Thursday, December 31st, 2009
For many entrepreneurs and business owners, 2009 is a year that’s best left unvisited. Truly, it was tough out there; many casualties resulted from the international economic instability. Yet despite the dire predictions, plenty of organizations have survived to greet the new year.
Before you totally close the books on 2009 once and for all, I strongly encourage you to sit down with your CFO and evaluate your numbers. Look beyond just the bottom line and start asking yourself such questions as:
- How was our company’s cash flow in 2009? Is there anything we can do in 2010 to make it better?
- Were we always operating in compliance in 2009? If not, how can we ensure that there are no compliance problems in 2010?
- Were there any expenses in 2009 that we can lower in 2010?
- Are there any tax deductions we should be taking that we haven’t thought about before?
- Did we budget well in 2009? Were all the areas operating within their budgets? If not, was it that we didn’t plan well enough? Or did the manager of that area mishandle the finances?
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to shelve 2009 once and for all, but before you relegate it to the annals of your business history, learn from what you experienced.
When you and your CFO take this journey down a financial ”memory lane”, you’ll no doubt discover a wealth of information that will help you give all your business resolutions for 2010 a better chance of coming to fruition.
Happy New Year!
FinancialFutureCFO: Protecting your company for the future.
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Tags: Annals, Better Chance, Books, Bottom Line, Budget, Budgets, Business History, Business Owners, Business Resolutions, cash flow, CFO, Compliance Problems, Economic Instability, entrepreneurs, Finances, Fruition, Happy New Year, International Economic Instability, Journey Down, Many Casualties, Memory Lane, New Year, No Doubt, Shelve, Tax Deductions
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Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
It’s that time of year. From now until December 31, you’re likely to receive tons of requests for charitable contributions from nonprofits. Though you’d like to give something to all (or at least most) of them, it’s not practical. Besides… do you even know how much you can afford to give?
It’s a great (and difficult) question, isn’t it?
The fact is that there are many ways to get something from your giving, but you have to know how much you can (or should) give first. And that’s where a CPA and/or CFO can help you analyze your books. For instance, someone with financial expertise can help you evaluate how much you can reasonably afford to donate to local, national or international nonprofits.
Never forget that it’s customary for businesses to give back to their communities in some form, even in difficult economic times such as those we’ve been experiencing in 2009. Make sure you work with a CPA or CFO so you don’t wind up hurting your cash flow as you’re trying to help others.
FinancialFutureCFO: Protecting your company for the future.
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Tags: Array, Books, Business Person, cash flow, CFO, Charitable Contributions, Charities, CPA, December 31, Economic Times, Financial Expertise, Financial Help, Helping Others, Mindset, nonprofits, Philosophy, Time Of Year
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