Finance department for a London care agency
What it looks like when the finance function of a growing homecare provider stops being something the owner squeezes into evenings, and becomes a rhythm that simply happens.
A growing agency, and a finance function that had not grown with it
The provider delivers homecare across London and had reached the point most successful agencies reach: the care was good, the package count was climbing, and the administration behind it had quietly become a second full time job that nobody had been hired to do.
Three things were making that harder than it needed to be.
Where the time was going
- Carer payroll is not simple payroll. Travel time between visits, varying rates, unsocial hours and a rota that changes through the week. Every cycle is a reconstruction rather than a repeat.
- Local authorities and the NHS ICB pay slowly, and rarely in a form that matches the invoice. Part payments, short payments and remittances that need unpicking line by line.
- Invoice financing needs feeding. A lender funding your receivables wants reporting on time, every month, and a missed pack is a problem you do not want during a growth phase.
The whole finance function
- Carer payroll including travel time, with PAYE, pensions and auto-enrolment administration.
- All local authority and NHS ICB invoicing, raised on a fixed schedule rather than when someone finds an hour.
- Remittance reconciliation and credit control, with short payments identified and chased through a documented process.
- Monthly lender reporting for the invoice financing facility, prepared to the same format each month.
- Xero feeds and bookkeeping kept current rather than caught up quarterly.
- Quarterly management accounts with a conversation about what they show.
The weekly rhythm
The point of a finance department is that it is boring in the best sense. The same things happen on the same days, so nothing depends on anyone remembering.
First invoicing run
Care delivered the previous week is billed to each local authority and ICB on their own terms and formats. Anything that cannot be billed yet is flagged rather than left to drift.
Remittances and credit control
Payments received are matched back to invoices line by line. Short payments and part payments are identified, queried with the payer, and logged so the chase has a paper trail.
Second invoicing run
The second run catches later confirmations and amendments, so billing never sits waiting a full week for the next window. Two runs keeps the receivables ledger close to real time.
Carers paid, correctly
Rota data becomes gross pay including travel time, then PAYE, pensions and deductions. Carers who are paid accurately and on time stay, and retention is the quietest cost control there is in care.
Lender pack
The reporting the invoice financing facility requires, prepared in the same format every month so the lender sees consistency rather than a rebuild.
Management accounts
Not just filed. We go through what they show about margin, arrears and the direction of travel, while there is still time to act on it.
The outcomes, stated plainly
We are not going to attach a percentage to any of this. What follows is what is true about the engagement, and we would rather say five accurate things than one impressive one.
Payroll lands every cycle
Accurate and on time, including travel time. No scramble at the end of the week and no corrections chasing carers afterwards.
Invoices go out on a rhythm
Twice a week, regardless of how busy the operation is. Billing is no longer the first thing to slip when the week gets difficult.
Arrears are chased systematically
Every short or late payment sits in a process with a record behind it, rather than depending on someone noticing.
Lender reporting has never been missed
The monthly pack goes in by the 10th, in the same format each time, which is exactly what a funder wants to see from a growing borrower.
The owner runs care and growth
The most valuable outcome and the hardest to measure. The finance function no longer competes with the operation for the owner's attention.
Position known every week
What has been billed, what has been received, what is outstanding. Available weekly rather than reconstructed at year end.
The ground moved underneath the sector while this ran
Workforce costs across care rose by close to a tenth in a year, councils have been paying an average of around £25.05 per hour against a sustainable minimum of £34.42 calculated for 2026/27, and only about 1% of contracts in 2025/26 met that minimum. None of that is within any single provider's control. What is within their control is knowing exactly where they stand while it happens, and this agency knew its position every week rather than discovering it at year end.
If this sounds like your operation
Both of these pages set out the service properly, including what each tier covers and what it costs.
Care Agency Accountants
The service described here, set out in full: payroll with travel time, local authority and ICB invoicing, credit control and management accounts, with tiers and pricing.
Children's Home Accountants
The same machinery adapted for children's homes and supported accommodation, plus Ofsted registration financial packs at a fixed fee.
Want this rhythm running in your agency?
A free Care Finance Health Check is a straight conversation about your payroll, your invoicing and where your money is currently sitting. No pitch and no obligation.