New Entrants to Farming : Starter Workshop – event summary

The initial New Entrants to Farming meeting in Stranraer was held on Wednesday 5 October at the Green Valley Golf Academy, Stranraer.

The first part of the meeting gave the attendees an introduction to FAS and the support available to new entrants through the programme.  The plan for the rest of the winter meetings was also laid out.  You can read Alison Clark‘s (SAC Consulting, Stranraer) presentation about the help available to New Entrants through the Farming  Advisory Service here.

During the second half of the meeting,  SAC Consultant Kara Craig gave an introduction to understanding farm accounts including how to carry out a basic accounts analysis and key targets which you should be aiming for in a Gross Output analysis.  Read Kara’s comprehensive presentation here.

An important part of running a farm business is understanding your financial position.  A simple accounts analysis can be carried out from your latest tax accounts and gives a quick insight into the financial health of your business.  A gross output analysis sets your figures against established targets for variable and fixed costs along with finance costs and profits and lets you see where you are doing well and where any improvements could be made.

Key points from the meeting included:

1. FAS provides various methods of support for new entrants from groups to mentors
2. Make good use of your tax accounts to analyse your financial performance
3. A gross output analysis will allow you to compare your performance to industry targets
4. Preparing a current balance sheet will give a better indication of the security of a business than the accountants balance sheet as current market figures are used to value assets
5. Make sure you understand the difference between variable and fixed costs.

A copy of the information available to take home on the night can be downloaded below.