Published: February 2026
Author: Amergin Consulting Ltd.
Target Audience: Business Owners, Small Business Seeking Financial Stability, Entrepreneurs, Start-Ups
Book a meeting: https://calendly.com/amergin-group_free/30min-finance-consultation
It suggests momentum, focus, and realism. There is work to be done, customers to serve, revenue to generate. Now is not the time to slow down and tidy things up. That can wait.
In the early stages of a business, this mindset often makes sense. Speed matters. Survival matters. Perfection is the enemy of progress.
The problem is that “later” has a habit of never arriving.
What starts as a temporary workaround quietly becomes the operating model. Small compromises accumulate. Loose ends multiply. Stress rises. Complexity grows. And the cost of fixing things increases the longer they are deferred.
Amergin’s work frequently begins when founders realise that “we’ll fix it later” has quietly shaped their business more than any deliberate strategy. Amergin positions itself as an integrated partner for Irish SMEs and growing businesses, helping owners manage accounting, payroll and finance with confidence while also building strategic capacity in marketing, operations and planning. That integration matters because deferred fixes rarely stay contained. They spread across the business.
This article explores the real cost of “we’ll fix it later,” why it becomes a strategic risk rather than a harmless delay, and how businesses can break the cycle without losing momentum.
The danger of “we’ll fix it later” is not the phrase itself.
It is the pattern it creates. One delayed decision rarely causes damage. But repeated deferral trains the business to operate with unresolved issues. Each workaround becomes a precedent. Each compromise becomes normal.
Processes stay informal. Roles remain unclear. Pricing exceptions accumulate. Reporting is postponed. Systems are half-implemented. Ownership stays vague.
The business adapts around these gaps instead of closing them. People compensate with effort and vigilance. Stress becomes part of the culture.
By the time leaders decide it is time to “fix things,” the cost has multiplied.
Problems do not stay the same size when left unresolved.
They compound. A small reporting gap becomes months of unclear data. A minor scope issue becomes chronic rework. An informal role split becomes ongoing conflict. A delayed pricing review becomes sustained margin erosion.
What could have been fixed quickly and cheaply later requires more time, more money, and more disruption. This is why deferred fixes are not neutral. They accrue interest.
Founders often intend to fix issues once the business stabilises.
The problem is that businesses rarely calm down on their own. Growth introduces new complexity. New customers bring new demands. New staff introduce new coordination challenges. New revenue increases compliance exposure.
Waiting for a quiet moment is often waiting forever. Businesses that rely on “we’ll fix it later” inadvertently design a system where improvement is always postponed in favour of urgency.
One of the most underestimated costs of deferral is stress.
Unresolved issues create background tension. People hold problems in their heads because they are not documented. Decisions feel heavier because information is incomplete. Leaders stay involved because they do not trust the system.
Even when nothing is visibly wrong, the business feels fragile.
This constant low-level stress is exhausting because it never resolves. It is not tied to a specific challenge that can be overcome. It is ambient.
Amergin often sees founders who are not overwhelmed by workload, but by the mental load of everything that is unfinished.
Deferred fixes often hide financial risk.
Inconsistent pricing erodes margin quietly. Poor cashflow visibility masks timing issues. Delayed reporting prevents early intervention. Informal expense handling blurs cost control. Unclear ownership leads to duplicated effort.
From the outside, the numbers may look acceptable. From the inside, confidence is low.
Amergin highlights that many businesses fail due to poor cashflow rather than lack of profitability. Deferred financial fixes amplify this risk because problems surface late, when options are limited.
In Ireland, compliance obligations do not wait.
Revenue is clear that responsibility for record keeping remains with the business, even when accountants or agents are involved, and that records must support tax returns and clearly show the accounting process. Company law similarly requires adequate accounting records that correctly record and explain transactions.
Deferred fixes in record-keeping, payroll processes, or documentation increase risk over time. What begins as “good enough for now” becomes fragile under volume, staff turnover, or audit scrutiny.
Compliance stress often spikes suddenly because issues have been compounding unnoticed.
Every time a system is not fixed, someone fills the gap.
In SMEs, that someone is usually the founder.
Founders step in to approve exceptions, interpret unclear data, resolve confusion, and smooth over issues. This keeps the business moving, but it reinforces founder dependence.
The business becomes reliant on personal intervention rather than structure. Scaling becomes harder. Time off becomes risky. Long-term thinking disappears.
Amergin’s advisory work frequently focuses on identifying where founders are compensating for deferred fixes, because these are often the most expensive hidden costs in the business.
A growing Irish SME had postponed several “non-urgent” fixes over a number of years. Financial reporting was inconsistent but manageable. Pricing was flexible to win work. Delivery processes varied by customer. Compliance tasks were handled informally but usually on time.
Individually, none of these felt critical.
As the business grew, stress increased sharply. Cashflow became unpredictable. Margins declined. Senior staff spent more time firefighting than improving systems. The founder felt constantly involved in day-to-day decisions.
When the business finally attempted to address these issues, the scope was far larger than expected. Fixing reporting required historical clean-up. Pricing changes affected customer relationships. Process changes disrupted delivery. What could have been incremental improvements became a major restructuring effort.
With Amergin’s support, the business stabilised by addressing foundations systematically rather than reactively. Stress reduced, but the founder later reflected that fixing issues earlier would have been significantly cheaper and less disruptive.
The cost was not just financial. It was emotional and strategic.
Long-term thinking requires stability.
When too many things are unresolved, leaders cannot think beyond the short term. Decisions are made defensively. Investment is postponed. Opportunities are avoided because the business feels fragile.
Deferred fixes keep the business in survival mode even when revenue is strong.
Strong foundations allow long-term thinking because they reduce background noise. Deferred foundations do the opposite.
One of the biggest fears around addressing issues early is that it will slow momentum.
In reality, unresolved issues slow the business more over time.
Fixing things earlier usually requires less disruption, less rework, and less stress. It allows improvements to compound instead of pile up.
Amergin’s approach focuses on addressing issues proportionally. Not everything needs to be fixed at once. But critical foundations cannot be left indefinitely.
Amergin helps businesses identify which “we’ll fix it later” issues are now strategic risks.
On the financial side, Amergin builds reliable reporting, KPIs, and cashflow visibility so problems surface early. On the growth side, Amergin clarifies ICP, positioning, and pricing to reduce exception-driven decisions. On the operational side, Amergin helps define ownership, scope, and execution rhythms so issues are resolved structurally rather than personally. On the compliance side, Amergin formalises payroll and tax processes so obligations are met consistently.
This integrated approach prevents small issues from becoming expensive crises.
Perhaps the greatest cost of “we’ll fix it later” is the loss of choice.
When issues pile up, businesses lose flexibility. They cannot grow confidently. They cannot step back. They cannot invest deliberately. They cannot respond calmly to change.
Fixing things earlier preserves optionality.
“We’ll fix it later” is rarely a neutral decision.
It increases stress, hides risk, reinforces founder dependence, and raises the eventual cost of change.
Strong businesses are not those that avoid imperfection. They are those that recognise when temporary fixes are becoming permanent liabilities and act before the cost multiplies.
Later is always more expensive than it looks.
Amergin Consulting Ltd. is a Dublin-based chartered accountancy and business advisory firm serving Ireland’s SMEs and growth companies across construction, technology, professional services, and renewable energy.
We specialise in Accounting, Payroll, Taxation, and CFO Services that help businesses build stronger foundations for profit and compliance.
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This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or tax advice. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, legislation may change upon enactment of the Finance Act 2025.
Public should seek professional advice tailored to their specific circumstances before acting on any points discussed.
Amergin Consulting – Integrated Financial & Marketing Consulting for Irish SMEs and Growing Businesses.
https://amergin.ie
Amergin Accounting Services – Bookkeeping, KPIs and Cashflow Planning.
https://amergin.ie/accounting
Amergin Business Advisory Services.
https://amergin.ie/business-advisory
Revenue Commissioners – Keeping Records.
Guidance on record-keeping responsibility and retention requirements.
https://www.revenue.ie
Revenue Tax and Duty Manual Part 38-03-17 – Books and Records.
https://www.revenue.ie
Companies Act 2014 (Ireland), Section 282.
https://www.irishstatutebook.ie
Harvard Business Review – The Cost of Deferred Decisions.
https://hbr.org
MIT Sloan Management Review – Organisational Debt and Long-Term Risk.
https://sloanreview.mit.edu