Bridgewater Home Care provide extensive support and training to help new Franchisees understand our operations and business model. In addition to the Bridgewater initial training programme, our financial support ensures Franchisees start and continue, to be on the right track.
We provide our Franchisees with the tools and knowledge to deliver outstanding care in their local communities and support them to make a difference. Naturally, Franchisees may feel nervous in the early stages of their development, especially if they have no previous background in the care industry. With our Franchise model, you will be safe in the knowledge that you are part of a proven, successful model and all that you need to do is follow this model and be willing to put the effort in.
Bridgewater Home Care’s Finance Manager, Tracey Morris is a valued member of our Franchise team and supports Franchisees with day to day financial matters, invoicing, payroll and effective use of the Bridgewater Home Care finance systems.
Tracey has been part of the Bridgewater Home Care family since 2017. She has a wealth of knowledge, with over 35 years of experience in accountancy and finance management and has previously worked for companies turning over more than £200 million. With this wealth of knowledge and a keen eye for detail, Tracey ensures the smooth running of the financial matters at Bridgewater Home Care.
Tracey has shared some insights with us about working from home in lockdown and her role at Bridgewater Home Care to assist new Franchisees.
Remote Working – Tracey Morris, Finance Manager
What has worked well for you despite all the challenges that you have faced during the Pandemic?
The Pandemic has had an impact on every business, and even though it has been challenging at times, I think our model has proved to be a Pandemic proof business model. There are some vulnerable clients whose care has changed as a result of the Pandemic, but overall we have managed to keep the business operating as normal.
As the first lockdown hit, I started working from home, but with all the new technology available to businesses and the foresight and investment Bridgewater has provided for all employees the remote working has not had any real impact, especially from my Finance perspective.
Most of the home care Funders have been in a similar predicament as us – everyone has felt the impact of the Pandemic, and like us, most offices are working remotely from home. I can say in all honesty, this has not had any real impact on my work life at all – we have lots of technology that enables us to continue to make contact and still feel included. It was just a question of embracing the changes from the beginning which now just seem part and parcel of the daily routine and quite normal.
How have you embraced the juggling act that has been creating a work-life balance?
I have worked in Finance for many years and have experienced the pressures working in Finance brings. When I decided to come to Bridgewater Home Care, work-life balance was definitely part of the consideration. I was ready to leave behind the pressures, worries and sleepless nights, that had become the norm for me. I now feel like I have the best of both worlds. I still have very busy times at month-end, however, I have reduced my hours, the workload is manageable and I have a very understanding Boss, which obviously helps! I am very happy at Bridgewater Home Care.
Can you tell us something about the systems that Bridgewater uses for financial reporting?
At Bridgewater Home Care, we like to keep ahead of the market in IT and technology and have several progressive systems which help with the smooth processing and recording of all aspects of the Financials. We utilise the system daily, which interacts with the call management system and the financial system. This enables the easy control of both the invoicing and payroll which are both very important aspects of any business.
When the new system was introduced in May 2018, I was involved with the setting up of the (behind the scenes) programming required to co-ordinate the data, e.g. setting up invoicing and payroll runs, charge sheets, rate sheets etc., all of which is easily transferrable to our Franchisee’s.
What do you like about the Payroll system that Bridgewater uses?
The system we use is excellent and very robust for the processing of payroll. As the home care industry is very heavily transaction led a system that simplifies and makes data capture/analysis easy to understand is a blessing, and the system we use certainly does this in spades.
Various payroll reports can be utilised and easily managed for payroll generation. I have also developed a couple of bespoke reports which can be easily transferred to a Franchisee should they wish to use them.
Can you summarise how you keep track of revenue?
Revenue is generated by the numerous bookings entered into our IT system as per the agreed Care Plan. We have a simple way of establishing the various visit types which are programmed into the system, this is a relatively straight forward process. Once the invoicing types and templates are made the data pretty much takes care of itself – this just needs review before invoicing.
We want to see Bridgewater Home Care being the most tech-driven care provider, to achieve the highest level of efficiencies in day-to-day work, and the best quality of care in the marketplace. All these implementations make the job of running a Franchise that much more streamlined so a Franchisee can focus on what’s important, growing their business!
At Bridgewater Home Care we believe our franchise offering is a great opportunity to make a real difference to people in their everyday lives. It opens the opportunity to run a business in such a rewarding and growing industry and take on new responsibilities that have real positive impacts on both the staff we employ and the clients we all support. The advantage of joining Bridgewater Home Care as a Franchisee is that you have the benefit of being miles ahead of someone who may be starting a business from scratch.
If you are interested in finding out more about how you can become a part of the Bridgewater family and do something special, email us or ring our friendly team today:
Call: 0800 355 7888
