Do you actually have a finance team — or are you winging it?

What good actually looks like

The quiz asks where you are. This is the standard it measures you against — the same answers Dan would give on a call.

How often should I receive management accounts?

Monthly, and on your desk by the 15th of the following month. Quarterly accounts tell you what happened a season ago, which is too late to act on. If yours arrive monthly but weeks late, you're still making decisions on data that has already expired.

What does a cash flow forecast I can actually trust look like?

A rolling 90-day forecast, updated every month, that shows what is coming in and going out week by week. A figure in your head or a spreadsheet you revisit occasionally isn't a forecast — the point is to see a gap far enough ahead that you still have options.

Should my personal and business tax be planned together?

Yes, because they determine each other. How you take money out of the company — salary, dividends, pension contributions, rent — changes both bills at once. Planned separately, or only at year end, you are almost always paying more than you need to.

Should I still be involved in running payroll?

No. Payroll is a compliance process — RTI submissions on every run, pension auto-enrolment, starters and leavers — and it should happen without reaching you. If you're processing it yourself, or one person does it with nobody able to cover, that's a risk rather than a saving.

What happens to my finances if I'm out of action tomorrow?

That question is the real test. If the answer is that nobody else knows how any of it works, the finance function is one person deep — you, or a bookkeeper — and that is fragile regardless of how well it currently runs. The fix is documentation and a team that holds the full picture, not a better individual.

How do I know what my business is actually worth to me?

Not the revenue, and not a multiple someone quoted at a networking event: the after-tax, in-your-pocket number if you sold or stepped back. Every family business owner should know it, because it is usually their largest single asset and the one most often left outside the financial plan.

When should I start succession planning?

Years before you intend to step back. The structuring that makes a clean transfer or a clean sale possible — share structure, pension funding, getting the business to run without you — takes time to put in place and cannot be done retrospectively. Starting when you are ready to leave is starting too late.

Is it normal to feel anxious about the financial side of the business?

It's common, and it is usually an information gap rather than a personality flaw. Owners who describe themselves as anxious about their numbers almost always turn out to be missing current reporting or a forecast they believe. Fix the information and the confidence tends to follow.