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Exciting news just released!
184% Growth Earns B2B CFO Spot in the 2010 List of Fastest Growing Companies in America

Phoenix, Ariz. August 24, 2010 —  B2B CFO, nation’s largest provider of CFO services to small businesses, has been named to the prestigious Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in America.

Now in its 29^th year, Inc. Magazine’s annual ranking judges US-based and privately held companies by their revenue growth.  This year’s list was ranked on the percentage in revenue increase from 2006-2009. B2B CFO’s growth earned 84^th place in its industry.

 "There are approximately 27 million small businesses in the U.S. today,” said Jerry L. Mills, founder and chief executive officer of B2B CFO, “It is a huge honor to be among the fastest growing and the most successful businesses in the country.  Our firm has experienced tremendous growth over the past few years and we are on track to continue expanding.  I am especially grateful to all of the firm’s dedicated Partners who continue to advocate our services around the nation.”

In a personalized letter congratulating B2B CFO on this accomplishment, Jane Berenston, editor-in-chief of Inc. Magazine’s wrote “Congratulations: your company, B2B CFO, has made the 2010 list of the fastest growing private companies in America. This achievement puts you in rarefied company, especially if you consider that over 27 million businesses are registered in the USA.  The elite group you’ve now joined has, over the years, included companies such as Microsoft, Timberland, Visa, Intuit, Jamba Juice, Oracle, and Zappos.com. I look forward to congratulating you in person in Washington, D.C.”  

B2B CFO’s growth is reflected in numerous awards this year.  The company was also recently named in ACE Corporate Growth Awards, which recognized the most successful and fastest growing companies in Arizona.  

In August 2010, B2B CFO has grown to 170 Partners across 39 states, representing 5,000 years of cumulative experience.  Each Partner is a seasoned financial executive who serves as CFO to growing businesses on as-needed basis.   Approximately 80% of the Partners have a background that includes senior executive positions at the Big Four, and all of the Partners have held high level executive finance positions in various industries in corporate America. Together, B2B CFO Partners work with more than 500 businesses in the nation with combined annual sales of more than $3 Billion.

Jerry L. Mills and many of the B2B CFO Partners regularly dedicate time to educate business owners on financial matters.   Mills is a frequent speaker and contributor and has been featured on many national media networks including FOX Business, Fortune Small Business, Smart Money and many others.  Mills is also the author of The Danger Zone - Lost in the Growth Transition, and Avoiding The Danger Zone – Business Illusions, both business non-fiction books that help entrepreneurs understand and build a strong financial strategy.

“We look forward to participating in the Inc. 500|5000 conference in Washington, DC this fall,” added Mills. “Along with my colleagues, I look forward to the October 2^nd awards ceremony and to meeting the entrepreneurs that created the other 5000 fastest growing companies in America.”

About Inc. Magazine

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc. is the only major business magazine dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies that delivers real solutions for todays innovative company builders.  Inc. provides hands-on tools and market-tested strategies for managing people, finances, sales, marketing, and technology.

Inc. Magazine’s 29th annual Inc. 5000 ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the country is available online at www.inc.com/inc5000/list

ABOUT B2B CFO

Headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., the firm was founded in 1987 by Jerry L. Mills. B2B CFO is the nation’s largest CFO firm serving entrepreneurial, growth and mid-market companies with revenue under $75 million.  The firm’s partners have an average of 25 years of experience and each individual partner is a senior level executive with a broad range of expertise.   Please visit online at www.b2bcfo.com

Ok, I admit it.  When I heard about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act being signed into law and saw that many of the effective dates were far off in the future, I did not do a lot of detailed reading.  Sure I read the summary table in the newspaper, and I thought about sitting in on the dozens of webinars that were offered to me, but for a few months I had more important things to do.  Anyway, the 2600 plus pages of the Act were certain to be explained, clarified and modified by thousands more pages of regulations and interpretations over the next few years, so why don’t I just wait for those?

Well, I finally got around to attending an excellent seminar on the topic, and it succeeded in shaking me out of my denial phase.  I started to focus on the question: “What can small and medium size businesses actually be doing to prepare for the impacts of this Act?”

Here are a few thoughts:

1)  Get help!   You cannot and will not be able to decipher all of the impacts of the law and the subsequent regulations on your own.  With the many different effective dates for the various provisions of the law, there will be a steady stream of content crossing your desk.  Some of it will apply to you and some will not. Some of it you can plan around and some of it will be imposed upon you.   This is an excellent time to make sure that you are being supported by human resource and employee benefits professionals.  Most firms will not have the expertise in house, so they will need to look to either their insurance broker/agent or employment attorney, or in some cases their tax accountant.

Since your attorney and accountant will charge by the hour, you will want to make sure that you are getting as much help as possible from your insurance broker/agent.  If your long time insurance agent also happens to be an old college friend or golf buddy, that is not necessarily a problem.  If that is the only reason they are your insurance agent that most likely is a problem.  Call them today and ask for an update on what you should be doing in light of this new legislation.  See how knowledgeable they are.

2)  Don’t make any major benefit changes without considering the long term implications!  It makes no sense to add a benefit or change eligibility rules without considering the potential long term implications.  You run the risk of adding a feature that you find you can no longer afford or cannot legally offer in the future.   For example, in 2013 the Flexible Spending Account limit will be $2,500.  It would be foolish to increase your limit to $4,000 in 2011, only to have to backtrack in two years.

3) Think systems!  If you are using an in-house payroll system or a package that does not provide regular updates, now is the time to look into other options.  There will be numerous changes that impact tax withholding and reporting.  Unless you have a payroll system that is tightly integrated with your other financial management systems, strongly consider outsourcing the payroll systems function.  There are a number of highly qualified payroll processing companies, (national, regional and local) that will keep track of all of the changes for you.  Most of them can also provide service in other employee related areas:  unemployment claims, COBRA, retirement plans, etc.  This is their business, so chances are they will do it better than you do!

This is also a good time to check into your compliance with 1099 information reporting requirements.  Many companies mistakenly think that these reporting requirements do not apply to them.  Buried in the Act is a provision requiring organizations to issue 1099’s to all providers of goods and services in excess of $600 annually, effective in 2012.  IRS audits of compliance are certain to increase.  Make sure that your accounts payable system gets regular updates so that you will get new versions of 1099 forms as they are modified.

Get started treating your health care headache today!

Helpful Link:  http://www.kff.org/healthreform/8060.cfm

 The Business Owner's "Seven Deadly Sins"

In a recent CNNMoney.com article, business owner Jay Goltz presented his "Seven Deadly Sins" for entrepreneurs to avoid.  They are, as he puts it, business-killing traps.

So, they must have been all about sales and marketing, right? Well, no, actually, only one, POOR BRANDING, is all about marketing.

OK, then they must have been about the operational aspects of the business!  Well, not exactly...again, only one, LACK OF STANDARDS, (in things like customer service, quality control, and the like) is operationally focused.

Well, then, they must have been about people issues, right?  Well, you are getting warmer...two of the seven are people related: NAIVE HIRING and FEAR OF FIRING.

That leaves three sins, more than any other category, squarely in the realm of...finance and accounting!

First, Goltz lists SLOPPY ACCOUNTING as one of the killers.  Without accurate financial statements it is impossible to diagnose what is going on inside a business...good or bad.  Without accurate historical statements it is impossible to make educated projections about what is likely to happen in the future.  That leaves management flying blind and unable to answer critical questions like "When will we run out of cash?"

The next sin is LACK OF CONTROLS.  This includes appropriate internal controls over cash, inventory and other assets, but also controls over processes like granting wage increases, offering discounts and authorizing returns and allowances. Good controls have two important features:  they are written down and compliance is monitored and measured.

Finally, UNREALISTIC PRICING joins the list.  Realistic pricing starts with an understanding of real costs. It also requires the ability to distinguish between fixed costs and variable costs. Without such an understanding it is impossible to make intelligent decisions about things like:  "How far can we reduce our price to match competition without losing money on the order?"

The partners of B2B CFO® can assess a firm's exposures in these areas, and can help implement the appropriate systems, procedures and controls to avoid these business-killing traps.

For more than 20 years the partners of B2B CFO® have helped emerging and middle market organizations with:

               * Cash flow projections

               * Banking relationships

               * Profit Improvement

               * Timely & accurate financial reporting

               * Financial and strategic planning

               * Exit strategies

Our services are provided on a flexible, as needed, cost-effective basis...with no need for a contract, since relationships with our clients are always on a hand shake basis.

I recently met with one of those amazing people often referred to as “serial entrepreneurs.”He is running companies # 3 and #4, but he is already formulating numbers 5, 6 and beyond!  I have always marveled at people whose brains can work at that many levels.  My money is on America’s entrepreneurial spirit to lead us out of our economic malaise, ahead of Washington and Wall Street.  But enough of politics and economics.

This entrepreneur asked me: “If you are a B2B CFO® on a less than full time basis, how do you develop the kind of passion that is shared by employees who live the business every day?  They live and breathe the air here, and they have stock option and bonus potential which drives them to break down walls to be successful!”  

Since I had never been asked this question before, what came out was a raw, unrehearsed answer.  After I finished, I wondered how I had done.  The more I have thought about it, though, the more comfortable I am with my answer, which went something like this:

First, I can get as excited about a good idea as anyone, and I understand that it is this excitement that fuels growing ventures.  It is not true that we financial types can only say “No” to every new idea!

On the other hand, this kind of entrepreneurial situation is prime territory for “groupthink” and a lack of adequate consideration being given to all of the potential implications of various business decisions…negative as well as positive implications. Sometimes it is not a popular position for an individual to express an opinion that is contrary to that of the entrepreneur or to that of the rest of the group. 

Also, we have seen what happens when a group gets so focused on bottom line and their own compensation that they exclude consideration of all other factors…think Enron and you will understand what I mean.

 The Core Values of B2B CFO® are Honesty, Integrity and Objectivity.  I truly believe that these are valuable ingredients we bring to the table. 

 Business owners need to prepare themselves for the realities of the new borrowing and lending environment. Some of that preparation requires taking action, and some of it requires developing a new mind set. Let’s talk about the mental side first.

Start with a clean slate!  Business owners need to clear their minds of old assumptions and understand:

 • Lenders will ask a lot more questions. Don’t expect credit without answering them! There will be a new level of interest in your business and more requests for financial and operational information than in recent years.

 • Interest spreads will go up. Whether your interest rate is based on Prime, LIBOR or Treasuries, the spread over that reference rate is likely to increase. Be prepared for minimum rates on floating rate debt.

• Collateral and guaranties are back: Unsecured loans and lines of credit were easier to get when everyone projected the economy to move onward and upward indefinitely. With that assumption no longer valid, lenders will look at collateral as their margin of safety.

 • Your lender may just not want to do business with you anymore. This is the hardest one for many business owners to come to terms with. Don’t take it personally. Many decisions are now being made several levels above your local loan officer, and these decisions are not all about you. Banks have many big picture issues to worry about.

Take Action!  Here are several critical steps that all business owners need to take:

 • Understand cash inflows and outflows. You must be able to understand and communicate how cash is generated and used in your business. The philosophy “I just sell and leave that stuff to my accountant” will not work going forward. Get help if you need it.

• Begin preparing cash flow projections. A cash flow projection is the roadmap that shows where the business is going. To carry the road analogy a bit further, it also will show if a business is going to run out of fuel…cash…if it continues on its current path.  Get help if you need it.

• Talk to lenders – old and new. Find out what concerns your current lenders have. Are there concerns about your industry? Are there problems renewing credit in the amounts provided previously? Consider locating other lenders who may not have some of the same issues as the current lender. In any case, plan on this process taking more time than usual…more time to “sell” your story to the lender, and more time for any deal to be approved.  Get help if you need it.

 Time to get to work!