Summary
As a Financial Controller (FC), Tracy Lewis embraces the ideas, creativity, and energy that micro-business and SME owners bring to their role, and turns them into practical, budgeted financials to achieve realistic income and profit targets.
She prides herself on being “the accountant who tells clients to spend”, actively encouraging their great ideas, and realising the best of them through costed plans.
It’s no surprise Tracy excels at this blend of financial and people skills. Tracy qualified as a Certified Accountant over 25 years ago, and in addition has taught Financial Accounting and Management for professional examination syllabuses and is used to acting as a “sounding board” for small business owners across all sectors, whose own financial knowledge is still evolving.
Tracy also reviews transactions and works on financial accounts, VAT, payroll, budgets, forecasting and management accounts. She dovetails closely with the Financial Director (FD) where one is in place but remains flexible enough to devote as much or as little time to every client as they require.
Experience
Tracy Lewis’ track-record is truly multi-sector, encompassing businesses and organisations across Business Support, Digital Marketing, Entertainment, Health & Wellbeing, Manufacturing, Legal, Charitable and Religious Institutions, Education & Mentoring, and more.
Some of the many pain points she has helped microbusiness and SME owners and MDs to solve include:
- Improving business decisions – Introducing management accounts with commentary, to support better decision-making and strengthen business planning.
- Resolving incomplete accounts – Providing a safe pair of hands to navigate through accounts and bring them to completion, including complex items such as VAT and PAYE.
- Identifying and rectifying shortfalls – Tracy’s close scrutiny of a balance sheet revealed unpaid invoices worth a further 40% of the company’s bank balance – much of which she personally recovered
- Streamlining systems and processes – Tracy has introduced clients to accounting systems and automation that enable them to do produce accounts more quickly, whilst her own accounting partners have enabled her clients to reduce their filing costs.
- Achieving growth – By mentoring and coaching business owners, and putting in place aggressive but realistically costed plans, Tracy has exceeded growth targets of over 20% per year.
- Measuring and strengthening performance – By putting in place budgets to achieve the business plan, Tracy has enabled her clients to accurately review the performance of the business, and maintain healthy cash flow.
Testimonial:
“The service provided by EFM is scaleable, and it’s an outsourcing solution so they provide expertise. Working with Tracy has given us a better handle on our finances; reporting, forecasting and financial management”.
Case Study
Membership Organisation; not-for-profit; £20m turnover
CONCERN:
The organisation had a business plan, but performance was not monitored, particularly when it was upgrading its premises. All managers were struggling to understand the management accounts and more importantly, monitor their performance in line with the business plan.
BACKGROUND:
A membership organisation, steeped in history and retaining its ‘club’ style, both in terms of business and financial control. The organisation had a healthy cash flow – that allowed for the capital expenditure on the upgrade of the premises and it to over-run!
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