Digital advisory is the practical next step in how ambitious UK businesses use their numbers. Instead of historic reports that tell you what happened last quarter, digital advisory combines real-time data, forecasting and structured advice to help you decide what to do next. For owners who feel they are making decisions in the dark, it brings light – through timely dashboards, forward-looking cashflow forecasts, and regular conversations that turn figures into action.
As Making Tax Digital (MTD) expands, businesses will be keeping more records in software anyway. The smart move is to use that same data to improve margins, protect cash and plan growth. In this guide, we explain what digital advisory means in practice, the tools and dashboards that matter, how we structure meetings, what it costs, the skills and onboarding involved, and the measurable returns you can expect. We also set out common pitfalls and how we protect your data. Our goal is simple: help you get faster, clearer financial insight so you can make better choices with confidence.
What digital advisory means day to day
Think of digital advisory as an ongoing service that blends software, human expertise and cadence:
- Data integration: Connect your accounting platform to bank feeds, payroll and sales systems so numbers update automatically.
- Dashboards: Focus on a small set of live metrics that show performance at a glance.
- Forecasting: Project cashflow, profit and balance sheet positions under different scenarios.
- Regular touchpoints: Meet monthly or quarterly to review performance and agree actions.
If you are starting from scratch, we first stabilise bookkeeping and controls, then layer in dashboards and forecasting. Clients who already have solid bookkeeping often move straight to insight.
Explore how we approach this in our Digital advisory service page and our Business forecasting support.
The tools that make it work
We are software-agnostic and configure your stack around the outcomes you want:
- Core ledger: Provide a clean, up-to-date record of activity with bank rules, approvals and audit trails.
- Data connectors: Pull sales, payment and HR data into your ledger and BI layer without manual exports.
- Dashboards: Surface revenue, gross margin, debtor days, cash runway and budget-vs-actuals.
- Forecasting and modelling: Build 3-way models, scenario analysis and driver-based budgets you can adjust in minutes.
For most SMEs, the winning setup is a cloud ledger, direct bank feeds, a structured chart of accounts, and a dashboard that updates daily. If you’re not sure whether your current setup is fit for purpose, our Management accounts team can assess it quickly.
KPIs that matter to owners
Digital advisory is only useful if you measure the right things. Typical dashboards include:
- Gross margin: Track profit discipline by product or service line.
- Debtor days: Reduce the number of days sales outstanding to protect cash. Government research found that 32% of micro businesses paid suppliers late because they were themselves paid late, highlighting the cash pressure created by late receipts (UK Government, 2024).
- Cash runway: Know how many months of operations you can fund at current burn.
- Pipeline to bookings ratio: Convert sales activity into revenue with fewer surprises.
- Operating leverage: Monitor how costs move with revenue to avoid margin erosion.
Forecasting, scenarios and “what if?”
We can create a 12–36 month 3-way forecast that links profit, cash and balance sheet. From there, we test scenarios:
- Price rise: Model 3% and 5% price changes to see revenue, margin and cash effects.
- Hiring plan: Layer two new roles with start dates and salaries to see cash low points.
- Credit control: Improve debtor days from 45 to 35 and quantify the cash unlocked.
- Capex: Add equipment financed over 36 months and see the payback period.
These models help you compare options with numbers, not guesswork.
Meeting cadence and what happens between meetings
Most clients start with monthly insight sessions. A typical quarter looks like:
- Month 1 review: Agree focus KPIs and set actions.
- Mid-month check-in: Confirm progress, unblock tasks, adjust forecast drivers.
- Month 2 review: Compare actuals to plan, refresh cash runway, update hiring or pricing assumptions.
- Quarterly deep-dive: Reset the budget, test scenarios and align on next-quarter priorities.
If your business is stable and seasonal, quarterly may be enough, however, fast-moving firms often prefer monthly.
MTD context and why timing matters
MTD for Income Tax is being phased in: from 6 April 2026 for qualifying income above £50,000, from 6 April 2027 above £30,000, and from 6 April 2028 above £20,000 (HMRC, 2025). Even if you are not mandated yet, moving to software now shortens the path to digital advisory and reduces admin. The same data that keeps you compliant powers insights, forecasts and board-ready reporting.
Pricing approaches that fit different needs
We keep pricing simple and transparent:
- Foundation: Provide monthly management accounts, a live dashboard and a quarterly review.
- Growth: Add monthly advisory meetings, a rolling 12-month forecast and scenario modelling.
- FD support: Include board reporting, lender packs and strategic projects such as pricing or funding.
Fees scale with transaction volume, number of entities and complexity. We’ll agree outcomes and a fixed monthly fee up front.
Skills you get on tap
Digital advisory combines technical and commercial expertise:
- Accountancy and controls: Ensure reliable numbers and audit trails.
- Data and modelling: Build robust, driver-based forecasts.
- Commercial insight: Link KPIs to pricing, sales and operations so actions stick.
- Stakeholder communication: Turn analysis into two or three clear decisions each month.
Onboarding in four fast steps
- Data health check: Clean chart of accounts, bank feeds and opening balances.
- KPI design: Define 6–8 metrics that genuinely drive decisions.
- Model build: Create a baseline 3-way forecast with key drivers.
- Go live: Share dashboards, meet monthly, and refine as we learn.
Simple case examples and measurable ROI
- Wholesale distributor: Debtor days cut from 58 to 36 after tightening credit terms and introducing weekly collections prompts. Result: average cash balance up by 18% and overdraft use down by 70% within two quarters.
- SaaS scale-up: Price increase of 4% tested in the model showed churn risk was low. Result: gross margin up 2.3 percentage points, extending cash runway by five months.
- Manufacturer: Switching a £120k capex plan from cash to asset finance reduced the two tightest cash months by 60%, avoiding a working-capital facility.
At national level, productivity gains matter. The Office for Budget Responsibility notes that a 0.5 percentage point change in productivity growth can move borrowing by around £40bn in 2028/29 (OBR, 2024). Digital advisory is one of the most practical ways an SME can lift its own productivity through better decisions, faster.
Pitfalls to avoid
- Too many KPIs: Create noise and dilute action. Keep it to the vital few.
- Static dashboards: Ignore them if nothing changes. Set targets and owners.
- Manual workarounds: Break the flow with spreadsheets nobody trusts. Automate feeds.
- No cadence: Lose momentum without regular reviews and clear next steps.
Data security and governance
We only use reputable cloud platforms and enforce least-privilege access, MFA and documented approvals. Sensitive reports are shared through secure portals, not email. Logs and audit trails are maintained so you can evidence who changed what and when. Good governance is part of the service, not an add-on.
How we’ll work with you
Digital advisory works best as a partnership. We bring the process, models and discipline. You bring business context and the will to act. Within two to four weeks, most clients have a live dashboard, a baseline model and an agreed meeting rhythm. Within one quarter, you should see measurable changes in collections, margin and cash. In six to twelve months, strategy decisions – pricing, hiring, funding and product mix – are being made with more confidence and fewer surprises. For many SMEs, late payment and cash pressure are recurring risks. Government research shows a meaningful share of micro businesses pay suppliers late because they have been paid late themselves, which underlines the role of debtor days, credit control and cashflow forecasting in day-to-day resilience. If you are preparing for MTD, the same shift to software will set you up to benefit from digital advisory without rework. The wider economy reminds us why this matters: better productivity compounds over time and improves your options when markets change.
If you want clearer financial insight from your data, we can help you set up the right tools, focus on the KPIs that count and build a forecast you trust. Talk to us about digital advisory – we’ll scope a simple, fixed-fee plan and get you moving within weeks.
