Your first month of finance after buying a business

Start with access and responsibility

Confirm who can access the accounting system, bank accounts, payroll records and payment processors. Confirm the bank signatories and payment approvals needed under the new ownership arrangements. Remove or limit seller and former staff access as the agreement permits. Confirm the payroll provider, relevant tax accounts and the first payroll date under the new owner. Keep a current list of who prepares payments, who approves them and who reconciles the records. Where a small team cannot separate every task, arrange an independent review.

Preserve exports and supporting records from before the handover. Make changes through a documented process rather than overwriting unexplained balances. Your accountant and lawyer should confirm how the transaction affects the entity, tax registrations and the records you must retain.

Build a cash view you can update

A weekly cash forecast can expose a shortfall before the bank balance reaches it. Start with verified available cash, expected customer collections and the payment dates for payroll, suppliers, rent, taxes and debt. A 13-week horizon is a practical starting point; change it if the business's cycle needs a different view.

Use expected collection dates, not invoice dates alone. Show uncertain receipts separately and include known transition costs. Each week, compare the forecast with what happened and explain the largest differences. A forecast is a set of assumptions to update, not a guarantee that cash will arrive.

Establish the opening records

Confirm which receivables, payables, inventory, deposits and obligations belong to the acquired business under the actual deal. Asset and equity purchases can require different treatment. The transaction accountant should determine the appropriate opening accounting entries and any purchase-price allocation.

Keep a list of unresolved items with an owner and the next evidence needed. A seller's estimate, an agreed closing adjustment and a posted ledger balance may represent different stages of the same item. Label them so that nobody mistakes an estimate for a settled amount.

A suggested first-month working plan

Keep the first report useful

Start with a profit and loss statement, balance sheet and cash outlook whose figures can be traced to the books. Add a few measures that explain this business, such as job margin, overdue receivables or customer concentration. Avoid a large dashboard that nobody has time to maintain.

Where loan agreements require reporting or covenant calculations, confirm the exact definitions and deadlines with the lender. Do not assume that a calculation used during acquisition diligence is the same one required after closing.

Decide who owns the close, the cash forecast and each follow-up. The first month's report should make the next decision clearer: which customer needs attention, which payment needs planning, or which assumption needs revisiting.