The first-fortnight plan for when money runs short
When cash runs short, the instinct is to do everything at once. Chase every customer. Cut costs across the board. Promise every supplier something by Friday. By the end of the week the owner is exhausted, the promises have collided with each other, and the bank account looks exactly as it did on Monday.
A business in cash distress does not need more activity. It needs control. That is the job of the second stage of The Dawgen RECOVER™ Framework, Engage and Stabilise: to put one person in charge of every dollar, stop the problem getting worse, and buy the time to fix it properly, all inside fourteen days.
Days 1 and 2: one pair of hands on the cash
Appoint a Cash Controller. It may be your finance lead, a trusted manager or an interim finance professional, but it must be one person, and from that day no payment leaves the business without their approval.
At the same time, freeze everything that is not essential: new equipment, non-critical travel, discretionary spending and, yes, owner drawings above an agreed living allowance. Then produce a daily cash position across every account and currency. Most owners in distress have not seen that single number in months.
Days 2 to 7: know exactly who you owe
Build one schedule of everyone the business owes: banks, suppliers, the tax authorities, the landlord, related companies and directors. For each, record the amount, how old it is, what security they hold and how likely they are to act.
Then draw the stakeholder map. Who can stop the business tomorrow? Who can save it? Who simply needs to be kept informed? That map decides the order of every conversation that follows.
Days 5 to 10: keep key partners on side
A business in recovery depends on the people around it: the suppliers who keep stock flowing, the customers who keep paying, the staff who keep it running and the funders who keep facilities in place. The stakeholder map tells you who matters most. The aim now is simple: no surprises for any of them.
Share the same facts with everyone who needs them: the daily cash position, what is being done, and what you will commit to. With critical suppliers, agree terms for new orders that you will meet, every time, and a schedule for anything past due. With funders, agree to keep facilities steady while the plan is built, in return for regular reporting. With staff, explain what is happening and what is expected of them.
Promise only what the cash flow can deliver, then deliver it. Keeping small promises is how trust is rebuilt, one week at a time.
Days 7 to 14: stop the statutory bleeding
Quantify every arrear on GCT, PAYE, NIS and pensions, and from today pay every current amount on time. Old arrears can be scheduled; new ones are not acceptable. Deductions taken from staff wages belong to the staff and the state, and the law treats them that way.
Finally, brief the owners and any directors in writing on their duties during the recovery period. Acting early, transparently and on good information is what protects directors. Silence is what exposes them.
When cash will not cover everything
For the weeks when the money will not stretch, RECOVER™ sets a payment ladder the owners agree and sign off in advance:
- Payroll and the statutory deductions withheld from staff
- The supplies that keep core revenue flowing
- Current taxes, so no new arrears arise
- Secured lender interest as agreed
- Utilities, insurance and rent on essential premises
- Agreed instalments on old arrears
- Everything else, including owner drawings
Deciding the order once, calmly, saves dozens of panicked decisions later.
The instrument that replaces hope: the 13-week cash flow
By the end of the fortnight, the business should have its most important management tool: a 13-week cash flow. Not a profit forecast; a week-by-week list of the cash that will actually come in and go out, starting from today’s bank balance.
It is updated every Friday, reconciled to the bank balance, and every variance is explained. Within four weeks it should be accurate to within 10%. It shows the lowest week before you reach it, so the owners can act in advance rather than react on the day. And because it is shared with the people who matter, it is the document that builds confidence in the recovery.
Once owners have used one, they rarely stop.
Take control in fourteen days
If your forecast shows a shortfall, let us help you take control in fourteen days. Dawgen Global’s Stabilise and Release engagement puts a Cash Controller in place, builds your 13-week cash flow, sets your payment ladder, and helps you keep suppliers, staff and funders on side, privately and alongside your team.
Not ready to talk? Request the RECOVER™ 13-week cash flow template, with the payment ladder and buffer test built in.
Talk to us in confidence. Dawgen Global serves clients across more than 15 Caribbean territories through one borderless delivery model.
[email protected] · https://www.dawgen.global/
Big Firm Capabilities. Caribbean Understanding.
Next in the series: “Find the Core That Earns. Fix the Rest.”
This article describes patterns observed in private company advisory work. Examples are illustrative composites, not Dawgen Global clients. It is general information, not advice for any specific business.
About Dawgen Global
Dawgen Global is an independent, integrated multidisciplinary professional services firm headquartered at 47 Trinidad Terrace, New Kingston, Jamaica, serving more than 15 territories across the Caribbean. Founded and led by Dr. Dawkins Brown, Executive Chairman, the firm is independent and not affiliated with any international network. It delivers a full suite of professional services under one roof: audit and assurance; tax advisory; IT and digital transformation; risk management; cybersecurity; actuarial and insurance regulatory advisory; HR advisory; mergers and acquisitions; corporate recovery; business advisory and strategy; accounting BPO and virtual CFO services; and legal process outsourcing.
The proposition is simple: big-firm capability without the big-firm price. Dawgen Global’s integrated approach is built for the specific complexities and opportunities of the Caribbean market, helping organizations make sharper, better-informed decisions that drive measurable progress.
To explore a partnership, reach out:
- Website: dawgen.global
- Email: [email protected]
- WhatsApp (Global): +1 555-795-9071
- Caribbean offices: +1 876-665-5926 | +1 876-929-3670 | +1 876-926-5210
