Case Study 2 - Claire Roston, Common Farm, Northwich
Claire and her husband Steve had recently taken over the management of the farm when they contacted REG. With a successful dairy herd to manage and no previous experience with book-keeping and a tight cash flow to control, Claire needed some assistance on how best to utilise IT within the business.
Using spreadsheets, a cash flow forecasting tool was developed with Claire to ensure she can be confident when it comes to paying the bills each month. This was particularly important at a time when they were under going significant capital investment in a slurry lagoon.
The farm accounts had been previously run on Farmplan. Claire received training on basic manual book keeping and on the use of the software package. In a short time Claire was completing accurate monthly management accounts to compliment the performance recording that they use as a basis for their decision making.
Claire said "Taking over the family business was a very exciting time for us. At the same time I was very nervous regarding the accounts as I had never done any before. With the help I have received from REG I am doing our accounts confidently and have a good understanding of the accounts package we use. I am also now able to use spreadsheets to our advantage, keeping track of our cashflow and to help make decisions with my husband to keep our business a success."