The cash questions owners actually ask.

These are the questions owners actually ask me, answered the way I'd answer them across a table: the answer first, then the working, and I'll tell you where it doesn't hold. I'd rather tell you something you don't want to hear than something that isn't true. That's rather the point of the whole thing.

The formula The cash cushion formula: how many months of cover have you actually got? Net cash divided by monthly cost base. A worked example from Xero's own Demo Company, and five years of a real client's cushion on one chart, including what £200k less would have looked like. Ciaran O'Donnell · 6 min read · with a 5-minute film The trust question Can I trust AI with my books? Not a matter of vibes: four checkable questions decide it. Write access, storage, training, jurisdiction. The checklist works on any tool, ours included, and there is a section for practices handling client data. Ciaran O'Donnell · 5 min read The diagnosis Profit is not cash: why a profitable business can still run out of money. The calls never come from loss-making businesses. Debtors, VAT in arrears, corporation tax, stock and growth itself, and the four numbers that warn you while the fix is still cheap. Ciaran O'Donnell · 5 min read The five positions The five cash positions a business can be in. Which one are you? Cliff edge, hand to mouth, one shock from trouble, room to breathe, resilient builder. Same £42,000 cost base in every example; only the cushion changes, and it changes everything. Ciaran O'Donnell · 4 min read · with a 4-minute film The data Almost 4 in 10 UK companies have negative net cash. We analysed 7,000 real Companies House filings from June and July 2026: 4 in 10 below the line, 2 in 3 with less cash than they owe, 1 in 5 with under £1,000 in the bank. What it means if that is you. Ciaran O'Donnell · 4 min read · from 7,000 filings The story The warning signs business owners ignore, and what they cost. Ten days of ignored fuel pings, zero on the clock at the bottom of the hill, and the business translation of every beat: the polite alarm, the optimistic sums, the countdown, the hill. Ciaran O'Donnell · 5 min read · with a 6-minute film For practices Offer every client weekly cash monitoring, without building anything. For accountants, bookkeepers and fractional FDs: a weekly cash briefing per client, read-only, shareable without write access, and the monthly pack stays yours. Ciaran O'Donnell · 4 min read · with a 3-minute film