Andrew Noble

99% of business owners don't know this   (Not a real stat, but probably close)   The difference between LEGAL ENTITY and TAX CLASSIFICATION.   The terminology often gets jumbled among legal and tax pros But there is a distinct difference between the two.   ➡️ Legal Entity = How a business is legally structured ➡️ Tax Classification = How a business files its taxes   Choosing the correct legal entity and tax classification is critical in planning for the future of your business.   This is always the first thing I evaluate when working with a new tax planning client.   The rule of thumb is to start as simply as possible Then adjust your classification as needed.   ➡️ E.g., Don't start as an S-Corp when your income is only $40k.

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In 2025, it's hard to still believe that Government's around the world are still reliant on transfer taxes (or stamp duty as we like to call it in Australia). Study after study shows that it is the most inefficient tax and has some of the worst equitable outcomes, yet such is the insatiable desire for revenue, some Governments are still looking at it as a way of plugging budget holes. I came across another study in the US (link in the comments) that once again shows how much damage is done by the imposition of transfer taxes. In summary the report says: 1. Housing Mobility Crushed: Even modest transfer taxes reduce home sales by double digits, trapping families in homes that no longer meet their needs. In Finland, a half-point increase reduced apartment mobility by 7.2%. In Toronto, a 1.1% tax drove home sales down 15%. 2. Low-Income Families Hit Hardest: Because homes account for a greater share of wealth for working families, transfer taxes impose a regressive burden. A 1% transfer tax equals 12% of annual income for a household earning under $20,000. 3. Fewer Apartments, Higher Rents: After the City of Los Angeles enacted a higher-tiered transfer tax in 2022, multifamily housing construction dropped 18%, nearly 2,000 fewer units annually, including about 170 affordable units per year. 4. Commercial Real Estate Chilled: Cities with recent transfer tax hikes saw sharper-than average collapses in office market activity. City of Los Angeles office sales plummeted 54% after its 2023 increase, while Pittsburgh transactions fell 84% after its 2020 hike. 5. Revenue Promises Broken: In the City of Los Angeles, Measure ULA was projected to raise $900 million annually. Actual collections came in 63% short of projections. San Francisco saw similar volatility, with transfer tax revenues swinging wildly from year to year. 6. Construction Jobs Lost: A $245 million reduction in construction spending tied to higher transfer taxes eliminates nearly 2,700 jobs and over $600 million in annual economic activity nationwide. I wonder when we will see a Government brave and wise enough to go the other way and reduce or eliminate transfer taxes or stamp duty......I don't think we should be holding our breath waiting...

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REAL things I've used AI for in my practice 1) Built a tool that looks at the last 12-18 months of Xero transactions then spits out 2 reports - A list of regular transactions and assumptions to them - Then puts these into a Futrli forecast template, so we can use it to start the build on the next 12 months projections Still early days but has saved HOURS already 2) A maternity pay cash calculator This has a selection of maternity pay options you can offer (e.g 6 months full pay, 80% pay or even 6 months at full then 3 months at 50%) Has 5 different salaries you can enter side by side, so you can see the difference between what someone on 30k versus 90k would cost It has the option to enter the lag between you paying the employee and your SMP reclaim as an employer (can be adjusted too) It shows in real cashflow terms month on month what the effect of that maternity policy is in data and graphical terms Its a very fancy lil excel model, but would've took me HOURS to make. Now its a tool we can give to all clients if they are looking at introducing a new maternity pay offering 3) A kudos tracker Here at cloud 10 we give shout outs (kudos) in our team chats whenever 1 of the squad hits a core value We track this as a KPI... this used to be on a spreadsheet Now the robots track who received the kudos, who gave it, what value they hit and date it was given I then ask anytime for stats for the week/month/year that show who's given/received kudos, which values we're hitting firm wide and which aren't being hit as much. Again we can get raw data or graphs I could track this manually, but what a faff. Nothing world beating, but a nice little gain that took 5 minutes to set up 4) Management account data processing Some of our management accounts require a chunky amount of data analysis Which involves bringing data from multiple sources, banging them in excel then faffing with pivot tables and comparisons and the like Now I have a lil program that collects those files and does all that pulling together What took a human a solid few hours now takes 5 minutes Now this took a wee while to build the program to do this task properly, but I've now trialled it for 3 months and its nailed it every time. I think I can take it further and get more of the preparation done Crazy scary in some ways, but exciting in others, giving the team time to properly engage with their clients and make best use of their time There's loads of random stuff along with these 4 examples that shaves off so much time day to day. We're looking at the machines doing more to prepare our scorecard and analyse our own profitability but that's still a work in progress Easy to get wrapped up in the hype, and tbh there's loads of other things I've tried that haven't worked too Thinking of running a detailed webinar of actually how this stuff gets built, rather than one of these crappy hype webinars I've seen pop up time and time again if there was enough interest

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CFOs don’t talk about burnout. They talk about being in a “busy period” They say they’re “just trying to get through month-end/Forecast/Reforecast/Budget” They move strategic work to “next quarter.” They still deliver. Still lead. Still show up sharp on the investor call. But behind the scenes? They’re running on endless cups of coffee. Here’s what I’ve learned: Before they crash. They just get buried. Not all at once. Slowly. Over time. Buried under: • Reporting loops that never end • “Quick” requests that turn into full days • Meetings that take up thinking time • Interuptions that disrupt deep work. • Goals that feel further away every week These CFOs aren't underperforming. They’re overloaded. And the funny thing is? CFOs spend so much time holding the business together.. they stop moving it forward. If this sounds familiar, try this: 1. Audit your week, not your strategy What are you actually spending time on? 2. Protect 90 minutes a week for strategic progress No meetings. No admin. Just one high-leverage problem. 3. Start subtracting what no longer serves Reports, routines, recurring distractions. Because no one will protect your time for you: Not the board. Not the business. Not your team. That part is on you. And if it feels hard to justify? Remember: You don’t need more hours. You need more traction. #CFO #StrategicLeadership #LinkedInFest25

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Ever wondered why "profit" doesn’t always mean you have money in the bank? Cash flow is the real heartbeat of any business. If you want your company to breathe easy, you need to focus on what really matters - measuring the right things, spotting the warning signs, and tracking the winning moves. We did the same thing for Alex. He runs a mid-sized retail business. Revenue kept climbing, so he assumed everything was fine. Yet, every month, Alex felt like he was juggling bills, barely scraping by to pay vendors on time. That’s when he called me in to take a look. We dug deeper into Alex’s numbers, and found his Operating Cash Flow (OCF) wasn’t just low, it was often negative. Alex was shocked. Growing sales should have meant a healthy bank balance, right? But his Cash Conversion Cycle - basically how long it took for his inventory and receivables to turn back into cash - was dragging on for 70 days. That’s a long time to have your money tied up, and it explained the constant cash squeeze. So what cash flow KPIs do you actually need to watch? First, Operating Cash Flow tells you how much real cash your core activities are putting into the business. If this goes negative, it’s time to act, even if your accountant says you’re profitable. Free Cash Flow what’s left after buying equipment or improving your shop—shows if you can afford to invest, pay debts, or save for a rainy day. Cash Flow Margin reveals how much of your sales are actually turning into spendable funds, while the Coverage Ratio tells you if your current operations can pay off the bills piling up. The Cash Conversion Cycle is your scoreboard for turning investments back into cash—the shorter, the healthier. And if you’re running a startup, never ignore your Cash Burn Rate. It answers: how quickly are you using up what’s in the bank? Coming back to Alex, we used these KPIs to map out a new strategy. He started negotiating stronger terms with both suppliers and buyers, getting paid sooner and paying out a little later. Inventory was managed more carefully, so fewer dollars sat idle on the shelves. We also dug into expenses, trimming the fat and improving collections. Just three months later, Alex had enough cash flow to cover payments with room to spare - plus, now he could actually invest in marketing and hold a cushion for emergencies. Bottom line? Tracking these cash flow KPIs gives you a brutally honest, early warning system. While profits look nice for the accountants, only cash pays your bills, fuels your growth, and lets you sleep at night. If you found this useful, hit follow for more actionable finance insights! #cashflow  #kpis  #businessgrowth

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