Reconciliation
8 min read
Even when your numbers look strong, cashflow can quietly hold your growth back
Author
Yash Galwani
Published
Oct 25, 2025
LAST UPDATED
Oct 25, 2025
Quick Summary
In our recent webinar hosted in collaboration with Unleashed we spoke to Keth McLelland, Fractional CFO at Sapling Spirits, and Mimo’s CEO Henrik Grim, where we explored how founders and finance leaders can turn cashflow from a risk into a competitive advantage.
Henrik advised breaking your cash movements into three levers. Shortening any one of these levers frees up working capital. Shorten all three, and you can unlock breathing room to scale.
Days Payable Outstanding (DPO): Delay paying your suppliers, without burning bridges.
Inventory Turn: How fast you convert stock into sales.
Days Sales Outstanding (DSO): How long it takes to collect from customers.
One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to cashflow constraints. Keth highlighted that sometimes it’s better to accept a slightly higher cost per unit if it releases cash that’s otherwise locked into inventory.
For startups - paying suppliers upfront is often inevitable. The trick: buy sparingly, negotiate hard, and carry just what you need.
For scaling businesses - you can begin to push supplier terms outward and enforce stricter customer credit rules.
Negotiate smartly at both ends of the cycle
Henrik highlighted that cashflow isn’t just about when you pay - it’s about how long you wait to get paid.
With suppliers: If you build a reputation for reliability, you can move from upfront payments toward 30, 60 or 90-day terms. See how you can do this with Mimo Flex.
With customers: Be selective. Demand upfront payments from small or new buyers. For larger accounts, have firm credit policies - don’t allow unpaid invoices to stack up.
Keith recommended embedding clear SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) so the sales team never surprises finance. Even in lean teams, the rules should be explicit: when credit is allowed, when it’s not.
She also suggests running regular credit control meetings across finance, operations, and sales to stay aligned and prevent hidden exposures.
Finance as a strategy, not a safety net
As volume or growth spikes, external capital often becomes necessary - but the timing and structure make all the difference.
Early stage: equity (friends/family, angel) dominates.
Growth stage: options broaden - factoring, inventory finance, unsecured lines, etc.
A few best practices to keep in mind:
Match the financing to your CCC. Don’t use long-term debt to handle a 60-day cash gap.
Understand fully loaded costs (fees, compounding interest, hidden charges).
Cultivate lender relationships early - when you’re not desperate.
To summarise
Short-term hacks matter, but real strength comes from culture and discipline. Henrik and Keith both emphasised:
Demand planning stops you from over-ordering and tying up cash.
Clear slow-moving SKUs with promos or product bundles.
In today’s global supply climate, holding just the right amount of stock matters more than ever.
Measure your CCC regularly.
Demystify cashflow across your whole team - it’s not solely a finance problem.
Iterate continually - refine supplier terms, credit rules, inventory strategies as you evolve.
Cashflow is the foundation. If you can break it into levers, negotiate smartly, and embed habits that protect your liquidity, you transform what many see as a constraint into a strategic advantage.
Why cashflow is the constant challenge
Ask any accountant or small business owner what keeps them up at night and cashflow is almost always near the top of the list. Despite its familiarity, it remains one of the hardest disciplines to master. Not because it’s complicated but because it depends on timing, visibility and good habits.
As Amy Harper, Partner at S&W, put it:
“You can show a healthy profit on paper and still not have money in the bank. It all comes down to when cash moves, not just what your P&L says.”
When customer payments lag, supplier costs rise and HMRC deadlines loom, the pressure builds quickly. Fortunately, as discussed in the webinar, there are practical ways to build resilience.
The one-day advantage
A small shift in timing can create significant impact. Collecting from customers a day earlier and paying suppliers a day later might sound trivial, but as Amy pointed out, it’s often the difference between smooth sailing and a shortfall.
“That one-day window on either side genuinely changes your working capital,” she explained. “And once you start thinking in those terms, you build the right habits.”
Felix Lundqvist agreed, noting that when SMEs start treating cashflow as a daily practice rather than a reactive scramble, they gain both control and confidence.
Building the right habits
So how do you move from awareness to action? Amy and Felix shared several practical steps any business can start with:
Run a monthly financial review to spot trends early
Maintain a living cashflow forecast, not a static spreadsheet
Track 5-6 focused KPIs that actually drive outcomes
And perhaps most importantly, make cashflow a standing agenda item in every discussion between accountants and their clients.
From admin to advisory
Accountants have long been seen as number crunchers or compliance partners but that is changing fast. With technology taking care of repetitive tasks, firms can now focus on advisory and strategy.
Felix encouraged SMEs to reframe the relationship:
“If you feel your accountant is only chasing documents, invite them into the strategic conversation. They bring cross-industry insight and can help you plan, not just process.”
This shift turns finance from a reactive function into a proactive growth driver, one that spots risks earlier and helps businesses make smarter, more confident decisions.
Turning friction into flow
Automation underpins all of this progress. Amy highlighted the importance of digital capture tools, open banking and smart reconciliations as they reduce manual admin, improve accuracy and free time for higher-value work.
Felix added that automation is not only about efficiency, it is about security and trust. Linking payments directly to invoices prevents errors and fraud, and makes finance processes more transparent.
Mimo’s role in enabling better cashflow
While the webinar focused on habits and mindsets, one clear theme emerged: technology is the enabler. That is where Mimo steps in and help you out. As a unified payments platform built for SMEs and accountants, Mimo simplifies how money moves by combining payment automation, cashflow clarity with affordable working capital and secure, streamlined workflows.
For firms and clients alike, it means spending less time reconciling and more time building momentum.
