A NEW booklet aims to help businesses swim rather than sink into a choppy sea of financial difficulties.

"Keeping Afloat the Corporate Challenge" has been produced by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and offers practical tips to firms and also throws a few potential lifelines for anyone needing a rescue.

ACCA's south west spokesman Richard Houghton said: "The managers of any business, large or small, must maintain a regular check on the company's ability to meet its financial commitments.

"As part of this regular review, managers should remain alert to certain warning signs and if any of those show themselves take immediate steps to address both the problem and the underlying cause.

"Ignoring signs of trouble when they are at an early, more manageable stage could store up much worse problems for the business later on." Among the danger areas highlighted are weaknesses in credit control, over-reliance on one customer or a small client base, and declining liquidity when a company cannot convert its fixed and current assets readily into cash to meet its debt commitments. Keeping Afloat looks at these and other major warning signs and stresses the importance of businesses taking prompt action to address and resolve threats to their viability at an early stage.

Copies of 'Keeping Afloat' booklet can be obtained free of charge by visiting the ACCA website at www.acca.org.uk/pdfs/members-pdfs/publications/20693