Each month end, financial reporting packages are prepared in companies across the nation and promptly filed…somewhere. In most cases, the accounting team has prepared these analyses and turned them over to a senior leadership team who really does not understand how to use them to run the business. Reams of paper reports stand in piles, creating more of an environmental concern due to the use of paper, than the financial concern needed to effectively run the business.
Even though the accounting department has included a tremendous amount of information that may help them prepare for the annual audit, have they contributed information relevant to the management of the business?
By implementing accounting best practices, such as streamlined processes and standard, relevant reporting, work effort can shift from processing to high value activities that invest in the business, such as special projects and guidance on improving the bottom line.
Time is money, and time spent to prepare irrelevant information is wasted. Month end packages should be concise and provide information about the relevant Key Performance Indicators identified by Management. Contact Mindy Barker & Associates to find out how we can guide your leadership team to discover, report and track monthly Key Performance Indicators that help you make timely and informed decisions in running your business.
Is your high-cost customer providing high revenue?
The entrepreneurial community tends to speak to investors and stakeholders about the value of their business based on revenue and revenue growth. When an investor begins to ask about gross profit, net profit or EBITDA, often the business owner makes a face similar to when you have caught a teenager in a fib.
Revenue produces cash flow and pays the bills. Revenue is a key goal and business owners should constantly strive to identify and close more customers to drive more sales. Besides these vital aspects of revenue, proper analysis of revenue is equally critical to identify customers, vendors and products you should walk away from.
Walking away from revenue is a bold move; however, at times it is the right move to take your company to the next level. I recently helped a client determine that a relationship with a vendor was unprofitable and to make the difficult decision to cease the relationship, which represented over 50% of the entity’s revenue. Proper cost accounting for products and services can be detailed and time consuming. My experience serving as the Principal of a Private Equity Firm and as a CFO of small and large entities provides a depth of experience and can help with the analysis your business needs to understand revenue and profitability. Please contact Mindy Barker & Associates to discuss your unique situation.
As a business owner, do you have timely information to run your business? Or do you feel like you are in jail, lacking the freedom to run your business with financial clarity? I admit it – we accountants can be very black and white. Some accountants feel the need to turn the mon
th end close process to a detail-mining analysis of minutia, requiring detail that is not relevant to the big picture and decision-making. The time and expense involved with a long, drawn-out month end close is expensive, with the most expensive part being the opportunity cost of management not having the proper information to make the right decisions to run the business. I can show you that the month end close process should take no more than 5 days. Each month a post-close meeting with all involved in the process can help identify areas to reengineer that will accomplish a 5-day time line. Each Journal Entry should be analyzed to determine if it can be made earlier in the process. In most cases, there are ways to accomplish this. Mindy Barker & Associates can assist with analyzing the process and helping you achieve a 5-day month end close.
