With farm returns experiencing increased volatility there has been an increased requirement from banks to “be closer to the action”. Bankers are increasingly asking to be updated on the farm’s financial position, both historic and looking into the future.
While this may seem more of an annoyance for the farmer, at HC Rural we have found this to be a positive experience as it enables farmers to keep their finger on the pulse. Farms that can demonstrate a sound financial position can often use the information to improve their interest margins and therefore reduce their interest expense. Accurate forecasts can also illustrate what level of principal repayments can be achieved, as banks look to farmers to pay down the additional debt lent over the past few years.
Cloud based accounting software makes this process easier.
With most software providers heading into the cloud, access to information has increased significantly and updates to budgets and cashflows can be achieved quickly and efficiently.
The main products on offer to the rural sector are Cash Manager Rural, Xero (& Figured) & MYOB. Each product has its positives and negatives and in our experience there is no one product that suits everyone.
We at HC Rural believe that farmers’ should be provided with choice and are happy to work with you to find the package that best suits your needs.
Most farmers will already be utilising an accounting software package which they are more than comfortable with and which they understand. They may have options to upgrade to a cloud based version of the software which could be more sensible than changing to a completely new product. With any decision, we encourage our clients to discuss with us first to ensure the right package is chosen and the changeover is as smooth as possible.
We invite farmers’ to discuss their specific requirements with us to enable the farmer to make an informed choice based on cost, ease of use, familiarity with the product, individual requirements etc.
Comments are closed.