Exit Planning? Why You Should Start Early
Exiting your business is a lot like selling a very good used car (or the home you’ve lived in for 25 years). A lot can look good on the outside, but a lot can go wrong if the buyer takes a good look at the inside. That’s why you want to start early, get a […]
The Board’s Role in Strategic Planning
To my Board director friends: How do you guide long range thinking without overstepping your job description? I am a longstanding board member of a mid-sized nonprofit organization that is about to develop their next strategic plan – a 3-year look into the future of special needs services in a period of dramatic change. We […]
Investment Policy – Do You Have One?
Many companies today are struggling with the effects of inflation and the aftereffects of COVID, and keeping enough cash to operate efficiently is a big challenge. But for others, cash management is a different kind of issue – they have more cash than they need to run the business, including many nonprofit organizations with endowment […]
CFO vs. Controller – What’s the Difference?
We have a client who engaged us to help them integrate an acquisition and structure a financial function for their rapidly growing company and guide its financial strategy as the company grew. Or at least we thought that was the plan. Along the way the CEO hired a (well qualified) Controller and guided the role […]
Let Your Chart of Accounts be Your Guide
We have a client whose accounting activity functioned for years under the direction of non-accounting management, not uncommon among smaller privately owned companies whose limited resources often put accounting last on the shopping list. In this case, as we began working together, the primary obstacle was the difficulty in making sense out of their financial […]
Financial Planning – 2023
If you have been following my posts for a few years, you’ve seen this diagram at least once before. It’s the master plan for planning that the best-in-class companies use to drive strategic direction and goal setting. Each year I urge more of our CEO readers to adopt the model for their own planning, to […]
Commercial Real Estate Investing – Things are Changing
You don’t need a professional advisor to tell you that the value of office space has declined in the past couple of years as companies reduce their space need and adapt to the concept of remote work. On the flip side, it doesn’t take much research to be aware that residential multifamily properties continue to […]
Guidelines for Independent Directorship
Privately owned companies are increasingly recognizing the value of having a formal Board of Directors to help owners/managers navigate the dynamic business world we live in today, to get truly independent thinking and the benefit of a trusted outsider’s perspective and experience. Consultants abound with the mission to help owners build or enhance their boards, […]
Gross Profit vs. Contribution Profit – Which is Best?
A question was raised in a client review meeting recently that reminded me that some financial terms – these two in particular – are often not as clear to non-financial managers as they should be, so this post seemed like a good opportunity to provide some clarity. Gross Profit? Contribution Profit? What’s the difference? Why […]