Achieving a profit is central to what any business does. However much you might enjoy your work, feel emboldened by a sense of mission or enjoy innovating and developing new products, the bottom line is all-important.

Even when you do make it into surplus, there is always the need to find means of profit improvement, whether to increase your own income as a sole trader, provide more rewards for partners or raise dividends for shareholders.

However, there is no doubt all this can be a tough challenge when inflation is high. The soaring cost of living is not just a problem for consumers when their energy bills or food shop become more expensive. Such costs can also drain the resources of businesses as they have to pay more for stock, raw materials or to keep their own lights on and appliances running.

The reassuring news is that there are more steps than some might think to help maintain or even increase profitability at this time of inflation, which a skilled accountant can help guide you in.

Obvious ones include raising prices or cutting back on staff bonuses, but these methods should be approached with caution. Higher prices may lead to reduced sales, especially if you sell non-essential items, as your customers will be tightening their own budgets just now. Reducing staff incentives and bonuses may also have negative effects, by lowering morale and productivity.

Alternatives include positive steps like renegotiating contracts to try to get better deals, or investing in equipment that raises productivity and lowers other costs, such as energy-saving devices.

With many firms, especially those selling food, passing costs on to consumers recently, your company could be at an advantage if it can take these steps to increase efficiency.

Not only will this mean you can be more price competitive, but the benefits of making more from less will pay dividends in the long run, as they will still save you money even when the current high inflationary pressures have eased.