Nella Score
A finance health check, scored out of 100.
One number that summarises what your own figures say about the financial health of your business — and, more usefully, which parts of it are worth your attention first.
What is the Nella Score?
The Nella Score is a 0–100 finance health indicator calculated from your own accounting data. It scores five dimensions of financial health — cash visibility, margin health, debtor risk, bookkeeping quality and growth readiness — each out of 20, and combines them into a single number with a plain-English band. It is calculated by code, not by an AI model, so the same figures always produce the same score.
How is it calculated?
Nella reads your live accounting data and scores each of the five dimensions below out of 20. The dimensions are added together to give the score out of 100.
| Dimension | What it looks at |
|---|---|
| Cash visibility | Whether your cash position and runway can be seen clearly from your books, and how fresh the underlying data is. |
| Margin health | How your profit margin sits and which way it has moved, with guards so a small loss on a small revenue base is not read as a crisis. |
| Debtor risk | How much is owed to you, how overdue it is, and how concentrated that risk is. |
| Bookkeeping quality | How complete and current the records are — uncategorised items, reconciliation status and how recently the books were updated. |
| Growth readiness | Whether the numbers show a business in a position to take on growth, based on trend across several months. |
The calculation is deterministic. An AI model writes the explanation you read, but it never sets the number — the arithmetic runs in code, so two people with identical figures get an identical score.
What do the bands mean?
| Score | Band |
|---|---|
| 80–100 | Strong |
| 65–79 | Healthy |
| 50–64 | Some areas to watch |
| 35–49 | Several areas to address |
| 0–34 | Needs attention |
The bands are risk-first. If any single dimension scores badly, or a significant problem shows up in your figures, the headline band is capped — so a business with a genuine red flag will not read as “Strong” on the strength of its other numbers. A high score is harder to get than a simple average would allow.
What if there is not enough data?
Nella scores only what it can actually see. If a dimension cannot be assessed from your data it is excluded and the remaining dimensions are rescaled. If fewer than 4 of the five can be assessed, Nella shows “Not enough data to score yet” instead of a number, rather than publishing a figure it cannot stand behind.
Two other cases are handled explicitly. Anything that depends on a trend needs at least 3 months of history, so a newly connected business will not be scored on movement it does not yet have. And if the books are stale or cannot be reconciled, the score is marked provisional and capped — because a score calculated on out-of-date records would look more confident than it deserves to.
How often does it change?
Your score is recalculated when Nella rebuilds your figures from your accounting data. It moves as your underlying numbers move — when invoices are raised or paid, when the bank is reconciled, and when the books are brought up to date. It is not a monthly snapshot frozen in place.
Can I improve it?
The score reflects your figures, so it moves when they do. In practice the fastest movement usually comes from bookkeeping quality, because uncategorised items and unreconciled bank lines are within your control and also gate how confidently the other dimensions can be scored. Nella shows you which dimension scored lowest and what sits behind it — it does not tell you what to do about it.
Nella provides financial information and education, not accounting or tax advice. Where a low dimension points to something that needs professional judgement, Nella says so and points you to a qualified accountant at AccTek Ltd, under a separate engagement.
Does Nella compare me with other companies?
No. Your Nella Score is calculated only from your own figures. It is not a percentile, not a ranking, and not a comparison against other businesses on Nella or in your sector.
What the Nella Score is not
The Nella Score is an indicator built from your own accounting data, for your own use. It is not a credit score and has no bearing on your credit file. It is not a rating issued by any regulator, lender or professional body. It is not a measure of tax compliance or filing status. And it is not financial or tax advice.
- It is not a credit score.
- It is not a rating of your business by anyone else.
- It is not a tax filing status.
- It is not a benchmark against other companies.
- It is not financial or tax advice.
Where does the data come from?
From the accounting platform you connect — Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, FreeAgent — read-only, through that platform’s own secure sign-in. How deeply Nella can read varies by platform, which can affect how many dimensions are assessable; the supported-platform table sets out what is read on each. Nella cannot change anything in your books. See how your data is handled.
Methodology last reviewed 9 August 2026.
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