A set of accounts open on a desk

The six moments in a client file

Financial planning conversations start because something has changed, and the change is visible in work your firm is doing anyway. These are six of them, with a sentence to raise each.

6
moments in a client file, each with a sentence to raise it.

Where each one shows up

1

Cash that has stopped moving

The balance sheet. A company cash balance that has grown every year with no purpose stated against it.
2

An owner approaching a pension age

The client’s date of birth. Fifty-five, rising to fifty-seven in 2028, and state pension age each change the options available.
3

Borrowing with nothing behind it

The notes to the accounts. New borrowing with a personal guarantee behind it and no cover against the guarantee.
4

A business that has outgrown its owner

Profit against drawings. Profit rising for three years while the owner takes the same salary and dividend.
5

A sale on the horizon

What they told you in the meeting. An approach received, or a date in mind. Business asset disposal relief and pension funding both take time.
6

The accounts date itself

Your own calendar. Every client has this meeting with you each year, and it is already in the diary.
1

Cash that has stopped moving

A company cash balance that has grown every year and has no stated purpose. It sits on the balance sheet you are already looking at.

The accounts show the balance and the interest it earned. They do not show whether anyone has decided to hold it, or what it is for.

What to look for: a cash balance above what the business needs for working capital, held for more than two years, with no capital expenditure planned against it.

What you can say“Retained profit has grown again this year and nothing is planned for it. Cash held well beyond what the business needs can affect business property relief, and whether the company still counts as a trading company on a sale. Would it be useful to have the financial adviser we work with look at it?”
2

An owner approaching a pension age

Normal minimum pension age is 55, rising to 57 on 6 April 2028 (Finance Act 2022). State pension age is 66, rising to 67 between 2026 and 2028 (gov.uk, State Pension age timetable). Each of those dates opens choices to the owner.

Where the company is the owner’s retirement plan, the sale price has to be tested against what the owner will need to live on. The client’s date of birth is in the file, so you can see the date coming.

What to look for: a director’s date of birth within five years of 55, or 57 from April 2028, or of state pension age, in a company with no employer pension contributions in the last three years.

What you can say“You are getting to the age where the pension rules give you choices. Would it be useful to have the financial adviser we work with set out what the numbers look like?”
3

Borrowing with nothing behind it

A charge registered at Companies House shows new lending. Ask whether there is a personal guarantee behind it and whether the guarantee is insured. If the person who gave the guarantee dies, the guarantee becomes a debt of their estate.

What to look for: a new charge at Companies House, new bank borrowing in the accounts, or a director’s loan account that has moved sharply.

What you can say“I noticed the new facility went on the register last year. Is there a personal guarantee behind it, and is there any cover against it? If not, would you like half an hour with the financial adviser we work with, to look at what happens to the guarantee, and to the family, if something happened to you?”
4

A business that has outgrown its owner

The company has traded steadily for years, has more staff and depends more on one person, and the owner’s personal position has not been reviewed since the company was small. The owner’s own arrangements have not changed as the business has grown.

What to look for: rising turnover and headcount, one signatory, no succession arrangement, key people with no cover against losing them.

What you can say“A lot now depends on you personally. Has anyone looked at what happens to the business, and to the family, if you are not here?”
Notes taken in a client meeting
5

A sale on the horizon

Some of the planning around a sale has to happen two or three years before it. Business asset disposal relief needs the qualifying conditions met throughout the two years before the disposal (gov.uk, Business Asset Disposal Relief). Employer pension contributions have to be made while the company is still trading. The amount the client needs from the sale depends on what they will live on afterwards, and that has to be worked out before the price is agreed.

What to look for: a buyer approach mentioned in passing, talk of retirement inside three years, questions about business asset disposal relief, or a company being tidied up.

What you can say“You have mentioned that you would like to be out in a few years. Some of the planning around a sale has to happen two or three years before it. Would you like an hour with the financial adviser we work with now?”
6

The accounts date itself

Once a year the numbers are in front of both of you and the client expects a conversation about money. It is the one moment of the six that is already in the diary.

What you can say“We have covered the company. Can I ask what the plan is for you personally?”

Using them

Go through the client list against the six. For limited companies, Client Watch in your portal reads the imported client list against the Companies House record and ranks it. It cannot see the accounts you prepare or what the client told you in a meeting, so the two lists will differ.

Either way you end with a short list of clients and a sentence to open each conversation with.

Financial planning for your clients, alongside the accounts and tax work

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