Most of us would agree that success should be rewarded. However, in this current economic climate, seemingly spiralling executive pay is something which is guaranteed to set temperatures rising. While the rest of us are busy cutting corners, executive pay has generally kept on increasing – which, in many cases, doesn’t actually reflect the success their particular company is enjoying.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, recently jumped on the bandwagon, claiming that ‘big rewards’ for corporate failure ‘make people’s blood boil’.

He said to the BBC’s Andrew Marr: “What I think is wrong is pay going up and up when it is not commensurate with the success the companies are having.”

The Government is currently looking to introduce new rules, which will ensure companies provide detailed information on executive pay.

So, have the ‘fat cats’ had their day? Well, there’s nothing wrong with people being paid ‘what they deserve’ but it does seem that there’s now a need for more transparency and control over the process.

Under the new rules, shareholders will be able to legally veto what they think are excessive pay packages, while workers may also be given positions on a company’s remuneration committee. However, do either of these groups really have the market knowledge to know what is actually ‘excessive’ in this climate?

There is clearly a gap between the views of shareholders and workers and those of the board. I can’t think of many workers who would want to be seen to support big pay and bonuses for their bosses which seem so much larger than what they and their colleagues are being paid.

There is surely a need for people who are both independent and have market knowledge to sit on these remuneration committees; individuals who can listen to the views of board members, shareholders and workers alike and provide an unbiased opinion and the benefit of their wide ranging commercial experience. Step forward accountants.

Accountants are ideally placed to fulfil this role. They can offer an unbiased view about what is ‘fair and reasonable’, while also benchmarking the pay and bonus structure against other similar companies.

Today, accountants are increasingly becoming business advisers, providing proactive advice, rather than simply ‘doing the accounts’. In a competitive market, they are having to stand out from the crowd. Being an extra member of a remuneration committee is a way of doing that. Doing so is an excellent way of getting to the heart of a company and sharing good practice.

What do you think? Is this a good way of accountants earning additional fees?

Answer: True.

A recent study has shown that only 10% of solicitors and 7% of accountants are actively interested in finding out what their clients want.

As we noted in a recent post, many clients only engage professional services because they have to, not because they want to.

Does this mean we have stopped making an effort and allowed ourselves to become satisfied with our income, rather than thinking of new ways to interest our clients and gain new business?

The first rule of a modern practice is to be client focused - that is, to provide a product or service that is aligned to clients' needs. This makes sense - it is easier to sell something to someone who already wants it than to try and persuade them to buy something they don't.

This being the case, why are we not making more of an effort to understand what it is that our clients want, and how they want it provided? Come on now, we really ought to be interested in find out more.

Let us look at the advances in technology.

50% of the population is now estimated to own a Smartphone, a figure that will inevitably continue to grow. With increasing amounts of work done away from the office, conducting work on a mobile device, such as a Blackberry, iPhone or iPad, is on the rise. It stands to reason, therefore, that delivering services, such as newsletters, articles or even accounting systems that are compatible with mobile devices will become an increasingly effective way of connecting firms and their clients in future.

Is your firm thinking about this?

Professionals are rarely at the leading edge of technology adoption. 64% of accountants claimed in a recent CCH/You Gov survey that they are not likely to move to cloud computing - ever! ...but their clients will be.

And what about social media? With 600 million people worldwide using Facebook and 200 million people with a Twitter account, it seems ludicrous to think that there are professional firms out there who do not yet have a social profile. However, the same CCH/ YouGov survey showed that less than one in ten accountants use social media as a means of attracting clients.

But it doesn't deliver new clients, they protest.

To judge social media directly against new client gains is to miss the point. There is more to social media than simply generating direct enquiries in the short term. A social profile creates visibility and familiarity with your brand in an increasingly knowledgeable and discerning market. Professional firms with a social presence are thought of as modern, open, knowledgeable and forward thinking. It is this positioning that will differentiate your form against your competitors in the mind of a prospect - for the cost of nothing more than a bit of effort.

At Bizezia, we continue to invest in providing the resources to professional firms that clients need in a format that allows them to be delivered as clients want. Why not start with EziaNews as a means of identifying topical news items for your social media and newsletter strategy?

Bizezia Managing Director, Martin Pollins, derides the notion that banks are supporting businesses with low interest rates. 

There is talk afoot about interest rates going up. But hold on - new figures show that interest rates charged by banks and other lenders on small loans have already reached their highest level for more than a decade, despite the base rate being at a record low.

Before the credit crunch (thought to have started on 9 August 2007 when bad news from French bank, BNP Paribas, triggered a sharp rise in the cost of credit) banks and other providers charged about 8.6% on a £5,000 loan.  Now, according to financial information group Moneyfacts, the average is 12.7% - the highest level since May 2000.

Moneyfacts blames the interest hike on the increased risk of people defaulting on the loans and added that lenders had previously offset the cost of low loan rates by selling controversial payment protection insurance. Now, the banking industry face a £7bn to £9bn compensation bill for mis-selling the cover.  Furthermore, the high level of bad publicity about the product is likely to lead to a sharp fall in the number of people taking it out in future, which means it can no longer be relied upon for further profits.

The Bank of England, which admittedly monitors a slightly different range of lenders, said earlier this month that interest rates on £5,000 loans had hit a record high of 15.58% during April 2011 after soaring by a massive 3.2% during the month - the biggest recorded monthly change since it first began collecting the data 6 years ago. People looking to borrow higher sums of money are a little better off, with average interest rates on loans of more than £10,000 falling during April for the fourth consecutive month to 9.01%.

The Bank of England base rate has been 0.5% since March 2009. The gap between base rate (0.5%) and actual interest charged (more than 12% on average) is over 11.5% -  or 23 times base rate.

If you go back to August 2007 (see above), base rate was 5.75%, but actual rates being charged were 8.6% - a gap of only 2.85%, or about half of base rate.   So what this means is that today, lenders want a profit margin of 11.5% whereas before the credit crunch, they managed comfortably on a profit margin of 2.85%. Who can be surprised that British businesses do not want to take out loans to expand their enterprises?

How banks can use base rate as a weapon to cream money from savers on the one hand by paying so little on deposits (sometimes as low as 0.1%) while taking advantage of borrowers on the other, is beyond comprehension.

Equally, it is futile to be fining banks for mis-selling or mishandling of complaints (Bank of Scotland was in the news this week having been fined £3.5m for failing to deal adequately with complaints relating to its retail investment products).  The fine is only met by squeezed borrowers in the form of ever escalating margins.  The punishment needs to sit where it is due – firmly in the personal lap of the directors.

The Government called on Project Merlin to get the banks to lend more… interestingly, the story of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Merlin is thought to be based on the Welsh Myrddin, a wise man who went mad after the battle of Arfderydd and retired to the Celidon Forest. Hmm.

Martin Pollins, Managing Director of Bizezia, issues a rallying cry to an industry in danger of being caught in the headlights.

As business professionals, we think we have a pretty good idea of what it takes to run a successful professional practice. Attention to detail and a close eye on billing recovery rates are the benchmarks in an industry that is clutching onto the past.Well, the bad news is that the future is here and it's here now.What do we as professionals really provide to our clients? An important service, certainly, but for the most part, clients only employ us because they have to. This is not a recipe for growth or optimal earnings.

We mustn't kid ourselves that our firm has qualities that surpass anything our competitors can offer. Imagine for a moment a prospective client asking what makes your firm stand out from the rest. Sure, we'd respond by saying that our fees are reasonable, that we are very approachable and knowledgeable etc. But the truth is, that if the prospect were to go to our competitor next door and ask the same question, they would get the same answer.What this means is that we don't have an advantage at all. We are probably no better than most other firms that the prospect meets.

To stand out from the crowd, a practice has to offer greater value than its competitors. Clients look to us to solve their problems; we are in the problem solving business, so we need to offer help and advice as well as a precise compliance service.

The nature of that advice should be wide-ranging:-

• Are our clients working as efficiently as they could be?
• Do they have appropriate systems and processes in place?
• Do they require additional services to make their working lives easier?

By regularly reaching out to our clients with newsletters, factsheets, informative events or even the occasional lunch, we can provide the added value that will retain and grow existing clients and make us attractive to new ones.

The brilliance of the internet, and the downfall of many practices, is that comparison between your competitors and your firm is easy and client mobility is rapid.

A strong web portfolio of resources such as blog-posts, fact-sheets, calculators and industry news helps set one practice apart from another. Developing and maintaining new resources is no easy task, which is why Bizezia has developed a suite of tools that practices can access and brand for a low monthly payment.

Clients don't care about hourly rates or the processes we go through behind the scenes. Ultimately, clients want to engage someone who is familiar with their business sector, who understands the pressures and opportunities that they face and who can be a trusted, caring adviser and friend.

Remember these words from the wise Australian, Barry Urquhart: "It is better to be different than it is to be better".

At the end of the day, clients rarely complain about poor service, they vote with their feet.

Notes:

• Bizezia provides high quality, unique website marketing apps and practice management tools. Bizezia's products are designed to make business easier, encourage people to to visit your website and to keep them coming back.
• The Bizezia Contract Engine contains over 200 fully-editable client care letter templates together with market-leading terms and conditions.
• Bizezia's EziaNews is an ideal example of how to keep your website current and informative. It's a daily round-up of business news that can be placed on to your website with no effort on your part and gives your clients, prospects and staff instant access to the latest business news. 
• Bizezia can trace its roots back to 1986, at a time when accountants were beginning to develop innovative marketing strategies for the first time. Then, with the launch of the Internet, Martin Pollins, founder of Bizezia, saw a new business opportunity to provide marketing and administrative products specifically for professionals serving SMEs, which would be available on their own websites with the aim of attracting potential clients and improving the level of service to existing clients. 
• Martin Pollins, chairman and founder of Bizezia, is a Chartered Accountant with wide experience in corporate finance and business management. He ran his own accountancy firm in Sussex and was the first accountancy firm in the UK to advertise on television. Martin went on to create and launch the CharterGroup Partnership (the UK's first accountancy network) and then LawGroup UK, one of the largest networks of lawyers in the country. He also served on the ICAEW Council for several years. 
• Operations director, Iman Rouane, is an honours journalism graduate, who has worked on a number of magazines, including Marie Claire and BBC Eve and was also a freelance newsreader for several radio stations across the south east. She joined Bizezia in 2005.

What do your clients ordinarily expect when they do business with your firm?

Accurate advice; attention to detail; a transparent charging structure and good service are likely to be on the list but the chances are that your competitors will be offering this too.

Business Development experts agree that you need to add value to your clients' businesses in a more tangible way if your practice is going to sit head and shoulders above everybody else. The Bribery Act 2010, which comes into force in July, is guaranteed to cause a yawn in most quarters, but is an excellent example of legislation that you can help your clients and prospects to tackle.

Ask for your FREE Bribery Act publication and work place policy today.

All organisations - including companies, charities and professional firms - will be required to put anti-corruption policies and procedures in place. Organisations that don't could be liable for any bribery carried out by employees, even if they did not order the activity or the offending party is an outsourced employee.

Your FREE work place policy can be used to help existing clients comply with the legislation and as a prospecting tool. For example, clients that take up your offer might also be interested in a risk review to help them assess whether processes and procedures are adequate or to assist them in putting new procedures in place.

To help you do this, the Bizezia 'Bribery Act Tool Kit' has 3 essential parts:

• A FREE work policy covering anti-corruption and bribery.
• Our FREE online business library publication 'The Bribery Act 2010', is designed to help you when advising clients on this new legislation.
• Our Contract Engine engagement letter system has a specific work schedule covering the advice professional firms may be expected to provide.

At Bizezia, our mission is to help you build a more successful and profitable practice by providing content, resources and news that will help you add value to your clients' businesses on an ongoing basis.

To request your FREE work place policy, simply email us at info@bizezia.com

To receive your FREE Bribery Act publication, register on the Bizezia website, click on the 'My Bizezia' tab and you will find the publication in the free resources.

A full subscription, with a 30 day money back guarantee, will give you access to a range of tools to help you create the kind of offer that will attract large numbers of qualified prospects to your business.

Notes:

• Bizezia provides high quality, unique website marketing apps and practice management tools. Bizezia's products are designed to make business easier, encourage people to to visit your website and to keep them coming back.
   
• The Bizezia Contract Engine contains over 200 fully-editable client care letter templates together with market-leading terms and conditions.
   
• Bizezia's EziaNews is an ideal example of how to keep your website current and informative. It's a daily round-up of business news that can be placed on to your website with no effort on your part and gives your clients, prospects and staff instant access to the latest business news. 
   
• Bizezia can trace its roots back to 1986, at a time when accountants were beginning to develop innovative marketing strategies for the first time. Then, with the launch of the Internet, Martin Pollins, founder of Bizezia, saw a new business opportunity to provide marketing and administrative products specifically for professionals serving SMEs, which would be available on their own websites with the aim of attracting potential clients and improving the level of service to existing clients. 
   
• Martin Pollins, chairman and founder of Bizezia, is a Chartered Accountant with wide experience in corporate finance and business management. He ran his own accountancy firm in Sussex and was the first accountancy firm in the UK to advertise on television. Martin went on to create and launch the CharterGroup Partnership (the UK's first accountancy network) and then LawGroup UK, one of the largest networks of lawyers in the country. He also served on the ICAEW Council for several years. 
   
• Operations director, Iman Rouane, is an honours journalism graduate, who has worked on a number of magazines, including Marie Claire and BBC Eve and was also a freelance newsreader for several radio stations across the south east. She joined Bizezia in 2005.

HMRC has its sights firmly set on the two million small businesses that it believes are failing to keep adequate records.

Around 1,200 SMEs are being targeted from July in what HMRC describes as a 'test and learn' trial before launching a programme aimed at checking the records of 200,000 small businesses over the next four years.

New businesses are more likely to be targeted than established ones.

Tax officials are being armed with powers to impose fines of up to £3,000 on the worst record keepers and HMRC aims to raise an extra £600m for the Exchequer in unpaid taxes and fines.

Until now, HMRC has only reviewed the tax affairs of a business if it thinks the business could be paying too little tax. This is the first time inspectors will be looking at records for the current year.

The sort of records a business needs to keep depends upon the type of tax they have to pay and is described in a helpful guide here.

Martin Pollins, Managing Director of Bizezia said:"Firms have an opportunity and a responsibility to help their clients maintain adequate records. The offer of an overview of current records, possibly followed up with additional book-keeping and payroll support will save clients from the worse ravages of HMRC's zeal."

Bizezia, a provider of high quality, unique website marketing apps and practice management tools, has created a new publication in its Online Business Library: "HMRC requirements on keeping business records", which you can request for FREE by registering on the Bizezia site.

The publication will help you explain to clients the records they must keep and will provide useful content for newsletters and marketing campaigns.

To receive your FREE Business records publication, register on the Bizezia website, click on the "My Bizezia" tab and you will find the publication in the free resources.

Registering on the Bizezia website is free and without any obligation. It will give you access to a range of tools to help you create the kind of offer that will attract large numbers of qualified prospects to your firm.

Notes:

• Bizezia provides high quality, unique website marketing apps and practice management tools. Bizezia's products are designed to make business easier, encourage people to to visit your website and to keep them coming back.
   
• The Bizezia Contract Engine contains over 200 fully-editable client care letter templates together with market-leading terms and conditions.
   
• Bizezia's EziaNews is an ideal example of how to keep your website current and informative. It's a daily round-up of business news that can be placed on to your website with no effort on your part and gives your clients, prospects and staff instant access to the latest business news. 
   
• Bizezia can trace its roots back to 1986, at a time when accountants were beginning to develop innovative marketing strategies for the first time. Then, with the launch of the Internet, Martin Pollins, founder of Bizezia, saw a new business opportunity to provide marketing and administrative products specifically for professionals serving SMEs, which would be available on their own websites with the aim of attracting potential clients and improving the level of service to existing clients. 
   
• Martin Pollins, chairman and founder of Bizezia, is a Chartered Accountant with wide experience in corporate finance and business management. He ran his own accountancy firm in Sussex and was the first accountancy firm in the UK to advertise on television. Martin went on to create and launch the CharterGroup Partnership (the UK's first accountancy network) and then LawGroup UK, one of the largest networks of lawyers in the country. He also served on the ICAEW Council for several years. 
   
• Operations director, Iman Rouane, is an honours journalism graduate, who has worked on a number of magazines, including Marie Claire and BBC Eve and was also a freelance newsreader for several radio stations across the south east. She joined Bizezia in 2005.

Just in case you missed us!

Below are some of the best news releases from Bizezia, provider of high quality, unique website marketing apps and practice management tools. Bizezia's products are designed to make business easier, encourage people to visit your website and to keep them coming back.

Landmark judgement highlights retainer letter lapse

The legal profession was rocked back on its heels last month by the ruling in the Minkin case.The case highlights the importance of getting the paperwork right when agreeing contractual terms with clients.The Bizezia Contract Engine makes producing engagement letters quick and easy and is available on FREE TRIAL for a limited period.Further reading:  The importance of client care letters

Budget Report

As always, the Bizezia Budget report - one of the most comprehensive in the industry - was available within a few hours of the Chancellor sitting down.Containing not just the headlines, but the small print of the Budget press releases, the Bizezia Budget report is an important and easy to read reference document.Request your FREE copy now. Upload it to your website, print it and  provide it to your clients, or use it as an internal reference resource.

Professional practices must prepare for an entrepreneurs' economy

Pro-business announcements are comimg from the Government thick and fast.Whether one believes the initiatives will be successful or not, solicitors need to position themselves for an environment that encourages and supports entrepreneurship.Click here for the full article

The legal profession was rocked back on its heels last week by Mr Justice Cranston's ruling that no fees were payable by Cawdery Kaye Fireman & Taylor's (CKFT) former client, Gary Minkin, after the firm refused to carry out more work until he had paid his bill.

The case highlights the importance of getting the paperwork right when establishing contractual terms with clients.

Details of the case can be found in the Law Society Gazette's press release - an extract of which is as follows:

Minkin had instructed the firm to represent him in relation to an occupation and non-molestation order obtained without notice by his wife, from whom he had separated. CKFT gave Minkin a cost estimate of £3,000 plus VAT, and he paid £2,000 on account. The firm then sent the client a retainer headed 'Non-Molestation and Occupation Order', with no other indication of what it was undertaking to do, and stating that its overall costs and expenses would be £3,500, plus VAT. 

The retainer also said the firm would update Minkin in writing if it appeared that the cost estimate may be exceeded. After the first hearing, the firm sent Minkin a bill for £5,462.50. 

When Minkin questioned it, CKFT said the increase was largely a result of extra work, because his wife had unexpectedly rented out the matrimonial home. 

Minkin said he could not pay the fees until he had a costs order against his wife. After further correspondence, the firm said it could not continue to act because of the outstanding payments. 

The costs judge held that the firm's refusal to continue to act without payment was a repudiatory breach of contract. He said the firm was not entitled to any costs, and had to refund all the fees that Minkin had paid so far, except for counsel's fees. 

Dismissing the firm's appeal, Cranston said: "The outcome may seem harsh, but the fact is that it should have been made clearer in [the] retainer letter as to the nature of the engagement. The firm should have complied with the terms in its retainer letter and standard terms of business, and informed the client in writing that the costs estimate may be exceeded." 

Martin Pollins, Managing Director of Bizezia said: "This is precisely the sort of situation that we anticipated when we developed the Contract Engine Client Care system for lawyers.  The system features a comprehensive suite of 200+ fully-editable engagement/client care letter templates for lawyers together with market-leading terms and conditions."

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/harsh-judgement

Ends This announcement was featured in EziaNews on 4th March

Notes

	Bizezia provides high quality, unique website marketing apps and practice management tools. Bizezia's products are designed to make business easier, encourage people to to visit your website and to keep them coming back.
	Bizezia's EziaNews is an ideal example of how to keep your website current and informative. It's a daily round-up of business news that can be placed on to your website with no effort on your part and gives your clients, prospects and staff instant access to the latest business news.
	Bizezia can trace its roots back to 1986, at a time when accountants were beginning to develop innovative marketing strategies for the first time. Then, with the launch of the Internet, Martin Pollins, founder of Bizezia, saw a new business opportunity to provide marketing and administrative products specifically for professionals serving SMEs, which would be available on their own websites with the aim of attracting potential clients and improving the level of service to existing clients.
	Martin Pollins, chairman and founder of Bizezia, is a Chartered Accountant with wide experience in corporate finance and business management. He ran his own accountancy firm in Sussex and was the first accountancy firm in the UK to advertise on television. Martin went on to create and launch the CharterGroup Partnership (the UK's first accountancy network) and then LawGroup UK, one of the largest networks of lawyers in the country. He also served on the ICAEW Council for several years.
	Operations director, Iman Rouane, is an honours journalism graduate, who has worked on a number of magazines, including Marie Claire and BBC Eve and was also a freelance newsreader for several radio stations across the south east. She joined Bizezia in 2005.

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) has announced that the Government is launching a new portfolio of products to help businesses and support growth in the economy.

There are 13 products designed to help businesses identify and overcome key challenges as they grow and develop. 

The products will target activities such as access to strategic advice, helping companies reach international markets and supporting innovation. 

The Government has also announced that it will be launching a new mentoring network in June, which will give entrepreneurs and business people access to help from real business people.

Prime Minister David Cameron is also due to launch the government's StartUp Britain initiative, aimed at encouraging people to set up their own businesses. New enterprises will be offered help worth about £1,500 in areas such as IT training and internet advertising. The scheme is being supported by firms including AXA, Barclays, BlackBerry, Experian, Google, Intel, Microsoft, McKinsey & Co, O2 and Virgin Media - the Treasury is also planning to introduce a 50% tax relief on sums up to £100,000 invested in start-up companies, according to The Daily Telegraph. 

The StartUp Britain initiative is being introduced as the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) announced that it will support every school to develop and run its own business through the Enterprise Champions Programme. This is part of a package of four new announcements to help inspire, support and grow new businesses in the UK. 

Peter Jones CBE, founder and Chairman of the Peter Jones Foundation said: "I welcome the Government's commitment to increase its focus on enterprise in schools. Through my Foundation and Enterprise Academy, I want to help rewire the entrepreneurial potential of our country." 

The announcements come on the day that a group of leading venture capitalists said the UK was a "world class place to launch new businesses", following George Osborne's Budget. The 39 signatories of a letter to the Daily Telegraph welcomed new investment rules introduced by the chancellor as a "shot in the arm" for enterprise, allowing them to put more funds into start-up companies. "British entrepreneurs, and those relocating to the UK, will find it easier to raise the funds they need to do what they do best: create and grow world beating businesses," they wrote.

Martin Pollins, of Bizezia, said:

"Pro-business announcements from the Government are coming thick and fast. Whether one believes the initiatives will be successful or not, accountants and solicitors need to position themselves for an environment that encourages and supports entrepreneurship. While the promise to reduce red-tape and legislation might remove traditional income streams on the one hand, the ability to advise, direct and mentor business owners will create new opportunities on the other."

The Government policies mean that there will be an increasing number of existing and would-be entrepreneurs looking to accountants and solicitors for advice on how to start-up, run and develop successful businesses. A strong portfolio of resources to complement governmental support, such as blog-posts, fact-sheets, calculators and news will help to set one practice apart from another.

Developing and maintaining new resources is no easy task, which is why Bizezia has developed a suite of tools that practices can access and brand for a low monthly payment. Bizezia provides high quality, unique website marketing apps and practice management tools to help firms win more clients and run more profitable practices. Click here to find out more about Bizezia's range of products.

Further details of the Solutions for Business portfolio and the specific products can be found at:

http://bemail1.net/goto/%7C%7CCLIENTID%7C%7C/40034/

Source: http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=418660&NewsAreaID=2&utm

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12877083

http://tiny.cc/wa0x0

Citywire story on 50% tax relief, 28/3/2011

Notes:

	Bizezia provides high quality, unique website marketing apps and practice management tools. Bizezia's products are designed to make business easier, encourage people to to visit your website and to keep them coming back.
	Bizezia's EziaNews is an ideal example of how to keep your website current and informative. It's a daily round-up of business news that can be placed on to your website with no effort on your part and gives your clients, prospects and staff instant access to the latest business news.
	Bizezia can trace its roots back to 1986, at a time when accountants were beginning to develop innovative marketing strategies for the first time. Then, with the launch of the Internet, Martin Pollins, founder of Bizezia, saw a new business opportunity to provide marketing and administrative products specifically for professionals serving SMEs, which would be available on their own websites with the aim of attracting potential clients and improving the level of service to existing clients.
	Martin Pollins, chairman and founder of Bizezia, is a Chartered Accountant with wide experience in corporate finance and business management. He ran his own accountancy firm in Sussex and was the first accountancy firm in the UK to advertise on television. Martin went on to create and launch the CharterGroup Partnership (the UK's first accountancy network) and then LawGroup UK, one of the largest networks of lawyers in the country. He also served on the ICAEW Council for several years.
	Operations director, Iman Rouane, is an honours journalism graduate, who has worked on a number of magazines, including Marie Claire and BBC Eve and was also a freelance newsreader for several radio stations across the south east. She joined Bizezia in 2005.

According to The Forum of Private Business (FPB), leading banks often complain that financial information submitted by SMEs is unclear and confusing.  This makes it difficult for the banks to properly assess lending risks on a case-by-case basis. 

In turn, many business owners have reported that they are being rejected by lenders purely because of the size of their company - or, more often, because their sector is deemed a 'no go' area for lending.  

Martin Pollins, Founder and Managing Director of Bizezia, said: "A standoff between banks and their customers is evident and the accountancy profession has an important role to play in bringing the two back together".

He continued: "An effective partnership is needed between a client and their accountant so that a profit and loss account, balance sheet and a forecast of cashflow and profit can be readily and cost effectively produced".

Sometimes, the fees required to produce such information exceed the resources of the client.  With this in mind, The FPB has recently launched Forum CreditPal - a service designed to complement existing accounting packages such as Sage.  The service allows users to review internal finance and automatically generate standardised and validated monthly management accounts. There is a version of CreditPal for Accountants which allows the profession to offer such credit and analysis tools as a value-added service, generating data on a client's behalf, or acting as an adviser to help SME's access and set up the service for themselves.

Research carried out last year by the FPB suggests that the credit crisis stimulated businesses into better financial management practices. In all, 68 percent of respondents to the survey said they had been motivated to produce management accounts - with 85 percent of these citing the reason for doing so as 'improving business management'.

Philip Orford of the FPB said "Banks clearly have a major part to play in financing a private sector-led economic recovery driven by small business growth and job creation. Lenders simply must review their risk criteria and be less punitive by refraining from assessing viability purely based on a firm's size or sector."

Bizezia provides a range of products that can support accountants in helping their clients.  These include a calculator of the change in sales required to compensate a change in price and a risk assessment evaluator which aims to reduce the cost of borrowing by identifying areas in which the presentation of a risk profile can be improved.  All are available in the Calculator and Evaluatorsection of the Bizezia website.

Bizezia also offers Better Business Plans, a publication that helps accountants to fine tune the presentation of a client's business plan prior to submission to the bank.  

For a constant stream of quality information delivered automatically to your website, try EziaNews, a daily round up of industry relevant articles. 

Source: FPB press release re small businesses and their banks, 24/2/2011

Ends This announcement was featured in EziaNews on 21st Feb

Notes

	Bizezia provides high quality, unique website marketing apps and practice management tools. Bizezia's products are designed to make business easier, encourage people to to visit your website and to keep them coming back.
	Bizezia's EziaNews is an ideal example of how to keep your website current and informative. It's a daily round-up of business news that can be placed on to your website with no effort on your part and gives your clients, prospects and staff instant access to the latest business news.
	Bizezia can trace its roots back to 1986, at a time when accountants were beginning to develop innovative marketing strategies for the first time. Then, with the launch of the Internet, Martin Pollins, founder of Bizezia, saw a new business opportunity to provide marketing and administrative products specifically for professionals serving SMEs, which would be available on their own websites with the aim of attracting potential clients and improving the level of service to existing clients.
	Martin Pollins, chairman and founder of Bizezia, is a Chartered Accountant with wide experience in corporate finance and business management. He ran his own accountancy firm in Sussex and was the first accountancy firm in the UK to advertise on television. Martin went on to create and launch the CharterGroup Partnership (the UK's first accountancy network) and then LawGroup UK, one of the largest networks of lawyers in the country. He also served on the ICAEW Council for several years.
	Operations director, Iman Rouane, is an honours journalism graduate, who has worked on a number of magazines, including Marie Claire and BBC Eve and was also a freelance newsreader for several radio stations across the south east. She joined Bizezia in 2005.