My limited company is growing
Revenue is rising, complexity is rising faster, and the finances feel improvised.
Founder & writer — writes from experience
Growth exposes weak systems. What worked at ten invoices a month falls apart at sixty.
This stage is about instrumentation: a monthly dashboard, defined spending controls and a forecast you actually maintain.
What to fix first
- 1
Build a monthly dashboard
Six to eight numbers, same format, every month.
- 2
Formalise spending control
Limits, named cards and receipt capture before the team grows.
- 3
Protect margin as volume rises
Check gross margin by service line, not just total revenue.
Your seven-day plan
Day 1
Choose the monthly dashboard
Settle on a small set of numbers: cash, invoices due, bills due, gross margin, payroll and tax reserve.
Day 2
Assign data owners
Decide who updates invoices, receipts, payroll inputs and bank reconciliation before month end.
Day 3
Review customer concentration
Calculate how dependent next-quarter cash is on one customer or contract.
Day 4
Map spending authority
Set approval levels and receipt requirements before more people can spend company money.
Day 5
Run a hiring scenario
Add the full monthly cost of a proposed hire to the forecast before issuing an offer.
Day 6
Run a purchase scenario
Compare the purchase with the cash floor, its ongoing cost and the cash it is expected to produce.
Day 7
Hold a monthly finance meeting
Review actuals, forecast changes, decisions and owners in a short recurring meeting.
Numbers and documents to collect
- Current management figures
- They reveal whether growth is improving margin as well as revenue.
- Thirteen-week forecast
- It tests timing pressure behind growth decisions.
- Spending-policy draft
- It sets authority and evidence rules before delegation expands.
Revenue rises but the cash floor falls
A company wins more work but has to pay suppliers and staff before customers settle invoices. The dashboard shows revenue rising while the forecast low point falls below the agreed cash floor.
The next action is to change deposits, terms, cost timing or the delivery plan—not to assume the extra revenue makes the decision safe.
Common mistakes and red flags
- Revenue is rising while gross margin falls.
- New hiring or purchases rely on uncontracted sales.
- No one can explain who approved a recent company cost.
Get professional help now if…
Read these, in this order
When this path is not the right one
- If margins are falling as revenue rises, fix pricing before adding cost or credit.