Business Best Practices
The Happy-Sad Syndrome
Most of the business owners I meet go through this process every month: Around the 15th of the month their bookkeeper or controller hands them the prior month’s income statement and balance sheet. Each are 2-3 pages long. They look at the “top line” of the income statement (sales) and are happy or sad. They flip…
Read MorePlanning The Exit – Maximizing Value And Your Company’s Future
Successful Business Owner: You have worked for years and made incredible sacrifices building your company. It is your largest financial asset. However, in the next one to three years you may want to sell or transition out of your company, maximize the value you receive from it and ensure its future success so you can…
Read MoreINCREASING ENTERPRISE VALUE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED BUSINESSES WITH ADVANCED FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Small and Medium sized Businesses (SMB’s) can often substantially improve enterprise value by employing the financial management strategies that large companies use. SMB bookkeepers, controllers and most of their CFO’s without large corporate experience are not educated or trained on the use of these techniques. Note these strategies are much different than the CFO Services…
Read MoreManufacturing Profitability Improvement – Case Studies
$20 Million Equipment Manufacturer The company designs and manufactures large engineered-to-order water treatment systems and smaller stock water treatment machines for industrial plants. Financial statements were prepared outside of the company by a small CPA firm. Management had little insight into margins and profitability as the only costing was material related. Brought accounting in-house in…
Read MoreAdvanced Financial Management for Manufacturers – Driving Sales and Profitability
Profitability and sales in manufacturing companies can be increased through the use of sophisticated cost accounting, operational and financial management tools and strategies. Understanding true product and customer costs and margins, developing accurate overhead rates, analyzing labor, using cost-volume-profit analyses, and devising purchasing and pricing strategies are some of the tools Rick Perrin uses to…
Read MoreGross Profit Optimization
IMPROVE YOUR PROFITABILITY Gross Profit (or gross margin) is a very important financial measure in almost every type of company. It is the profit from sales before administrative, sales and marketing expense, interest and other expense. It is important to focus on Direct Margin as a component of Gross Profit: Direct margin equals sales less direct costs. For…
Read MoreAdvanced Financial Management for Manufacturers -Implementation Process
As a Madison based CFO and business adviser who has worked and consulted with over 20 manufacturers over 35 years, I have learned that three things, from a financial standpoint, have the greatest impact on increasing the profitability, sales and valuation of manufacturing companies: Understanding the true profitability of products and customers. (Many get it…
Read MoreManufacturing Profitability – Strategic vs. Tactical
Experience and research show that 80%+ of manufacturing companies under $40MM+ in sales have tactical bookkeepers, controllers and even CFO’s. They know how to pay bills, process payroll, send invoices, run their ERP systems, prepare accurate financial statements and work with their bankers. However, they DO NOT have the experience, knowledge or strategic vision to…
Read MoreIncrease The Value of Your Company
The most successful business owners go through an annual strategic planning process and then create an annual budget or profit plan to set and drive sales, profitability, operational and other business goals. There are a number of ways to plan; the important thing is to set goals and then have detailed financial and operational plans and…
Read MoreIMPROVING SALES AND PROFITABLITY
Small and Mid-Market Companies Complimentary Financial Assessment Most Owners of small and mid-market companies could increase their sales and profits by better using their financial information: Their current financial reporting does not help them gain full insight to their true product, service and business line profitability. This insight is needed to improve profits. Financial strategies using…
Read More