Business Advisory Archives » Checkbox Accounting

27Apr 2018 by Fred Crooks

Business Exit Planning

Business Advisory, Fundamentals, Small Business

Business Exit Planning - Planning with the End in Mind There comes a time for every small business owner to exit their business. Properly positioning your business to be sold can be one of the most rewarding aspects of being a business owner, but also one of the most challenging. Failing to plan for the sale or succession can lead to a disappointing, and sometimes catastrophic, ending to what has been an otherwise successful and fulfilling business career. When it comes to developing a business exit plan, those who have worked with some kind of business or strategic plan in the past are at an advantage. Regardless, putting together a workable exit plan is not an impossible task. Start with a self-evaluation of your personal and business needs, goals and…

22Feb 2018 by Fred Crooks No Comments

How to judge your business success

Business Advisory, Fundamentals, Small Business

Once you’ve checked your business vitals (see our previous post, Why You Need to Regularly Check Your Business Vitals ) the next step in assessing the health and performance of your organization is to begin comparing your key business metrics with your competitors.Now, every industry has its own challenges, and its own means of measuring success, but there are a few universal standards that can be relied upon when making such comparisons.In particular, you should look at gross profit and break-even analysis.Gross profit is rather simple - it’s your sales minus the cost of goods sold (the direct cost of the production of goods sold or service provided).The break-even analysis, however, is a little more complex. It is designed to help you analyze the various aspects of your business to…

22Jan 2018 by Fred Crooks No Comments

Tax Reform Changes

Business Advisory, Compliance, Tax, Uncategorized

Tax Reform Changes - How will they affect you? When you file your 2018 tax returns - about a year from now - your return will look very different. Here are a few of the biggest changes that may affect you. Individual TaxIndividual tax rates will range from 10% to 37%.Standard deduction increases and personal and dependent exemptions eliminatedThe Child Tax Credit increased and a new Dependent Credit created.Disappearing deductions: Beginning with the 2018 tax year, you will no longer be able to deduct:State income tax and property taxes above $10,000 per year in total;Moving expenses (with an exception for certain military);Employee business expenses such as mileage, travel, entertainment, home office expenses, union dues, tax preparation fees, and investment fees, among others;Mortgage interest beyond interest on $750,000 of acquisition debt (if…

14Dec 2017 by Fred Crooks No Comments

Is your business ill?

Business Advisory, Small Business

When a doctor first examines a patient, they’ll typically check their vital signs. This includes the pulse or heart rate, body temperature, respiration rate, and blood pressure. Taken together, these help indicate the state of the patient’s essential body functions. If any - or all - offer some cause for concern, the doctor can start diagnosing the patient more thoroughly, before suggesting a course of action... And now we’ve arrived at the part where you’re wondering why we’re discussing basic medical practice. Well, this idea of ‘vital signs’ is something that can be comfortably extended to your business. Your company’s financial health should be examined regularly to make sure there are no underlying maladies that will only grow worse if left untreated. Knowing What to Look For These financial ‘vital…

16May 2017 by William Simi No Comments

Performance Measurement for Nonprofits

Business Advisory, Not For Profit, Uncategorized

There’s a great deal your nonprofit organization can glean from the operations of a successful for-profit business. In particular, learning to measure the performance of your nonprofit can help you shape your programs and improve your nonprofit’s overall effectiveness. Implementing a performance measurement program requires the development of an information feedback system. By this we mean a system that allows the management to identify, monitor, and take action to improve select KPIs (key performance indicators) that relate to the primary performance areas of the organization. In this post, we will discuss how to identify these performance areas for your nonprofit, and how to implement your own performance measurement system based on your mission statement. Don’t Try to Measure Everything at Once It’s important that you drill down into the performance…

09May 2017 by Fred Crooks No Comments

The many benefits of an outsourced CFO

Business Advisory

As your small business or nonprofit grows, so to does your need for professional assistance. In particular, the financial aspects of a growing organization require a great deal of attention. And while you may not be in a position to bring someone on full-time to take care of this for you at the moment, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t look to delegate these tasks to a professional. By outsourcing your financials to a part-time CFO (Chief Financial Officer) you can access “big company” resources without the expense. In this post, we take a look at the benefits of appointing an outsourced CFO. What is a CFO? A CFO is a senior executive who is responsible for the financial affairs of a company or other institution. These responsibilities often include…

23Feb 2017 by Fred Crooks No Comments

A Guide to Selecting the Right Business Loan

Business Advisory, Business Loans

You might be in front of your laptop in a coffee shop, scribbling notes for a new startup venture. Or maybe you’re between boardroom meetings, planning the growth and expansion of an existing company. No matter where you are in the lifecycle of your business, one thing will always ring true. You will need cash. After all, cash is king. But it’s not always readily available. That’s why it’s fundamentally important that you, as a business leader, understand the ins and outs of business loans. In this series of three posts, we’ll provide you with an overview of the available loan types; the concerns you may experience as a borrower; the various push backs that can come from lenders; the benefits of SBA loans; and the pros and cons of…

07Dec 2016 by William Simi No Comments

The importance of growing your cash reserves

Business Advisory, Fundamentals

Running hand in hand with good budgeting is the need for your business to consider the importance of growing cash reserves. Having cash that’s available in the business for unexpected financial challenges is part of building risk control into your business model. In an uncertain world, knowing that the adequacy and growth of cash reserves has been considered in your budget plan provides real comfort that you will be able to: deal with the emergencies that may come, and build capacity toward the successful achievement of your organizational goals, whether those goals takes the form of an increase in profits or market share for your for-profit business, or the expanded and deepened social impact of your nonprofit’s programs. On the flipside, not putting the right consideration into cash flow can…

16Nov 2016 by Fred Crooks No Comments

Why budgeting is essential to success

Business Advisory, Fundamentals

Whatever stage your business or organization is at, it’s important to have the best possible overview of your costs and cash flow. If you’re going to track and measure your overhead, you’re going to need to set a clear budget right from the beginning – and that means putting serious thought into your budgeting from day one. Budgeting is one of the fundamentals that can often be overlooked by business owners, or non-profit CEOs, whose focus is pushing forward the next goal on the horizon. But when you neglect your budgeting, you’re setting a highly unstable foundation stone on which to build the rest of your business plan. Why is budgeting so important to the health of your organization? And how can a more proactive approach to budget management improve…

15May 2015 by William Simi

Operation Rescue Main Street: Chapter One – The Dream

Book Reviews, Business Advisory

Operation Rescue Main Street presents a preview of the first chapter of the book Six Steps to Small Business Success. Upon reading through this chapter, you will develop a definite sense of what your dream outcome could be and how to successfully create a plan to achieve that dream. Here are a few snippets from various sections throughout chapter one: Chapter 1 The Dream: Running Your Own Business with Integrity The Dream Business is no different from life in the way that when you start a project, you have a picture in your mind as to how the end product should look. Everyone should spend time planning their business and personal lives so they may decide what their dream of success and wealth really look like! Integrity: Pieces of the Dream…

Category: Business Advisory