The Problem

When I started working with a small business, the owner didn’t have a clear picture of how the business was performing. Cash was tight and there were periods when paying salaries required careful management.

It soon became clear that the bigger problem was the accounts themselves. The numbers couldn’t be trusted.

The business had both a bookkeeper and a tax accountant, so there was every reason to expect the financial side of the business was being looked after. But when we started looking more closely, the accounts were a mess and couldn't be relied upon for decision-making.

Transactions had been miscoded over an extended period. The accounts weren't being closed consistently each month. The tax accountant was maintaining financial accounts separately in a Word document rather than through Xero, and there were also questions around the accuracy of the business's tax position.

The result was the that accounting system didn't reflect what was happening in the business. The owner couldn't confidently answer some very basic questions: Was the business making a profit? Where was the cash going? What could the business afford?

Before we could start talking about growth, pricing or investment, we needed to get the basics right and give the owner a set of numbers they could trust.

Before you can grow a business, you need to trust the numbers behind it.

What We Found

The review showed the extent of the problem. Historical transactions had been miscoded across multiple periods, GST reporting was inaccurate, and there was no reliable record of the business's true financial position going back several years.

Before any meaningful planning could happen, the accounts needed to be rebuilt and the underlying processes fixed.

What We Did

The first step was understanding what could be fixed and what couldn't. It quickly became clear that rebuilding confidence in the numbers required changes to both the people and the processes. Both the bookkeeper and the tax accountant were replaced. The existing setup wasn't salvageable through minor adjustments.

From there, the work became a full restoration project:

• Rebuilt the accounts going back several years, correcting miscoded transactions and reconciling the GST account so Xero accurately reflected the business’s financial position

• Established a proper month-end close process, with clear steps and ownership, so accounts were finalised accurately and on time every month

• Put ongoing controls in place so the business wouldn't drift back into the same state once the initial clean-up was done

The Outcome

For the first time, the owner could look at the monthly accounts and believe what they were seeing. The cash position was visible and current. GST and compliance risk that had been quietly building was resolved.

More importantly, the business could now have a different kind of conversation. Instead of spending energy trying to work out what the numbers actually meant, the owner could focus on what came next. Decisions about growth, pricing, and investment, made with confidence instead of doubt.

Business owners make decisions from trusted numbers. Getting those foundations right changes every conversation that follows.