Roake & Cook Limited

Roake & Cook Limited Rural Cloud Accountants - Putting rural business owners in control of their numbers

We are passionate about helping rural business owners take control of their numbers, removing the unknown and the stress that this often brings. With a focus on the use of new technology, we provide accountancy, bookkeeping, payroll, and R&D Tax Credit services to rural businesses across the country. We work with farmers, food and drink producers, garden centres, rare breed centres, farm shops, ru

ral manufacturers and anything in between. Whether you are a new business, one looking to switch to cloud software, or a business looking for help with your finance function, we can help.

Did you know we have fortnightly newsletters we send out to clients?Our newsletters are packed with tips, important upda...
02/06/2026

Did you know we have fortnightly newsletters we send out to clients?

Our newsletters are packed with tips, important updates and advice to help you stay on top of your finances.

If you would like to be added to our list, tap the link in our bio.

The reality? £14,000 in the bank on the 28th. Payroll due Friday. VAT bill the following Tuesday.Here's what was happeni...
01/06/2026

The reality? £14,000 in the bank on the 28th. Payroll due Friday. VAT bill the following Tuesday.

Here's what was happening underneath:

→ Debtor days had crept from 42 to 68. Two retail accounts were paying on 60 day terms.

→ Stock had ballooned. New packaging minimum order quantities and a new SKU had added £92k of inventory sat in the warehouse.

→ Supplier terms were 30 days.

Every new wholesale order made the cash problem worse, not better.

The fix wasn't a bigger overdraft. It was four levers, pulled at once:

Debtor days down to 45. Deposits on new accounts, weekly statements, two slow-payers dropped.

Stock down by £38k. Slow lines paused, MOQs renegotiated on two key lines.

Supplier terms extended to 45 with the two biggest suppliers. Asked, got it, took 20 minutes.

Price up 5% across the trade list. Lost zero accounts.

Cash position three months later: £148,000.

Same revenue. Same margin. Different business.

If growth feels like it's chewing through your bank balance, you're not failing. You're running out of working capital. That's a fixable problem.

Real feedback from the people we work with every day.Simple numbers. Better decisions. Stronger businesses.
29/05/2026

Real feedback from the people we work with every day.

Simple numbers. Better decisions. Stronger businesses.

Growth can hide a cash flow problem for longer than most business owners realise. On paper, everything can look healthy....
28/05/2026

Growth can hide a cash flow problem for longer than most business owners realise.

On paper, everything can look healthy. Revenue climbing, new customers coming in, bigger orders landing — while behind the scenes the business is under real pressure.

More often than not, it comes down to working capital: slow-paying customers, too much cash tied up in stock, and supplier terms that no longer fit the pace of growth.

If you have ever said something like this to your accountant, here are the three places it usually went:1. YOUR CUSTOMER...
26/05/2026

If you have ever said something like this to your accountant, here are the three places it usually went:

1. YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE HOLDING IT

If your trade debtors went up by £50,000 during the year, that is £50,000 of profit that lives in someone else's bank account, not yours.

It is real revenue. It is real margin. You just cannot spend it yet.

2. YOUR STORE-ROOM IS HOLDING IT

Every extra pound of stock on your shelves is a pound of cash that is sitting still.

A business with 90 stock days is, in effect, lending three months of working capital to itself.

3. HMRC IS HOLDING IT

Corporation Tax accrues all year. So does VAT. Both feel invisible until the quarterly or annual moment they arrive.

That £180,000 profit could be sitting against £50,000 of CT and £25,000 of VAT you have not paid yet.

Once you net all three out, the missing money usually accounts itself for completely.

Which one feels biggest in your business?

Most business owners look at their bank balance and call it cash flow management.It isn't.A 13-week cash forecast is one...
25/05/2026

Most business owners look at their bank balance and call it cash flow management.

It isn't.

A 13-week cash forecast is one of the most useful tools you'll ever build.

Here's why.

Thirteen weeks is a quarter. Far enough out to spot trouble before it arrives. Close enough to actually be accurate.

It shows you the week your VAT bill lands at the same time as payroll. It shows you the gap in March when one big customer always pays late. It shows you whether you can afford that new hire - not in theory, but on a specific Tuesday.

How to build one:

Open a spreadsheet. 13 columns, one per week.

Row 1: opening bank balance. Then list every receipt you expect - by customer, by week.

Then every payment - payroll, rent, suppliers, VAT, PAYE, loan repayments, your own drawings.

Closing balance becomes next week's opening balance.

Update it every Friday. Takes 20 minutes once it's set up.

Best practice is to use a cash flow report from your bookkeeping software and keep the same format, which will allow easier 'actuals vs forecast' and a consistent structure.

Be realistic. The 'just add 3%' doesn't provide any benefit.

What you'll see in week one will surprise you. The expensive month isn't where you thought. The squeeze is three weeks closer than you assumed. The "good" customer pays slower than the "difficult" one.

You can't fix what you can't see. And you can't see cash flow on a bank balance.

Build the forecast. Update it weekly. Sleep better.

'Think and grow rich' contains some practical advice for business owners.Hill's first principle is that vague desire ach...
21/05/2026

'Think and grow rich' contains some practical advice for business owners.

Hill's first principle is that vague desire achieves nothing. You need a single, specific, written goal with a deadline and a price you're willing to pay.

That's not "grow the business." It's: "Hit £1.5m turnover at 18% net margin by 31 December 2026, by adding wholesale to three retailers and launching a DTC subscription."

Write it down. Read it twice a day. This sounds silly. It works because most owners have never actually committed their goal to paper, which is why they drift.

Hill also talks about "burning desire."

In practical terms: if your goal doesn't matter to you personally - paying off the mortgage, hiring a number two so you can take Fridays off, funding your kids' education - you'll quit when it gets hard. Connect the business goal to a personal outcome you actually want.

You know it. We know it.You should delegate the bookkeeping. But you're worried no one will do it your way.You should fi...
19/05/2026

You know it. We know it.

You should delegate the bookkeeping. But you're worried no one will do it your way.

You should film content for LinkedIn. But you can't stand how you sound on camera.

You should make 30 cold calls a day. You'd win more business. You know you would. But the rejection stings.

You should put your prices up. But what if they leave?

You should fire the client who drains you. But the revenue feels safe.

So instead, you tidy your inbox. You reformat a spreadsheet. You go to another networking breakfast that leads nowhere.

You stay busy. You just don't get anywhere.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: if the work feels easy, it probably isn't moving the needle.

Comfortable work is comfortable for a reason - everyone else is doing it too.

The owners pulling away from the pack aren't smarter than you. They aren't luckier. They're just willing to do the thing that makes them squirm.

Pick the one task you've been dodging. The one that pops into your head at 6am and gets shuffled to "next week" by 9.

Do it before lunch on Monday.

That's where the growth is hiding.

When you are a small business, there are always things that demand your time.Being disciplined and ensuring you make tim...
18/05/2026

When you are a small business, there are always things that demand your time.

Being disciplined and ensuring you make time for things that 'move the needle' is so important.

Replying to emails that could wait. Tidying the stockroom. Tweaking the website. Fixing the printer. Going to networking events that lead nowhere. Reformatting the same spreadsheet for the third time.

All of it feels like work. The harsh reality is none of it moves the business forward.

Meanwhile the things that actually grow a business sit in a list on the desk.

Calling the five biggest customers to ask what else they need. Ringing back the wholesaler who emailed six weeks ago. Pricing the new product line properly. Sitting down for two uninterrupted hours to plan Q2.

Not urgent. Just important.

Try blocking out 3 hours a week to focus on this work.

Do it every week for the next quarter and see what happens.

Address

Canterbury

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 6pm

Telephone

+441227788086

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