British companies are in danger of severely underestimating the
impact of the euro on their business, according to financial
advisors Grant Thornton.
The company's tenth annual European Business survey published last
month revealed that 87% of small and medium sized firms in the UK
did not think the introduction of the continent-wide currency would
affect their business.
"Whether the UK joins the euro currency or not, it is going to
become a reality that will affect businesses. From the results of
our survey it is clear that that the government has not done enough
to inform UK businesses," said Paul Andrews author of Grant
Thornton's new
SME Handbook.
The handbook contains a ten-point checklist for SMEs preparing to
cope with the new currency.
1. Open a euro bank account to help you make and receive
payments in euros
2. Create a euro price list designed for customers in the euro
zone
3. Confirm that your IT system can produce the euro
symbol
4. Check whether you need to re-write existing contracts with
euro zone suppliers to quote in euros
5. Consider re-printing your marketing materials to quote in
euros
6. If you employ staff in the euro zone, check out
opportunities to save money by centralising your payroll
system
7. Ensure that all staff are fully aware of your euro policy
and are briefed to communicate a consistent message
8. Find out whether your IT system can cope with converting
exchange rates to six decimal places
9. If you have staff operating in different countries consider
whether there will be pressure to harmonise wages throughout
Europe
10. Review your business development strategy in light of the
change
The handbook is available from
www.grant-thornton.co.uk