YRF Accountants Ltd

16/04/2026

Raising capital for your startup?
You absolutely need to understand SEIS and EIS before you sit down with an investor.

Founders often mix up these two schemes. They both offer brilliant tax reliefs to people backing early-stage companies. But they apply to completely different stages of your business growth.

SEIS is built for the very beginning.
If your company has been trading for less than two years and you have fewer than 25 employees, this is your starting point. You can raise up to £250,000 under this programme.

EIS steps in when you are ready to scale.
This applies to companies with up to 250 employees. The limits are much higher here, allowing you to raise up to £5 million a year.

What do the investors actually get?
That is the question they will ask you.

Here is the breakdown of their benefits:
-> SEIS investors get a massive 50% income tax relief on their investment
-> EIS investors receive 30% income tax relief
-> Both schemes offer Capital Gains Tax exemptions if they hold the shares for at least three years

When you understand these numbers, your startup becomes significantly more attractive to private backers. They want to support great ideas. But they also want to minimise their financial risk.

Make sure your funding strategy is set up correctly from day one.

📅 Book a consultation:
https://lnkd.in/em8UyRtC
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.yrfaccountants.com
Phone: +44 01204 938696

Which scheme are you currently considering for your next round? Drop a comment below or like this post if you found the breakdown helpful.

15/04/2026

I had a record profit month.
I couldn't pay my suppliers.

That was the moment I stopped trusting the P&L as the whole story.

Profit is a calculation.
Cash is reality.

The gap between them is where businesses quietly die.

Here's what creates that gap:

1. You invoiced it. You didn't collect it.
Revenue hits the P&L when it's raised. It hits your account when the client pays. 60-day terms means you've "earned" money you won't see for two months.

2. You paid for stock before you sold it.
Inventory is cash that already left. It doesn't show as an expense until it's sold. Profit looks fine. Account is empty.

3. You grew. And growth costs cash upfront.
More orders means more materials, more staff, more delivery costs. All paid before the customer pays you. Profit goes up. Cash goes down.

4. Your accountant depreciated the asset.
That equipment you bought for £30k shows as a small annual expense. The £30k left your account on day one.

5. You're paying off a loan.
The repayment doesn't hit the P&L as a cost. It hits your bank account every month regardless.

Profitable businesses go under every week.
Not because they failed. Because they ran out of cash while being "successful."

The number your accountant shows you is not a lie.
It's just not the full truth.

Your profit and your cash position are two separate conversations.
Have both.

📅 Book a consultation:
https://lnkd.in/em8UyRtC
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.yrfaccountants.com
Phone: +44 01204 938696

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

14/04/2026

You look at your latest P&L and see a genuinely healthy margin.
Yet you are still sweating every single time payday rolls around.

It happens all the time.

In construction, profit is an accounting concept but cash is your daily reality. You can win the best bids and run brilliant margins on paper. But if your client payment terms are completely misaligned with your weekly outgoings, you will constantly struggle to keep the lights on.

Many owners think they need to drastically raise their prices. Often, they just need to fix how money moves through their business.

Here are three clear signs your construction company has a cash flow problem disguised as a profit problem.

> Your suppliers are chasing you. You have the revenue booked from the client but the funds have not cleared into your account yet, forcing you to delay paying for your materials.

> You rely heavily on credit facilities to break ground. Winning new work actually feels like a burden because funding the upfront labour drains your reserves weeks before you can submit your first valuation.

> Growth feels physically painful. You are taking on larger projects with better margins, but the daily financial stress is far worse than when your operation was half the size.

Profit tells you if a job makes money. Cash flow dictates if you actually survive long enough to finish the project.

What do you think? Drop a like and comment below if you have ever had to aggressively chase a late payment just to cover your weekly labour costs.

13/04/2026

Seeing a massive chunk of retention money in your bank account feels brilliant.
But that money is a trap until you account for it correctly.

I often notice people looking at their current balance and assuming they finally have some room to breathe. You see the numbers sitting there and your brain immediately starts allocating it towards new equipment or perhaps taking on more staff.

The cash is physically there.

But until the defects liability period officially ends and your client signs off on the final paperwork... that cash still belongs to the project. It is quite literally a liability on your books. If you spend it to fund today's overheads, you are simply borrowing from a future obligation just to keep the lights on right now.

I strongly suggest setting some clear boundaries.

➔ Put retention funds into a completely separate holding account immediately
➔ Log it as a current liability on your balance sheet rather than treating it as revenue
➔ Only move it across to your main operating account when you have received the final formal sign-off

Keeping these funds segregated stops your own optimism from getting the better of you. It ensures you always realise exactly how much actual working capital you possess at any given moment.

What do you think? Have you ever found yourself counting on retention funds a bit too early?

Like and comment below if you agree that strict financial discipline is the only way a business actually survives.

10/04/2026

When HMRC applies the default CIS deduction rate to your subcontractors, everyone loses money.
The standard rate might seem like the safest bet but it actually drains cash flow straight from the people doing the hard labour.

If you simply accept the default 30 percent deduction rate for unverified subcontractors, you are actively cutting into their take-home pay. This happens constantly. A new subbie comes on site. The paperwork is delayed. You run the payroll and HMRC defaults to the highest deduction tier because the verification process fell through the cracks.

That missing 10 percent hurts.

It means your subcontractors have less cash to run their own operations. They struggle to buy materials for the next job. They get frustrated and eventually look for work elsewhere.

Here is what happens when you take control of the verification process early
➔ You ensure subcontractors keep their rightful earnings
➔ You build stronger loyalty with the best tradespeople
➔ You avoid awkward conversations on payday

Taking the time to verify every single subcontractor with HMRC before they start work changes the dynamic completely. You protect their money and they respect your site management. It takes a few extra minutes of admin but saves hours of disputes later.

What do you think?
Like and comment if you make subcontractor verification a priority before they even step on site.