Seasonal cash flow and booking evidence

Deposits are held, not earned

A deposit taken today for a wedding eighteen months away is cash in the bank, but the service has not been provided. Depending on your terms and consumer law, some or all of it may need to be refunded if the booking is cancelled or you cannot fulfil it. Treating deposits as spare working capital, for example to fund a car purchase, can leave the business short when the weddings arrive and the cars, fuel and drivers need paying.

When presenting the business, show deposits held separately, with your cancellation terms, so a reader can see what is truly available.

Cash dates versus earned income

Your accounts may recognise income when the wedding happens, while your bank shows deposits months earlier and balances shortly before the day. Both views matter. Bank statements show the cash pattern lenders will see; accounts show what was earned. Explaining how they connect avoids confusion about why winter bank balances look healthy while little work is happening, or the reverse.

Cash received

Deposits and balances as they arrive. Drives your ability to pay monthly commitments.

Income earned

Recognised when the service is delivered. Ask your accountant how your accounts treat it.

Confirmed versus tentative

A confirmed booking has a signed contract and a deposit. A pencilled date, a quote or a venue fair conversation is not income. Present them in separate columns. A history of how many tentative enquiries converted in past seasons is more useful than an optimistic total.

Cancellations and weak months

Weddings are postponed and cancelled for many reasons. Look at your own history: how many bookings moved or cancelled, and what was refunded. Then look at your weakest months and show how fixed costs and finance payments are covered: reserves built in summer, other work such as proms or photo shoots, or lower winter costs. Sorbus does not claim that seasonal or payment-holiday products are available; plan as if standard monthly repayments apply.

Tax and VAT timing

If the business is VAT registered, deposits may create VAT obligations at a different point from when you think of the income as earned. Corporation or income tax bills can also fall due in quiet months. Ask your accountant how these interact with your booking pattern, and include the payments in the forecast so they do not collide with finance repayments.

A conservative forecast

Build a simple twelve-month table: confirmed balances due, a cautious allowance for new bookings based on past conversion, refunds you might have to make, running costs and all finance payments including the proposed new one. If the business still copes in its weakest month with some margin, you have a strong story. If it does not, it is better to know before buying.

What happens after you enquire

1. 1

   Enquiry

   You tell Sorbus about the business and the vehicles. It is not an application, and no lender sees it.

2. 2

   Discussion and evidence review

   A broker talks it through and reviews accounts, bookings, licences and vehicle details.

3. 3

   Lender proposal, only if appropriate

   If it looks suitable, and only with your agreement, we approach selected lenders from our panel (not the whole market). Any decision is the lender’s.