Debt and Cashflow as an Advisory Line

From favour to service line

Many advisers already help clients with cash flow — they just do it informally, squeezed between compliance deadlines and never billed properly. The work happens, but it is invisible, so it earns no fee and builds no reputation. A service line changes that. By naming the offering, defining what it includes, and giving it a price, you turn scattered goodwill into something clients can buy and you can grow.

The shift is mostly one of intention. The same conversations you have today — about slow debtors, tight months, and funding gaps — become a structured engagement with a beginning, a deliverable, and a fee. Clients take a paid service more seriously than a free favour, and so do you.

What the line contains

A practical cashflow advisory line for SMEs usually bundles a handful of components:

• a review of the debtors ledger and ageing;
• a short cash-flow forecast or rolling view;
• recommendations on terms, invoicing and collections;
• a follow-up at an agreed interval to track progress.

You do not need new software to deliver this — the accounting file and a forecast are usually enough. What you are selling is the interpretation, not the data. Defining the scope tightly keeps the engagement profitable and stops it sprawling into open-ended hand-holding.

Pricing and packaging

Fixed fees suit this work better than hourly billing, because clients value the outcome — better cash flow — not your time. A modest monthly or quarterly retainer for ongoing review, or a one-off fee for an initial cashflow health check, both work well. Anchor the price to the value: a client owed tens of thousands in late invoices will not blink at a fee that helps them collect it.

Make the benefit tangible up front. Run a client's overdue balances through the late payment calculator and show what the delay is costing in real money. A number on the table makes the fee an easy decision.

Where recovery fits

A complete cashflow line has an answer for debts that will not be collected by better process alone. When a client's account has aged past reminders, the service should hand it on rather than leave the client stuck. That escalation path is part of what makes the offering feel finished.

Merion's commission-only recovery means clients pay nothing upfront and only on success, so you can build referral into the service without asking clients to carry risk. Add refer a debt as the escalation step in your engagement. This is general information, not legal or financial advice.