What does Manchester United know about finance that Manchester City doesn’t?

While football takes a break for the summer and World Cup madness overtakes the nation, behind the scenes it’s time for the clubs to get their teams and finances ready for the next season.

The trophies are safely stored away and the players take a rest, yet the accountants are still hard at work to keep the spending habits of their bosses and managers within the rules of Financial Fair Play. The upcoming frenzy that is the start of the transfer window will only add to their headaches. So what is Financial Fair Play? In a nutshell, it means:

• Balance your books
• Don’t take on more debt than you can service
• Pay your taxes on time
• Pay your people on time

Doesn’t that sound like common sense? Shouldn’t everyone be able to manage that in any business? Unfortunately it’s not always so simple when the opportunities fly at you in a fast-paced environment and you don’t quite understand what should go where on your balance sheet. Of course, the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal hire the very best to manage their finances. But that’s not a luxury every business owner can afford and even then, they don’t always get it right as Manchester City and Paris St Germain recently discovered. That’s why it’s essential you take responsibility for your own financial literacy.  You need to know the basics, including:

• Cash flow
• Working Capital
• Expenses
• Balance Sheet

It isn’t easy, but it isn’t that hard either. Especially when you get the right training, tailored to what you need to know and how you should put it into action. You don’t need to be a maths whizz, or even have much more than a working knowledge of Exel. Get to grips with accounting terms and definitions and you’ll be well on the way to making yours a winning season. Colour Accounting™ is our financial literacy course. Click here to secure your place. [traininglist slug=”colour-accounting-normal”]  ]]>