Most of the time when we start a new engagement with a client the first phase involves some level of clean up or prep work. Some require more, some less, but almost all require some. Cleanup can be any number of things: in extreme cases, bank accounts haven’t been reconciled in years or the company is still using a paper ledger system.
If you’re a typical business chances are you accept credit cards as a form of payment from your customers or clients for a variety of reasons. Easy, fast, convenient are just a few reasons for accepting plastic payment but the astute business owner knows that convenience comes with a catch.
We help a lot of different businesses setup and manage their financial reporting. The purpose of this reporting is to ensure that you’re on the right track, making progress, and financially healthy.
There are a lot metrics that help determine financial health in 10 to 15 different areas.
Guest blog by Martin Hilker, Consulting CFO
Working with small, privately held clients is rewarding due to the variety of opportunities and challenges we face and our ability to implement change in a relatively short time frame.
Thoughts from the Hiring Managers Prospective
For the last few months we have been advertising to fill a position. We’ve posted on various paid internet hiring sites as well as undergraduate and graduate business schools. Each day we review about 10-20 resumes.
I like a good, shocking surprise every now and then (emphasis on “good”). I especially like giving someone a good, shocking, surprise. Something completely unexpected, that gets etched in their memory.
Over time we fall into a routine of busy-ness during the holidays, just trying to get through them and make sure nothing get screwed up.
As CFO’s we are often involved in the compensation discussion when it comes to new hires or adding staff, managers or executives to a company.
The discussion on pay generally revolves around setting a range based on industry, desired skills and what is currently being paid for similar positions within the company.
What can business owners learn from squirrels, mice and beavers? How about looking both ways before crossing the road! Or maybe knowing how to stay warm during long winter months? Probably the most important lesson we can learn from these animals is that if you want to survive, you have to plan ahead.
We spend a lot of time helping businesses improve their profits and cash-flow. When we stopped to think about all the ideas and experience we have managing and controlling risk and costs in a business, we realized many of these ideas also apply to individuals managing their daily lives and personal finances.
When we’re working with small business owners the subjects of hiring, pay ranges, payroll costs and appropriate pay increases come up. Since there is often no formal pay structure in place to act as a guide, the decisions in these areas tend to be knee jerk reactions when someone is hired, promoted, or asks for a pay increase.
