Top accountant John Hannway urged small business owners to follow the accountancy ‘highway code’ when he addressed the West Belfast Business Roundtable in An Chultúrlann today.

“If you don’t have proper management accounts or even know if you are making money, then you are effectively driving blind,” he told 16 business leaders from across Belfast.
“It’s also important to have timely annual accounts but they only tell you what happened in the past,” he added, “they are like looking in the rearview mirror. Financial projections — even though they can never be entirely right because none of us can see the future — are a crucial tool for running your business.”

TOP TABLE: Business leaders from West Belfast join John Hannaway for a breakfast roundtable
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TOP TABLE: Business leaders from West Belfast join John Hannaway for a breakfast roundtable

Old saws of business are worth repeating and paying attention to, the founder of Hannaway CA added. “'Turnover is vanity, profit is vanity' is a rule-of-thumb businesses should live by. And equally Cash is King is repeated often because it is true. I have seen many fine businesses go to the wall because they ran out of cash.”

One of Ireland’s most respected accountants, John Hannway was the first West Belfast partner at bluechip accountancy firm Coopers and Lybrand (and at the age of 30, probably the youngest). He went on to spend over 20 years as a partner in PwC, founding Hannaway CA on his retirement. 

He was crowned 'Accountant of the Year' in the 2022 Irish Accountancy Awards and has served as President of the Society of Chartered Accountants of Ireland.

“If I had just one word of advice to small busines owners, it would be to ensure they are planning for the future and setting targets," he stressed. "You don’t need to set a target which would involve you having to jump ahead, but make sure your targets require you to stretch yourself a little - like standing on tippy-toes."

Among those attending the second West Belfast Small Business Roundtable, hosted by the Andersonstown News, were Aidan Flynn of Flynn Construction, Orla McKeating who runs a diversity education start-up, Sheena Joyce of SAG Credit Union, artist Anna McKeever, Nuala Ní Néill of Teach Mhamó, Gearóid Mac Róibín of Data Dispatch and gym operator Séamus McAufield.

The next Small Business Breakfast Roundtable will take place on 4 March in An Chultúrlann with special guest Irial Mac Murchú of sports media broadcaster Nemeton. To mark Seachtain na Gaeilge and Féile an Earraigh, the session will be held in Irish. 
 
You can watch a podcast interview with John Hannaway, in which he discusses his formative years, on our website.