The CFO'S Perspective

We recently covered the cost of tax compliance in this recent article.  The costs are a direct result of how companies face a myriad of tax compliance issues, even in the wake of tax reform that is supposed to boost bottom line results. The top ten federal tax compliance issues for businesses haven't changed much in the wake of this reform. These are:

When business disruptions occur, it can be expensive. Most business owners and CEOs have a model for success in mind, but what about the other side of the coin? Failing to prepare or put contingencies in place for unexpected events can turn a potential blip into a catastrophe.

Increasingly, business owners and leaders are leaning more on their financial teams to help prepare the company for uncertainty. Specifically, the business's CFO is taking on a broader role that includes making sure that your firm will be able to weather unexpected events.

What senior manager hasn't looked into the future to plan the growth of their business? The forces that drive the market acceptance and commercial success of your organization are going to vary depending on the nature of your products and services.

Whether you're in a traditional industry or a new one, business moves faster than ever today. Every millisecond a new app is download from Apple's online store. Walgreens now offers a walk-in one-minute flu shot, and customers can drop off their Fed Ex packages in the process. Any organization that wants to ensure its future must first figure out how to measure its past performance and then leverage that information to inform current decisions that impact their ongoing success.

For many owners and executives, some of the most trying times are not when the business is in stagnation, or even decline. The difficult times often surface when a company is growing rapidly.

Aggressive growth phases test every aspect of an organization’s leadership, making growth one of the biggest challenges faced by small-to-medium sized businesses and startups.

On a growth trajectory, leadership is left wondering “How can we get the most out of existing resources?”, “Which new resources will we need to acquire?”, “How do we prioritize our needs?”, “How many new employees will we need to hire to achieve our goals?”, and “How can we get everyone bought into the growth plan?” In short, “What comes next?”

Whether your business has grown to a size that requires a trusted professional to handle your financials, or it has become apparent that a replacement is necessary for someone in a key position, hiring a qualified CFO or controller can be a challenge.  Your company's CFO or Controller is an essential member of your senior management team.

When you hire a CFO or Controller, where do you start? What should be your primary focus? The answers to these and other questions could be the difference between qualified candidates and warm bodies with resume in hand.

When it comes to sports teams, the coaches have a pretty solid picture of what they need for success. A baseball team needs nine players on the field, soccer eleven, and basketball five. But when it comes to the workplace, there is no hard and fast rule for determining the perfect number of roles for your team.

Whether you are a growing startup, or an established business, your company's products and services are only one part of the success equation. How you structure your organization can make the difference between long-term failure and success.

Here are some tips for planning organizational structure, how you can evaluate your current organization, and one way to make the most out of your team going forward.

The adage says, “cash is King,” and this could not ring any truer for small and mid-sized businesses. Cash is a crucial component of any successful business, especially startups and new ventures.

Cash flow is the lifeblood of organizational success.

Positive cash flow leads to profitability and provides the funds needed to reinvest in the future of the business. However, proper cash flow management is difficult for many companies to undertake successfully.

Some businesses fail to analyze cash flow projections appropriately to identify potential shortcomings, while others suffer from mismanagement of payment terms and an inability to collect outstanding payments. New businesses are prone to spend recklessly and make poor inventory choices because they lack the awareness needed to make cash flow-centric decisions. Companies struggling with cash flow management often err on several of these key elements, fueling the vicious cycle of cash flow issues.

Business executives who have problems with cash flow at their organizations (or want to avoid future issues) will benefit from earmarking these cash flow tips:

With so many variables across industries and business life stages to consider, a one-size-fits-all approach to KPIs will never succeed.

The most important metrics are those most closely related to what investors expect. For private companies this means tracking the KPIs that owners and financers need to make sound decisions. While the specifics can vary between businesses, the common thread is analyzing metrics which can inform short-term and long-term operations.

Overarching business goals such as profitability or liquidity will also influence KPI choices because KPIs can address different business objectives.