Bank of Ireland launches Cashflow Management Planner for SMEs

Bank of Ireland, 16 January 2012, announced details of a cash flow management tool, Cashflow Planner, designed for owners and managers of small businesses.  The planner which is an interactive tool available via the Bank’s website – www.bankofireland.com/business – is designed to help businesses determine their cash requirements.  It will assist them in predicting the inflows and outflows of cash and also will aid them when making an application for credit facilities.

Cashlow Planner can be tailored to meet the requirements of any business and the results and reports generated can be saved by the user for their own use.   The reports can also be used to help when discussing their requirements with their local branch.

Business owners will need to input projected data for a 12-month period including monthly sales and purchases, estimating how much of these will be on credit, the timing of payments receivable/due for credit sales or purchases.  Also required will be details and timing of any other income due along with details of expected payments including ESB bills, phone bills, loan repayments, rates and salaries/wages.  When all of the data has been input, the planner will produce a 12-month cashflow and profit & loss forecast, which will assist the business owner and the Bank understand their requirements.  By amending some of the detail e.g. increased sales, the business owner can also see the impact that this will have on cashflow and overall profitability.

According to Michael Lauhoff, Head of Small Business & Agri, Bank of Ireland:  “The importance of managing cashflow should not be under estimated.  Many owner managers are so busy running their businesses that they don’t realise they have a cash flow issue until a problem arises.  The launch of Cashflow Planner is part of our commitment to make the credit application process as simple as possible for our customers.  It is designed to help business owners understand their future cashflow requirements and to plan for the short, medium and long term outlooks.

“The planner will help any business owner understand their funding requirements over the next 12-months.  It will help them to forecast what the funding implications are if sales increase or decrease, by changing the assumptions they make, regarding demand for their products or services over the forthcoming year.  Cashflow management is a crucial part of running any business and this planner will help business owners with their own planning while also assisting the Bank to understand the requirements of the business, so that the necessary funding structure can be put in place to support them”, concluded Michael Lauhoff.

The planner is available on the Bank’s website at https://businessbanking.bankofireland.com/cashflow-planner/

Ends

16 January 2012