Stress levels through the roof, no money in the bank and IRD breathing down your neck?

You are not alone feeling like this. In fact many of our clients can attest to how stressful life is running a business when cashflow is tight. Check out some of our clients stories and see where they are now - could you be the next success story?

When Peter and Rosa Herron first approached Haylee at Accountabill, their Timaru-based small business was broken and heading towards liquidation. Their marriage was also on the rocks. In November 2021, Haylee stepped in to take control and together they brought the business back from the brink, turning it into a profitable asset worth close to $1 million (and saving their marriage) in just 18 months.

In 2008, Peter and Rosa Herron started their Timaru-based carpeting business Peter Herron Flooring. With Peter’s decades of experience in the flooring trade, the business quickly grew a reputation for excellent work and was approached by a local flooring store looking to branch into commercial work. The small husband-and-wife business rapidly expanded, taking on more staff, and purchasing multiple work vans to keep up with the work.

Stuck in a vicious cycle of debt

Unfortunately, like many other small business owners who experience rapid growth, the Herrons were stuck in a reactive mindset. There was no strategy or plan. Rosa explains, “We’re good at what we do but we’re not business people. We were working hard but getting further into debt because other stores and people were taking advantage of us. We were stuck in a vicious cycle: we didn’t get paid for our work, so we had to keep borrowing to pay the wages.”

A business and marriage on the rocks

With Peter on the tools, Rosa was doing the bulk of the accounts and bookkeeping. Over the years, the stress and strain of dealing with the business’s financial problems and debts, including two years of running a business through a pandemic, started to take a toll on Rosa personally. It also affected the couple’s marriage.

“It was bloody hard for me,” Rosa admits. “Peter didn’t really realise how much of a hole we were in. He just kept saying 'We'll be right.' The only things that kept me with Peter were that I love him and he’s such a hard worker.”

Running out of options

With no cash flow or money in the bank, the business wasn’t sustainable or profitable. With massive amounts of debt owed, including a hefty sum to Inland Revenue, the Herron’s lawyer and accountant advised the only way forward was liquidation. Rosa, however, had other ideas.

Rosa says, “I was exhausted. I’d had enough. My life was suffering. I told Peter, ‘Look, I love you but I’m ready to sell the house to pay off all the debt.’ I was at that stage. I didn’t care if I walked away with nothing, but he is such an amazing man and hard worker, he had to keep the business.”

A glimmer of hope

When Rosa heard how Haylee Wrenn from Accountabill had helped a struggling local builder avoid liquidation, she knew she had to get in touch.

During their first phone call, Haylee told Rosa, “I'll tell you right now, I'm a hard taskmaster. I don't muck around. If we’re to save your business, then you need to take onboard everything I say and you're not going to like it. I can't guarantee that we can do this, but I'll give it my best shot.”

Rosa recalls, “She gave us some options as to how much involvement we wanted her to have and I told her, ‘We want the works. We want you to come in and you just tell us what to do.’”

Haylee steps in to take control

In November 2021, Haylee stepped in to take control of the business. She warned Rosa and Peter: “You’re about to go on an emotional rollercoaster …. I’m strapped into the seat right beside you. You need someone in your corner to walk this journey with you.”

The initial phase of the journey:

·         Timaru-based Cashflow Queen Stacey Armstrong conducted in-person research and collected data to send back to Haylee.

·         Haylee completed a thorough business analysis using the information Stacey provided.

·         Three weeks later, Haylee flew down to Timaru to meet with Rosa and Peter.

·         Once she arrived in Timaru, Haylee created a comprehensive action plan alongside the Herron’s.

·        Haylee, Rosa, and Peter went through the plan step-by-step together, discussing each step to ensure everyone was on board with strategy to move forward.

Rosa says, “Haylee came in with her team and ripped our business apart. The finances, how we did things, everything. But not only that, she ripped our personal financials apart too. She was brutal.”

Putting an end to the business’s ‘charity’

Haylee could clearly see that the people the Herrons worked for, and even their staff, were taking advantage of the couple’s kind nature. She told Peter and Rosa, “You’re nothing but a charity. Everyone is taking you for a ride and that stops here.”

With Rosa and Peter’s permission, Haylee became the gatekeeper to the business. Creditors, suppliers, staff, and everybody the Herrons worked with were told to talk with Haylee or “ask Haylee” so they couldn't get away with anything anymore.

Turning the business around

While Rosa claims Haylee and her team turned the business around, Haylee says, “The reality is we did hardly anything. They did all the work. It’s a partnership at the end of the day.”

Following Haylee’s instructions, Peter and Rosa restructured the company from seven employees down to three, pulled in outstanding debts, and sold obsolete stock. They also stopped undercharging for their work and increased their prices to a fair rate.

Rosa and Peter were even given personal budgets. Rosa says, “She stripped us down to minimum wage. It was tough.”

“It wasn't that the drawings they were taking were too high, it was that the drawings were too high for the situation they were in,” Haylee says.

Rosa explains they trusted Haylee and the process completely: “Haylee was working towards a plan to get our debt down and if we muck around with her plan, it was not going to work. That’s why what Haylee says, we did.”

“I can finally breathe”

It was a brutal few months at the start with everything changing and some very hard conversations. But Rosa says she soon noticed a huge difference both in the business and in themselves. “We were sitting there the first Christmas after Haylee stepped in, and we were actually breathing. I said to Peter, I feel so much better now we've got her on board.”

It wasn’t just business advisory that Haylee provided, it was the wraparound service with emotional support throughout the journey. Rosa says, “The most helpful thing is that for some strange reason, even though Peter and I are very different, she understands us both.”

Finding her new purpose

With Haylee and Accountabill also taking over the business’s bookkeeping, Rosa found most of her work stripped away. She now only takes care of about 10% of the bookwork. While this was challenging for her, figuring out her new place in the business, it was also a relief. “I don’t lie in bed adding things up anymore,” she says. “I keep an eye on things, but Haylee and her team have just been so amazing.”

Haylee says, “We essentially made Rosa redundant. She still has value in the business, just in a different way.”

A very different scenario now

Fast forward 18 months and the business is now at the stage where Rosa says Haylee is “just so wrapped with us”. In less than two years, they’ve done what Haylee thought would take five years and it’s all because Rosa and Peter have taken on board everything she said.

“We're in a situation now where we can actually look ahead. Every month we pay our accounts on time, Peter's got a new ute, he's had a trip overseas... It's just a completely, different scenario from where we were before.”

On the Herron's progress, Haylee says, "Everyone including their previous accountant questioned the possibility, but they've done it. Their bills are paid on time, nothing is owing. People can’t wait to give them money, but they don’t need it because they have cash in the bank. The IRD will be impressed. The tax debt is gone, and the business has been tax compliant for over 12 months.”

The outcome: a better business, a better relationship, and a better lifestyle

With Haylee and the Accountabill team’s help, Peter and Rosa were able to turn their business around and avoid liquidation. Now, Peter Herron Flooring is a profitable, sustainable business worth close to a million dollars. That means no stress, money in the bank, and valuable holidays in New Zealand, Australia, and further afield.

Rosa couldn’t be happier. She says, “We've still got the house, we've still got the business, it's going better than ever, and we're still married. We're still not back to how we were before the business started, but we're solid and we're good. We feel better because there's not the two of us in the business. We’ve got Haylee now.”

They’re both so grateful, that when Haylee suggested reducing the level of support she provides, she was met with a loud no! “She’s got us for life,” Rosa says, “After all the hard work Haylee and her team have done, all the hard work Peter and I have done, we just want her in the background to keep Peter and I honest and stress-free.”

Don’t think about it, just do it.

If you’re on the fence about working with Haylee and Accountabill, Rosa says, “Don't think about it, just do it.”

“Compared to where we were, honestly, to where we are now… It’s just incredible. It was hell where we were. This horrible monster. We just handed ourselves to Haylee, signed all the documents giving her authority, and now I spread her name everywhere. She’s just a wonderful businesswoman.”

If you are ready to make a change and want to turn your business around, let’s have a chat. There is no cost to find out how it could be possible to remove the stress and have the lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of.

 Do you have crippling Tax Debt?

Meet James the Tradie, $110K owing to the IRD

James came to us in a bit of a crisis. With $110k of unpaid GST and Income Tax hanging over his head, the IRD was threatening legal action.

“When I came to Haylee, things weren’t looking good. With a massive IRD debt hanging over me, I was struggling with my physical and mental health and the tension was being felt at home. The thing is, I always have heaps of work on and charge enough to cover my costs.”

He’d been referred to us by another accountant who did not have the time to undergo the lengthy process of communicating with the IRD. So we stepped in on James’ behalf.

The Outcome

With an in depth knowledge of the IRD’s processes, we were able to prepare the information that IRD needed in order to make a decision on James’ case.

We worked alongside James’ accountant to analyse the situation and the current financial position. Armed with that information, some suggestions on how to streamline the business and a comprehensive budget, we were able to approach the IRD with a proposal.

“Haylee created a plan where we would make 36 monthly payments of $1200 to the IRD and the remainder of the debt would be written off. And the IRD agreed! We knew this plan would be viable due to the work Haylee had done analysing the business finances.”

But, we didn’t stop there. We also secured a working for family’s payment for James and his family which gave them some financial breathing room. Then it was time to ensure the same situation did not happen again. We wanted to understand the cause of the cashflow issues and resolve them as quickly as possible.

It turned out, the problem lay with their personal spending, largely around groceries. With a few simple changes, the family were back on track.

The Happily Ever After

“Haylee challenged us to plan a holiday, and it had to be an overseas one. This gave us a goal to save for. She also helped us plan our personal finances better with new tactics for saving money on groceries and in other areas.

We are super pleased to announce that we have saved enough money for a Christmas beach holiday and a family trip to Australia in October next year. Better yet, our bank accounts have plenty of money in them. All our bills are paid on time, including the IRD bills! We are fully up to date with our GST and make regular income tax payments through Tax Management.

All of this has happened within just 6 months of working with Haylee and the team at Accountabill.

Does this sound like a familiar story for you?

If so, get in touch with us here at Accountabill. Our mission is to help you succeed in business through offering a full wrap around service which includes education, sound business advice and emotional support. If your ready to do the hard work then so are we. Book an appointment and lets chat!

If you would like to know more, you can contact us on:

Haylee@accountabill.co.nz

06 651 1503 

When you’re ready then so are we.