Eight UK travel operators have ceased trading as ATOL holders so far in 2026, the latest two in August, according to the CAA's list of recent ATOL failures. That follows a hard 2025, in which Jetline Travel, Great Little Escapes and Ickenham Travel Group all went the same way. Each failure puts operator finances back under the spotlight at the next renewal round.
The CAA's ATOL financial assessment itself has not changed. Since 2016 it has worked the same way: ratios calculated from your latest financial statements, a minimum bond for new applicants, and a cash injection if the numbers fall short. What the failures change is how early finance teams want to know their own result.
This article covers what the ATOL financial assessment tests, where the pressure sits for a finance team, and the narrow part a spend tool can help with.
What the financial assessment actually tests
If you're an existing ATOL holder there's no bonding review. There is a financial assessment at licence renewal, in March or September, based on figures from your latest financial statements. Those figures go in on the Annual Accountants' Report, signed by an ATOL Reporting Accountant, and the CAA turns them into ratios (CAA, ATOL financial criteria).
Every ATOL holder is scored on four ratios: current ratio, cash ratio, leverage and return on assets. Larger holders (standard ATOLs and franchise members licensed for more than 1,000 passengers) are also scored on EBITDA margin, revenue growth and revenue against projection, and anyone licensed above £20m is monitored monthly.
The bond is a separate requirement and applies to new applicants only: at least £50,000, typically from a bank or insurer, falling by £10,000 a year to £20,000 in year four, plus at least £30,000 in paid-up share capital. Once you are past year four, the renewal is about the ratios.
Where finance teams feel the pressure
Timing is the trickiest part. By the time the accountant signs the report, the four ratios are fixed, and if they fall short the CAA's usual requirement is an injection of cash. That is an expensive thing to discover at renewal. The CAA's ATOL Self-Assessment Tool returns a result within five working days, so there is no reason to find out late.
Two of the four ratios, cash ratio and current ratio, are where day-to-day finance shows up. Both depend on cash and current liabilities at the balance sheet date, which means they depend on what the business has committed to, what it has paid, and when.
An operator whose card spend and supplier payments are scattered across statements and ad-hoc purchases finds it hard to say, three months out, where those two figures will land. That is the part of the assessment a finance team can still influence before the year end.
Where a spend tool helps
A spend tool like Moss won't help with the bond or the assessment itself. It does not provide bonds or guarantees, it does not produce your financial statements, and it does not sign the accountant's report; those stay with your bond provider, your accountant and your ATOL Reporting Accountant. Where it earns its place is in the months before the balance sheet date.
Card spend is visible as it happens, with a limit set on each card, and supplier invoices are approved and paid in planned runs rather than as they arrive. That gives finance a current view of what has been spent and what is committed, which is the input you need to see where cash and current liabilities are heading. It helps with the numbers behind the ratios, and it does nothing for the bond.
Know your ratios before the renewal
The assessment is the same one it has been since 2016. The failures of 2025 made operators pay more attention to it, and with eight more in 2026 that attention is not going to ease heading into the 2027 renewals. The useful response is to run the self-assessment well ahead of your renewal, understand which ratios are tight, and keep the cash and payables picture current enough that you can act on it before the accountant signs, rather than after.
