until there’s a financial problem.
Starting earlier gives you time to build your understanding, improve your reporting and become more confident using financial information before you’re faced with a significant decision.
It can be particularly useful as your business grows and the financial implications of your decisions become more complex.
How does financial coaching work?
You’ll meet with us every two months to review your financial results and progressively build your understanding.
The focus of each meeting develops according to your needs. We can work through your key reports, accounting concepts, profit and cashflow, debtors and creditors, income and expenses, and any reporting issues that need attention.
Over time, we’ll also help you develop and produce useful monthly reports yourself, giving you more timely information about what’s happening in your business.
Between meetings, you’ll have actions to work on so you can continue applying what you’ve learned and improving your financial management.
Do I need to understand accounting before I start?
No. That’s the point of the coaching. We’ll explain your financial information in plain English and help build your understanding over time.
How often will we meet?
Financial Coaching meetings take place every two months.
Will I learn how to produce my own financial reports?
Yes. Part of the process is helping you develop useful monthly reporting and become increasingly confident producing and interpreting that information yourself.
What's the difference between financial coaching and management reporting?
Management reporting gives you timely information about how your business is performing. Financial coaching focuses on helping you develop the knowledge and confidence to understand and use financial information yourself.
Feel more confident with your numbers
Understanding your financial information can give you greater clarity about how your business is performing and more confidence when deciding what happens next.