DS3 - I think you, like so many in the accountancy profession, do not understand that that more or less the only thing which really matters in business is
cash. Cash is king, everything else is conjecture (as they say). All the various ratios etc are just fancy figures. Of course what really matters are the intentions and competence of the
people behind it all, but you won't get that from abbreviated (or any other) accounts.
Obviously if there are CCJs then you don't touch the company with a 20ft bargepole (unless the CCJ record is a mistake, which is easily done; in fact my company got one of those some years ago as a result of some illiterate court employee mis-spelling the company name and then looking up the co. reg # from the mis-spelt version; took me 6 months to sort that out with the credit ref agency morons).
But all the smart crooks avoid CCJs. You always pay up just before
Also there are many smart honest businessmen who run very lean companies which generate loads of cash but always look terrible on paper (mine sure does).
It is anyway a sensible strategy to run a bleak asset position because it protects you from frivolous litigation
The companies which fatten up their accounts are ones who have borrowed money from dimwits (banks) who like to see pretty accounts, but one ends up paying a ton of extra corporation tax by retaining profits, overvaluing assets, etc. Aviation is a prime area for overvalued assets, with most aircraft owners being in total denial as to how much their hardware is really worth.
Not paying up front also prevents being tied to a bad school. When I started (2000) I had been in business for 22 years but was totally clue-less about aviation. I ended up in a school which ran such poor maintenance practices that I walked out after 20hrs. I did not pay up front but the change of aircraft type still cost me a big packet.
despite the fact the people are lovely and the school seemed excellent.
in which case why not use that school but
not give them money up front?