The ‘Money Belief’ That Leaves Property Investors Asking “Where’s All the Cash Gone?!”

By Jackie Tomes & David Wigram 

 Ever checked your bank account, felt your stomach drop and wondered… 

 “Where’s all the money gone?!?” 

If so, you’re absolutely not alone. Dave (my husband and business partner) and I had this painful experience many times early on in our property journey.  

It took us 5 years to finally get to the bottom of why this happens -- and how to get to the bottom of it. 

And that’s exactly what we’re sharing with you in this blog…  

 …so you can gain clarity over what’s really happening with your money each month, avoid nasty surprises and improve your cashflow. 

Recently, this topic of conversation came up for us during a stopover in Asia’s financial hub, Singapore.  

It’s such an awe-inspiring place. We were looking around at the huge developments, the iconic Marina Bay Sands hotel and I couldn’t quite comprehend how so many incredibly expensive hotels are able to not only survive… but thrive.  

Naturally, that got me and Dave talking -- as we always do -- about the financial side of running a property business. 

 Because mastering the finances of our portfolio has been one of our biggest learning curves over the last decade… not only as investors, but as business owners.  

And with the major challenges right now in the UK property market -- new regulation, higher interest rates, rising costs -- understanding where your money is going each month is more important than ever.  

 Particularly if you’re a property investor who wants to make better financial decisions, reduce risk, increase cashflow and run a sustainable business.  

So, let’s dive in…  

The ‘Accountant’ Misconception That Keeps Property Investors Financially Stuck  

When it comes to understanding what’s actually happening with your money, one common misconception quietly sabotages property investors: 

The belief that your accountant can give you the day-to-day answers you need. 

We believed this for years. But eventually we discovered something that flipped how we thought about the financial side of running our portfolio: 

An accountant’s primary job is to file your accounts for HMRC to make sure you are compliant (and hopefully they are ensuring you are tax efficient as well, although in my experience that is not automatically the case).  The reality, for a fast-moving small business is…  

The annual accounts are practically useless for understanding what’s happening monetarily, month to month. And here’s why…  

Your accounts aren’t due for filing until 9 months after your year end. So by the time they're filed, the numbers your accountant is looking at are 12–19 months outdated. 

 At this point, they’re history… not a reflection of your current reality. 

 And that’s why, if you’re relying on your accountant for financial clarity in the here and now, they simply cannot give you that.   

So, what’s the solution? 

 It starts with understanding the gap in most property businesses’ finance functions: 

Right now, there’s likely nobody responsible for giving you the up-to-date info you need to see on the financial health of your portfolio… what cash is coming in, what’s going out and what that means for decisions you’re making.  

(Decisions like: How much should you pay yourself? When can you increase your wage? Or can you afford to hire? Or is this property even worth owning anymore?!)  

There are specific financial roles designed to bring you that clarity… but many property investors don’t understand what those roles are or how they work. 

However, once you understand them, you’ll start to see what’s been missing in your own business. And why so many get stuck in that “where’s all the money gone?!” loop. 

So with that in mind, I’m handing you over to ‘Detail’ Dave -- our resident financial strategist at Property Strategy. He’ll walk you through those key financial roles, how they work practically and how you can start creating more ‘money clarity’ in your business.  

Take it away, Dave…  

Detail Dave Explains: 4 Financial Roles Property Business Owners Must Understand  

Back in 2015, I was in the same position as most small business owners: trying to make decisions without understanding the financial side of the business. 

 Then a mentor asked me this simple question: “What’s your cashflow like?” 

 I couldn’t answer it. Because at that point, “knowing my numbers” basically meant checking the bank balance. 

 But that question sent me on a 5 year journey to really understand the financial side of our property business… so Jackie and I could finally see where our money was going, increase cashflow and improve profitability. 

 Along the way, I discovered something most property investors are never taught: 

There are 4 key roles involved in the financial side of a business. Each one does something completely different…  

And if you don’t understand who does what, you end up relying on the wrong people for the wrong information. Which is exactly how you lose visibility over what’s happening with your money. 

Here are the 4 key roles…  

BOOKKEEPER 

 A bookkeeper’s job is simple: take every business transaction and categorise it. 

That is essential work. But it becomes a problem when you rely on bookkeeping alone to give you the financial answers you need month to month. 

Here’s one reason why… 

If the bookkeeper doesn’t know what a transaction relates to, they’ll often guess. (This happens commonly because most small businesses don’t have a strong system for reporting transactions.) 

Those small guesses don’t seem like much… but over time, they add up to big errors in your data. 

This happened to me. I kept receiving P&L reports showing we were making a huge loss… while our bank account looked absolutely fine. 

I eventually realised the problem: the format we were bookkeeping in, was designed to serve the Accountant (and therefore HMRC), but not designed to help me (the business owner) make sense of what was REALLY going on.  

ACCOUNTANT 

 Your accountant’s job is compliance. Their responsibility is to take the bookkeeping data, put it in the format HMRC requires and file your accounts.  

And because accounts aren’t due until 9 months after your year end, by the time anything is actually filed… the numbers you’re looking at are majorly outdated.   

Your accountant isn’t doing anything wrong. They’re simply working with historic data. 

But historic data won’t help you understand your current financial position. Or help you make better decisions in the here and now, in a fast-moving small business. 

FINANCIAL CONTROLLER 

This was the breakthrough role for me. 

A financial controller takes the bookkeeping data and turns it into reports that actually make sense to you, the business owner -- not HMRC. 

They show you a true picture of what’s happening with your money… and what’s likely to happen next. 

When I finally hired a financial controller, and started working with him to develop reports that served ME (not the Accountant, not HMRC...) -- everything clicked into place.  It all started to make sense. 

After refining our reports together over the course of 12-18 months, I could see 12 to 24 months ahead. I knew when we could afford to pay ourselves more and when we could afford to hire.  

For the first time, I had a clear view of what was actually happening with our money.  

MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANT 

This role is more common in larger companies. 

A management accountant prepares monthly management accounts, cashflow forecasts and performance reports -- the kind of information business owners wish their accountant gave them. 

They understand business operations, not just tax. And they’re trained to turn numbers into insights you can act on. 

The problem? They’re usually unaffordable for small property businesses. 

By understanding these 4 roles, you (hopefully) see why your finances may feel unclear… and what’s been missing in your business until now. 

This means you can now avoid asking the wrong people to give you information. And you can work towards creating the financial visibility you need to make better decisions and optimise cashflow. 

And with that, I’ll hand you back to Jackie for some closing thoughts…  

How to Start Applying This in YOUR Property Business 

 Understanding these 4 roles won’t instantly give you financial clarity. BUT it does give you something I wish we had much earlier: 

A clear explanation of why a traditional accountant won’t give you the real-time info you need… to see what’s really happening with your money each month. 

So what should you do next? 

 You don’t need a full finance team right away. But now you understand the roles, I encourage you to begin creating more financial visibility, even in simple, early-stage form.  

At a basic level, that might mean: 

• A clean monthly profit and loss acount 
• A simple cashflow forecast that predicts what the financials will look like over the year ahead 
• Reporting that reflects how your property business actually works, not just what HMRC needs to see 

 With these regular reports, you’ll be able to spot problems earlier, plan with more certainty and consistently optimise cashflow. 

And with interest rates higher, regulation increasing and overheads rising, there’s never been a better time to focus on improving financial visibility in your property business. It’s so worth it, I promise! 

To doing more deals and going on holiday every 6 weeks 😉

Love Jackie and Dave x