Fiscal Management Skills Essential for Business

Thousands of SMEs across Australia are encountering financial difficulties, primarily due to limited expertise in fiscal management. This was a key insight shared by MYOB’s CEO Paul Robson in a February 2024 Financial Review article, which highlighted findings from an MYOB survey of new business operators.

In today’s tough business conditions, SME leadership teams need a solid working knowledge of fiscal management skills, or the support of an experienced part-time virtual CFO to handle these responsibilities.

Here are some of the key issues relative to fiscal management…

Lack of awareness from offering of credit and the operation of a debtors’ management system.

Not understanding that credit terms do not have to be offered to every customer.

Not having a systemised approach to debtors’ management.

Lacking a system to send reminder calls or emails to debtors about upcoming due dates for tax invoice payments.

Lack of understanding of the calculation of debtors’ days outstanding and its use as a KPI.

Establishing terms of trade with key suppliers was another important issue identified in the article.

New business owners or buyers should not assume that suppliers will automatically offer a 30-day payment term. In today’s challenging market, many suppliers now require a "test period" for new accounts, often demanding payment with the order or on delivery. This expectation of prompt payment can disrupt cash flow for business owners who assumed they’d have 30 days of credit, potentially leading to cash flow challenges early on.

This highlights the importance for business operators to seek comprehensive advice on all aspects of fiscal management, ideally before starting a business. However, it’s never too late to address these issues; taking proactive steps can prevent significant financial challenges down the road.

Towers Business Development can assist your business to implement a sound fiscal management policies and processes. To find out more, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 07 4724 1118 or email .

If your business (with turnover of up to $20M) is an exporter of goods or services, or an Australian-based business offering services to overseas residents, you could potentially be eligible for Export Market Development Grant.

The next round of applications, for two (2) financial years – 2025/26 and 2026/27 – opens on Tuesday 12 November at 10am AEDT.

In our previous edition, we noted that the government allocates a specific budget for this grant. This means that once Austrade, the agency responsible for administering the grant, has allocated all of the funds, late applicants may miss out due to depleted funding.

Towers Business Development can assist you with the preparation for lodgement of Export Market Development Grant application. Contact us on 07 4724 1118 or email to find out more.

Would you like to access the previous editions of Improving Your Business?

Visit our website – www.towersbusiness.com.au – or click on your preferred article below:

Crowd Sourced Funding helps small companies raise capital! – Issue 036

Young companies can’t raise capital from the public? Issue 037

For Many the Capital Raising Journey Commences with Section 708 – Issue 038

Implementing Processes Similar to Large Businesses Helps SMEs – Issue 039

Continuous Improvement Is a Great Target – Issue 040

Financial Data Helps the Leadership Team – Issue 041

A Board of Advice Helps – Issue 042

Companies Undertaking R&D Report Deadline – Issue 043

Understanding the Export Market Development Grant – Issue 044

Have you got a topic that you would like to know about?

Please do not hesitate to contact us on 07 4724 1118 or email and we will endeavour to answer your queries and we could even feature them on our next edition of Improving Your Business.

Alternatively, we can arrange a complimentary initial consultation via Zoom, at a mutually suitable date and time.