Plan the year, track performance and make better decisions

Business Pulse is Buzz’s advisory service for owners who want to know where the business is going. We build the plan with you, track the business against it, and meet every month or quarter to decide what happens next. From £249 + VAT a month.

Would you rather talk it through first? Book a call.

Which Business Pulse fits your business?

Answer three questions to see which level of support fits your business.

How much does trading change from month to month?

Is anything big coming up, such as a hire, borrowing or an investment?

Is your bookkeeping up to date?

Or book a call to talk it through.

What Business Pulse includes

Business Pulse is added to your existing accounting package. It starts with a one-off setup, then runs every quarter or every month, and you can move between the two at any time.

Fees assume one trading company, reliable bookkeeping and standard management reporting. More companies, departments, stock or project reporting can affect the fee.

Monthly figures and charts on a laptop and on paper

Business Pulse setup

From £750+ VAT, one-off

The plan your results are measured against, built before the reporting starts.

It assumes the bookkeeping is complete and reliable. Any clean-up is quoted separately.

Annual budget

Revenue, direct costs, gross profit, payroll, overheads, operating profit, tax, loan repayments and capital spending for every month, with your seasonality in it.

12-month cash flow forecast

Receipts, supplier payments, payroll, VAT, PAYE, Corporation Tax, borrowing and planned investment, down to the closing cash each month.

The KPIs worth tracking

The few measures that show how your business is doing, agreed with you and reported every period.

Planning meeting

The assumptions agreed, the targets set, the pressure points identified and the first actions confirmed.

Quarterly Business Pulse

From £249+ VAT a month

For established businesses with steady trading that want a structured review every quarter.

Added to your existing accounting package.

Quarterly management accounts

Profit and loss, balance sheet and cash for the quarter, set against the budget with written commentary.

Forecast updated every quarter

The 12-month cash flow forecast rolled forward, with VAT, PAYE and Corporation Tax shown as they build up.

90-minute review meeting

Performance, cash and the decisions ahead, with priorities and actions agreed for the next quarter.

Your figures in Buzz OS

Budget against actual, your KPIs, aged debtors and creditors, and every agreed action, available between meetings.

Monthly Business Pulse

From £499+ VAT a month

For growing businesses with staff, borrowing, changing margins or big decisions ahead, where one month can change the year.

Includes everything in Quarterly Business Pulse, every month.

Monthly management accounts

Profit and loss, balance sheet and cash every month, set against the budget with written commentary.

Forecast updated every month

The cash flow forecast rolled forward each month, so a tight week shows up while you can act.

60-minute monthly meeting

A review every month, ending with a monthly action plan.

Priority support

Priority support between review meetings when a question cannot wait.

What one quarterly review looks like

A grounds-maintenance company with nine staff budgeted £300,000 of revenue and £33,000 of operating profit for the quarter. Revenue came in at £330,000 and operating profit at £26,900.

Splitting revenue by type showed contract work at a 44% gross margin and project work at 20%, because project prices had not been reviewed since materials costs rose. Four decisions came out of the 90 minutes, including a 35% margin floor on project quotes. On the same £82,500 of project work, that is worth £12,375 a quarter.

Operating profit for the quarter

Budgeted operating profit: £33,000
Extra £30,000 of revenue at the budgeted 43% margin: +£12,900
Gross margin at 38% instead of 43%: −£16,500
Payroll and overheads above budget: −£2,500
Actual operating profit: £26,900

Revenue was £30,000 above budget. Operating profit was £6,100 below it.

An illustrative example. The business is not a real client and every figure is invented.

The same five steps every quarter or month

CloseBookkeeping brought up to date, the bank and control accounts reconciled, and the period closed

MeasureManagement accounts produced and set against the budget, line by line

UnderstandWhich variances matter and what caused them: volume, price, margin, timing or a one-off

ReviewA meeting about what the figures mean for the decisions in front of you

ActPriorities and actions agreed, each with an owner and a date, and checked at the next review

Questions about Business Pulse

Is Business Pulse included in my accounting package?

No. Business Pulse is added to your existing accounting package, from £249 + VAT a month for quarterly support or £499 + VAT a month for monthly support, after a one-off setup from £750 + VAT.

Why is there a setup fee?

The setup builds the annual budget, the 12-month cash flow forecast and the KPIs your results are measured against, and includes the first planning meeting.

What happens in the review meeting?

We go through sales and gross margin, then payroll and overheads, then cash, late-paying customers and the VAT, PAYE and Corporation Tax coming up, and then the decisions ahead. Before the meeting ends, the decisions, the actions with an owner and a date, and any change to the forecast are written down.

Can I change between quarterly and monthly?

Yes, at any time.

Do I need to buy forecasting software?

No. The budget, the forecast, the management accounts and the agreed actions are kept in Buzz OS, with no extra software subscription.

What if my bookkeeping is not up to date?

We check the bookkeeping before the service starts, and any clean-up is quoted separately. If it is well behind, a Buzz finance team can bring it up to date and keep it there.

Can I buy a budget, a forecast or management accounts on their own?

Yes. A budget, a cash flow forecast, a business plan, management accounts and review meetings are each available on their own. Book a call and we will price the part you need.

How is Business Pulse different from the finance team?

Business Pulse plans, reports and reviews, and you or your bookkeeper keep doing the day-to-day work. A Buzz finance team does the day-to-day work: bookkeeping, payroll, VAT, customer invoicing and supplier payments.

How is it different from a part-time finance director?

The finance director service adds a KPI dashboard and a quarterly board meeting with Peter Allen, Buzz’s Financial Director, and includes the day-to-day finance work as well.

Accreditations & Partnerships