Business Performance

When it comes to getting work done in your business, you have the option of hiring independent contractors or traditional employees. Both types of workers can get the job done, but there are pros and cons of each that you need to be aware of.

Pros of Hiring Employees

There’s a reason why most companies make the commitment to hire traditional employees over independent contractors. Most companies need the stability of having the same employees day after day, in addition to the following three benefits.

Higher Qualifications

Employees tend to have higher qualifications and more education than independent contractors. When a person has acquired a professional degree or trained for years in a certain industry, they tend to go for jobs that will offer security, stability and substantial pay. Conversely, when a company is looking for solid experience and background, only a traditional employee will do.

More Company Loyalty

Employees exhibit more company loyalty than independent contractors. That’s because in a traditional employer/employee relationship there’s an understanding that the situation is long-term. Employees know that their success is tied to the company’s success, and they’re usually willing to work harder for a company that they know stands behind them. That loyalty is enhanced when the company makes efforts to reward employees who demonstrate commitment and dedication.

Better Company Culture

A company with employees is likely to have a better company culture than one that simply uses independent contractor. Traditional employees tend to think of their fellow employees as members of an extended family. As such, there’s a sense of community that exists, even if it’s informal or not officially recognized. Birthdays are celebrated, company outings are organized, and groups of employees may even opt to socialize outside of work.

Cons of Hiring Employees

Of course, hiring traditional employees has its downsides, too. Following are some of the drawbacks to consider:

Payroll Taxes

Payroll taxes often represent the biggest chunk of monthly expenses that a company faces. Whenever you have employees, you’ll have payroll taxes to take care of. This will never go away unless you decide to switch to hiring independent contractors.

Benefits Package Expenses

Businesses with as few as 49 employees are required by law to offer insurance. While that’s great for your employees, it does represent a financial burden, especially for smaller businesses. And, employers know that a generous benefits package attracts more qualified job candidates.

Salaries to be Met Regularly

When you have traditional employees on your staff, you have to meet salaries on a regular basis. Every two weeks or so, you need to come up with the cash to meet payroll, even if business hasn’t been good. Your employees get paid no matter how many sales you make in any period of time. That’s a heavy responsibility, which is why you need to carefully consider whether you should be hiring employees or independent contractors.

Pros of Hiring Independent Contactors

It’s probably clear that by now that there are many pros to hiring independent contractors. You’ll never run out of independent contractors to hire, either. There’s always a big talent pool to draw from, no matter what your industry is.  Here are more benefits to consider:

Fewer Taxes

You’ll have significantly fewer taxes to pay when you hire independent contractors over traditional employees. Independent contractors are responsible for their own federal, state and local tax payments, as well as their own Medicare and Social Security contributions. All you have to do is pay your independent contractors the sum they’re owed. Just be sure to get their tax ID number so you can send them a 1099 if you pay them more than $600 in one calendar year.

Easily Downsize When Business Slows Down

When you hire independent contractors, you don’t have to worry about being overstaffed when business slows down. If you find that you have too little business to keep workers occupied, you can simply not hire independent contractors. When business picks up, you can temporarily hire more workers to fulfill your business demands.

Hire and Fire at Will

Speaking of hiring and firing, you can do both of these at will when you use independent contractors. Unlike traditional employees, you don’t need to have a reason not to use a particular independent contractor for future work. Their work can be “on demand,” which means you use them when you want and don’t use them when you don’t want. This frees you from any need to have “just cause” when you no longer wish to have a certain independent contractor working for you.

Cons of Hiring Independent Contractors

Hiring independent contractors isn’t perfect, though. There are plenty of reasons to avoid using independent contractors, which are outlined below:

Customer Relations Could Suffer

It might not work to hire independent contractors for front-facing jobs. Independent contractors might not deliver the top quality level customer service that you’d like to see. Also, if customers are always interacting with a different company representative, the relationship between your company and your customers can’t really develop.

Vulnerable to Injury Claims

Since your worker’s compensation insurance doesn’t likely cover independent contractors, your company could be more vulnerable if one of them gets injured while working for you. Of course, a separate liability insurance policy may bridge this gap, but that’s an added expense so it’s something to consider.

Need For Accurate Records

Governments want to ensure that all records are accurate when a company uses independent contractors. This is partially because independent contractors are liable for their own tax payments, and some may try to get out of paying tax entirely. To cover your own position, you’ll need to carefully monitor how much you’ve paid your independent contractors, ensure that you send out 1099s by the January 31st deadline and adhere to all other government regulations regarding this non-traditional workers class.

As you can see, there are positives and negatives about hiring employees and independent contractors. Rather than choosing between the two, some businesses may even find that having a mix of employees and independent contractors is the most practical solution. Ultimately, you’ll need to decide which option works best for your business needs.

Managing your company’s accounts receivables is one of the most critical aspects of fiscal health. Yet, many business owners fail to effectively handle their accounts receivables, either directly or indirectly. Poor accounts receivables policies can lead to a bevy of problems involving client relations, cash flow, tax return complications and even legal issues. Seven of the biggest mistakes in handling accounts receivables are outlined here, with advice about how to avoid each one.

1. Letting Accounts Receivables Age Too Long

The longer your accounts receivables age, the more of a threat they become to your cash flow. Also, the longer you let these sit without contacting the debtor the less likely it is that you’ll ever get paid.

Run your aging accounts receivables reports weekly to stay on top of things. As soon as a receivable becomes over 30 days due, you should take action. This can be with an email reminder, a phone call or a statement notice. This will help prevent cash flow problems in your company and remind debtors of their obligation to your company.

2. Not Complying With Debt Collection Laws

Your accounts receivables team needs to be aware of the collections regulations in your area. In addition to federal laws, there may be state laws in place that govern collection calls. If anyone in your company falls afoul of the relevant laws, your company would be vulnerable to legal action.

Since overdue debt collection is such a sensitive issue, it’s good practice to designate just one person in your company to make collection calls. That person would be responsible for keeping abreast of regulations as well as for keeping detailed records of each call. An added benefit to this method is that the debtor has just one point of contact in your company to communicate with regarding the issue. This makes things simpler on their end whenever they need to call with updates.

3. Allowing Only One Payment Method

Often, your debtor wants to pay their bill but can’t because of cash flow problems. They won’t necessarily come out and say it because that would be admitting that they don’t manage their own cash flow very effectively or that they don’t have any liquid savings. When you only allow one payment method, you’re inadvertently restricting your clients’ ability to pay.

Offering more than one or two payment methods is a way to give overdue debtors a chance to settle their account with you in a way that they can financially manage. You could either offer multiple payment methods to all your clients or make it a special offering exclusive to overdue debtors. Suggestions include:

• credit card payments

• in-house debt financing with interest

• interest-free installment payments

• automatic deductions from their bank

4. Not Sending Reminders

When you fail to send reminders of an overdue debt, it’s easier for a client to “forget” it. By keeping silent about it, you’re sending a subtle message that the debt isn’t important enough to you to take action. And if it isn’t important to you, it surely won’t be a priority to the debtor.

Reminders give your debtors slight pressure to get overdue bills taken care of. They keep your overdue receivables in the foreground of their minds instead of allowing them to be easily forgotten. Reminders also subtly let your debtors know that you haven’t forgotten the debt and that you don’t intend to.

5. Extending Credit Indiscriminatingly

The fastest way to draw the short stick with your accounts receivables is to give generous credit lines to non-creditworthy clients. Odds are high that if they didn’t pay their bills with previous companies they aren’t going to pay yours either.

Don’t implement a company-wide credit policy. Instead, whenever you take on a new client for whom you will be extending credit, contact references for payment histories and/or perform a business credit check. That way, you’ll fully understand your level of risk and can make independent credit decisions accordingly. Don’t feel like you’re crossing boundaries with this simple check. Reputable companies with nothing to hide almost expect it.

6. Omitting Overdue Payment Policy on Invoices

When you fail to state your company’s policy on overdue payments, you give your debtors excuses and leeway to not pay your accounts receivables on time. Omitting overdue payments policies also severely limits your available recourse in the event that you need to take legal action.

Your overdue payment policy should be clearly stated on either the front or back of all your invoices. if you choose the back, be sure to put an asterisk comment on the front that indicates that the full policy can be found on the back (or second page, in the case of a digital invoice). Also, best practices dictate that overdue invoices should start accruing interest after a certain amount of time. Be sure to state your interest policy as well.

7. Having Too Lax of a Credit Policy

When you extend generous lines of credit to clients, you’re essentially shouldering that debt yourself. If your credit policy is too lax, you could ultimately inhibit the growth and stability of your company. Too lax credit policies include:

• excessive lines of credit

• little to no interest accrual on overdue debt

• no pre-credit background checks

• no definitive aging policy when final payment is due

• no set repayment plans

Carefully consider your company’s ability to hold debt. Can you really afford to let your clients go for long periods of time without paying? How will that affect your cash flow?

While it’s good business to extend some lines of credit to certain valued clients, you should spend time fleshing out a detailed credit policy that protects your interests. If you need help ensuring that you’ve covered all the bases with your credit policy, contact your trusted financial advisor.

Remember that the condition of your accounts receivables impacts your own business credit, stability and reputation. These are the biggest mistakes that commonly occur with accounts receivables. Avoiding them will enable you to keep your company financials in the best possible shape.

The role of Business Intelligence (BI) in your client’s company can be so pervasive and transformative that in many cases it can save their business. The basic spirit behind BI is what some call “data surfacing”—the process of taking large amounts of raw data and turning into meaningful, strategic information that the business can act upon immediately.

Here are three big ways that BI could potentially save your client’s business:

1. Brings Customer Service to Life

In some cases, a business is floundering because their customer service is terribly ineffective or even repelling to customers. It might be so bad that customers are spreading the wrong kind of word-of-mouth—the “I can’t believe how I was just treated by this company” word-of-mouth.

My Customer notes a few ways that BI can revive the seemingly hopeless customer service (or lack thereof) in a company. One crucial way is real-time customer feedback that becomes visually displayed to the business as the feedback is being made (or very shortly thereafter). In this scenario, the BI software used by the company is actively scanning for customer feedback across all sources whether social media channels or other online platforms, and presenting that feedback in a quickly accessible visualization to the company. This allows the company to act in an appropriate way immediately to any concerns or problems.

2. Takes Efficiency to the Next Level

With effective BI, the quickly accessible presentation of information doesn’t just happen from customer to company. It also can be used for cross-department communication. By using BI to make the sharing of information more efficient, meaningful, and pervasive, employees have a greater understanding of how to do their jobs more effectively. It eliminates the time lag that can lead to inefficient redundancies in the work that each department does.

As Todd West Media notes about the way BI centralized information in a quickly accessible and understandable format: “With a BI system in place, all of the needed data comes from one source and can be accessed from one dashboard and converted into a report. This saves much time and energy while removing inefficiencies from the process.”

Find out what your real manufacturing costs are.

BI software can give you a bigger insight into the manufacturing costs of your company and the ability to make changes to production in order to come up with larger profitability.

3. Boosts Sales (By Providing Fresh Insight Into Customer Behavior)

BI gives you more than just real-time customer feedback. It also gives you the ability to analyze customer behavior in real-time. You can see where the demand (or lack of demand) is concentrated in your market, and respond to customer patterns and trends as they are happening.

Datamensional notes that BI gives you the real-time opportunity to turn information into profit in a way that more effectively retains and grows a company’s client base.

The Power of Meaningful Information

The goal of BI is simple: take your company beyond just gathering Big Data to a place where the information takes on immediate, actionable meaning. It’s all about relevant, well-informed strategy executed in response to real-time patterns.

Please note that this article does not constitute comprehensive or actionable advice. It is imperitive that you consult with your own legal and technological professionals before engaging in a strategy for Business Intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has seen stunning development in recent years, and these improvements are wiggling their way into the day-to-day operations of small businesses faster than many business owners realize.

CoxBlue puts it this way: “As more and more data goes digital, it increases the possibilities for what we can accomplish without human intervention. Artificial intelligence has seen rapid advances in the past few years, to the point that news stories are no longer about if AI is possible, but rather how much it will change our lives."

The simple fact is that AI and machine learning are expanding into new areas that could bring benefits to small and medium-sized businesses. Yes, it will not be a celebration for all. AI will likely eliminate some kinds of jobs, but it could make others much easier, especially as accounting teams are able to work with customers more easily and sift through financial data faster to make sense of the numbers.

As Biz Tech Magazine notes, AI could also free up accountants and small business owners to work on other tasks that require more personalized touches and skills. In a December 2016 report from consultancy Accenture, the firm notes that “automation, minibots, machine learning and adaptive intelligence are becoming part of the finance team at lightning speed,” and that it expects “30 to 50 percent of traditional shared services roles, including those in finance, will disappear over the next five years thanks to them.”

That’s astonishing.

The report adds: “As routine tasks become automated, finance professionals will be freed up to focus on more judgment-intensive activities. Some jobs will disappear, others will transform, and new roles will emerge.”

According to Accenture, by 2020, more than 80 percent of traditional finance services will be delivered by cross-functional teams that include AI.

The Benefits of AI

As Small Biz Trends has pointed out, maximizing resources and prioritizing time are two big benefits of artificial intelligence, but there are others:

• You can predict customer service issues before they happen.
• You can identify the prospects that are most likely to buy your goods and services.
• Your marketing efforts become more personalized because you have more information about customer preferences to work with.

All thanks to AI.

In addition, the benefits of AI include the ability to help your business:

• Automate the send-time for your marketing emails to arrive when they will most likely be read.
• Figure out which segments of your audience to target with the greatest expectation of return on investment.
• Predict the amount of sales in your pipeline — even before the results come in.
• Predict your most important sales leads.

In the Small Business Trends report, they spoke with Tony Rodoni, Executive Vice President for SMB sales at Salesforce, about AI and what it can do for small businesses.

The pace of technology adoption by small businesses isn’t always fast.  Salesforce’s 2016 Connected Small Business Report notes only 21 percent of small businesses are using features like business intelligence software and analytics.

Rodoni explains what they’re missing by not adopting AI.

“AI has the potential to make every company and every employee smarter, faster, more operationally efficient and more productive,” he says.  “For small businesses with limited time and resources, the ability to work smarter and automate basic tasks can be a life-saver.

In fact, small businesses that are early to adopt new technologies look bigger than they are. Rodoni has called this the blowfish effect.

In conclusion, the information provided above is not advice but is simply general information. With AI this is an especially important disclaimer. The nature of AI technology can change so rapidly that it’s always good to do as much as homework as possible before you jump in. (Don’t rely 100 percent on last month’s assessment of what AI has available, in other words. Even a few weeks can change the landscape dramatically.)

Every business owner wants growth and profit. No one wants to sit back passively and miss out on opportunities. However, as noted in Rhonda Abram’s analysis in USA Today, it’s easier said than done: there’s a certain key combination of factors that must be achieved. The key is coming up with the right combination of resources and steps to take to achieve “growth.” There are big problems with growing a small business opportunistically. Most importantly, you can’t control it or count on it. Stated another way, growth needs to be planned for following a systematic and rational approach, otherwise any so-called growth that comes out of the process will arguably be nothing more than “accidental success.” On the other hand, opportunity, especially big opportunities, often mean demanding clients that can distract you from building your core business.

The following seven keys, as noted by Abrams, are as follows:

1. Know what business you’re in. Know thyself, and know how the business environment sees you. You may think you know what your business does, but in today’s rapidly changing world, with more competitors, it may be hard to figure out exactly what your strategic position is and how your customers perceive you. What are your core competencies?

2. Take care of your bread-and-butter business first. Take care of the things that work the best. What business activities actually bring in the money to pay the bills? Never jeopardize these activities, even if they’re not exciting or “sexy.” Your employees need a paycheck, and your dog has to eat. Taking care of them is your first, though not your only, priority.
3. Don’t bet all your money on one horse. Spread your strengths around. While it’s not always easy to diversify, it shouls be an important goal. Many businesses have only one or two customers or distribution channels that bring in the bulk of revenue. Being dependent on one or two revenue streams is perilous.
4. Be clear about your target market. “Know thyself” was mentioned, but perhaps even more important: know your customers like the back of your hand. If you don’t know exactly who your customers are, you won’t know what they want and how best to serve them. The biggest problem of most small businesses is they try to serve too large a market.
    
5. Identify exit scenarios. Someday, you’ll want to leave your business — sell it, close it, pass it to your family members. Outline a few realistic exit possibilities and the steps necessary to make those happen. 
6. Build one business at a time. Most entrepreneurs have many great ideas and see opportunities to grow in many different directions. But if you try to act on all those ideas — seize those opportunities — at once, you’re less likely to be successful at any one of them.
7. Choose a strategy you can afford. Growing a business takes money: for marketing activities, new staff, inventory. How will you fund that growth? Figure out what kind of financing you can live with, and choose your growth strategy accordingly.

In addition, the following growth strategies are just a few presented by Susan Ward within the publication “The Balance” on January 4, 2018. These points emphasize the aggressive community-minded outreach strategies that businesses can take—the “extrovert” side of your business, if you will:

1. Draw as Much as You Can From Your Existing Market

When you think about how to grow your business, the first thing that probably comes to mind is getting new customers. But the customers you already have are your best bet for increasing your sales; it’s easier and more cost-effective to get people who are already buying from you to buy more than to find new customers and persuade them to buy from you.

2. Ask For Referrals.

That's not to say that getting new customers is a bad approach. One of the easiest ways to do this is to ask your current customers for referrals.  Having good products and great customer service and just assuming that your customers are passing the word about your business isn’t going to do much to increase your customer base; you have to actively seek referrals. During or after every job or sale, ask your satisfied customer if he knows anyone else who would be interested in your products or services.

3. Innovate Your Product or Service.

Discovering and promoting new uses for your products or services is a great way to both get existing customers to buy more and attract new customers. Think petroleum jelly and duct tape—and how few of these would actually be sold if they only had one use!

4. Participate In Trade Shows.

Trade shows can be a great way to grow too. Because trade shows draw people who are already interested in the type of product or service you offer, they can powerfully improve your bottom line. The trick is to select the trade shows you participate in carefully, seeking the right match for your product or service. Trade Show Tips will help you get the best return on your investment.

In conclusion, growing your business is quite a bit more than just sitting back and watching what’s happening. Growth is a matter of life or death figuratively speaking. “If you don’t grow then you will eventually go.”

Carefully crafted, plainly understood communication is fundamental to the establishment of relationships, whether personal or business. If there is ever going to be a meaningful exchange of thoughts and emotions it will be through effective communication.

But it’s easier said than done.

To say precisely what you mean without leaving any shred of nuance out of your intended message is a fine art form that takes practice and hard work.

Within the realm of the business sector, there is a heavy, crucial emphasis on enhancing any and all communication skills, whether spoken or written. The reason for this is simple: there is too much at stake to tolerate poor communication.

As noted in an analysis by Elizabeth Rittiman, these five critical workplace communication strategies will help you weed out the poor communication in your company:

1. Listen: Communication isn’t all just about you doing the talking. A great deal of communication involves you listening to other people.  One mistake people make is that when someone else is talking they tend to only be thinking about what they want to say when it’s their turn to talk again, and therefore they are not fully listening to what is being said to them. That’s when key information is missed.
2. Pay Attention to What You Are Saying Without Saying It: Here’s another great example as to how communication is not just about talking. We communicate so much just with the expression on our faces, the gestures we make, and the way that we stand or sit. When interacting with others, always put your best self forward. Make direct eye contact, stand tall or sit up straight, and give firm handshakes.
3. Know Your Audience: Have you ever taken notice as to what communication method provides you with the best response? For instance, does your boss not respond to your emails but gives you instant feedback when you stop by her office?  Or maybe you have a colleague that takes forever to look at the drafts you email them.  Have you thought about printing the materials and giving him a hard copy to look at?  Figure out how your coworkers like to receive information, you’ll find things move along more smoothly.
4. Remember The Message Sent Isn’t Always The Message Received: Everyone is their own filter, and not everything comes out how we intend it. Many negative situations can arise from making incorrect assumptions, especially in an email or a text message. In these situations, we often find ourselves determining a tone of voice when there is none. Take a step back and ask for clarification face-to-face if you need to so you don’t end up making something out of nothing.
5. Get to the Point: Just as you are probably extremely busy with your daily tasks, so are your colleagues. Sometimes a little more background information is needed; other times, it isn’t. Make sure you are concise and clear in what your expectations are in your messaging and you will see a quick turn around in the results. In addition to being direct, keep tips 3 and 4 in mind with this one. Some people might appreciate a little more small talk or respond better with a change in tone.

In addition to these five points, HowStuffWorks makes the following 10 quick tips for good communication habits:

1. Handle Conflicts with Diplomacy
2. Revive the Great Lost Art of Conversation
3. Respect Cultural Differences
4. Give Good Feedback
5. Give Employees What They Want
6. Trust Your People
7. Make Employees Feel Like Owners
8. Take Your Emotions Out of the Equation
9. Don’t Just Hear – Listen
10. Make Work Fun

There’s no way around it: workplace communication requires a significant investment in time. However, you will notice the improvement immediately as employees communicate with skill and professionalism that gets results, and it makes all the hard work worthwhile.

What is a workflow?

A workflow is a list of repeatable tasks that need to be performed in order to achieve a particular business goal. A workflow documents the procedures and processes that form an organization’s “assembly line,” so to speak—the order of steps that need to be performed to get from start to finish.

Documenting the order of steps (workflow) that an organization needs to perform provides a number of opportunities to enhance and improve an organization’s business operations.

Note the following background concerning Toyota’s success with implementing workflow. When Toyota adopted Ford’s assembly line techniques in the 1950s, their leaner workflow produced these exceptional results:

• Productivity increases between 300% to 400%
• Labor productivity increased an average of 25% a year
• Defect rates reduced from over 2000 to less than 50 parts per million, and in many to less than 10 parts per million.
• Cost of quality cut by over 60%
• Work-in-process inventory cut by more than 80%

In addition, as this study by Nora Conrad notes, when you hire someone to take over your system, you don’t need to do such intensive training. You can simply deliver your workflows to them. When you’re swamped with work and stressed or exhausted to the point that you’re making mistakes, you can use your workflows as a step-by-step guide to ensure you don’t miss anything. In addition, creating a workflow forces you to examine your processes and discover flaws in them.

In general, experience has shown that workflows are a critical tool for business. 

Workflows can be in digital trail format or in paper trail format. The current trend, however, is to take advantage of various workflow technology that leave a digital trail. Digital form workflow can offer the following advantages, as noted here:

1. Paper trail is replaced by a digital trail: People who manage warehouses full of files find that the paper-based system often leads to a morass of paper, cabinets, lost or misplaced documents — and stress. Workflow software keeps digital copies of files, automates the routing of tasks, alerts those who need to take action, and keeps a record of everything relevant to the process.
2. No stopping for signatures: Digital signatures on e-forms allow for fast approvals (including executives on the go) and the reduction in time lost as a result of waiting for paper-based signatures.
3. Greater insights: Your business processes are meant to deliver results. You should know what is happening within your operation at any point in time. Workflows give you regular insights into what is occurring within your processes, the people involved, and a sense for how effectively your organization meet its deadlines.
4. Automation focuses on activities: Business process automation software and automated workflows allow you to set up processes, then let them run. The majority of work that occurs within processes can be automated, freeing up time and allowing you and your team to focus on more strategic activities.
5. Workflow never forgets: Every activity in digital workflow is tracked. Whether you need information for compliance purposes or to review how your organization operates, the ability to quickly see the ‘who, what, where and how’ of your processes provides important insights.

Other Reasons Why Workflow Is Important for Your Business

As TallyFly observes, there are other reasons why workflow is so crucial:

1. More Insight in Business Processes

Mapping out your processes in a workflow allows you to get a more clear, top-level view of your business. Even if you have a well-established set of business processes, do you really know if they are delivering you results? Workflow is important because it gives you greater insight into your processes.

2. Identifying Redundancies

In many businesses, there are tons of unnecessary and redundant tasks that take place daily. Once you have more insight into your processes, you can determine what activities are truly necessary.

Identifying and eliminating redundant tasks has, of course, countless benefits – it creates value for your business. Instead of wasting time on a useless task, your employees will be able to focus on what’s important, and what does contribute to the business. As such, the more useless processes are eliminated, the better your business will perform.

3. Increase Accountability and Reduce Micromanagement

Studies have shown that micromanagement is often cited as the biggest reason for quitting a job. By clearly mapping out your workflow, everyone knows what tasks must be completed, who will be completing them, and when they need to be finished by. When the workflow process is clearly laid out in this way, managers can spend less time micromanaging their employees.

4. Improved Communication

Another big reason why workflow is important is the increased visibility of processes and accountability which can increase workplace communication dramatically. This communication will reduce employee turnover and make day-to-day operations smoother overall.

In conclusion, if you are considering implementing workflow we highly recommend that you don’t put the project on the back-burner. Get started as soon as possible so that you can begin to reap the rewards from your efforts. The key is to make the project a high enough priority so that you end up with a top-notch product.

This article tries to draw attention to the role that accountants could play as business advisors within your business. Historically, accountants occupied the position of “bean-counters,” which essentially focused on what happened in the past, not on what the future of the business holds.

This has changed, and it’s important to understand the dynamics of how it works in today’s business context.

While there is a great deal of value that comes from applying accounting expertise to the historical viewpoint, such as that which comes with preparing tax returns and historical financial statements, it is clear that accountants can bring to the table a set of unique skills that go beyond simply working with historical numbers.

Aside from working with past data, accountants also possess skills that are exceptionally well-suited for analyzing what can be coming down the road in terms of financial activity in the future. In fact, it has been shown that accountants are well-equipped for assuming the role of financial advisor.

What this means is that accountants, equipped with their financially centered skill-set, have shown that they are in an excellent position to provide advice to the management team by identifying and negotiating financial challenges to the business’s future.

The following outlines identify opportunities being taken advantage of by accountants who occupy the role of financial advisor.

As NevadaSmallBusiness.com observes, there is value in having a knowledgeable authority in business accounting:

1. A business accountant is an asset to business planning. If you aren’t a numbers person, a knowledgeable CPA can be your source for information on business planning and development.
2. An advisor with accounting credentials can improve ineffective operational systems that cut company margins. Even if you show quarter-over-quarter growth for a few years, you might be “settling” by failing to recognize waste in the design of company procedures. 
3. Your knowledgeable accountant can perform regular financial and economic evaluations to determine trend lines and other indicators of company growth. 
4. Tax preparation and planning can save you money. A knowledgeable accountant may find deductions you missed, or may be able to help you avoid a costly, stressful audit by careful preparation of tax filings.
5. An accountant can add value to a business in a variety of ways. An accountant is an excellent fit to fill in the financial blanks in everything from quarterly tax filings to cost projections for the upcoming quarter. An accountant can look at the company’s progress from a financial perspective – perhaps the only individual who is counting up avoidable expenses to improve ROI.
6. An accountant can develop performance evaluations that get you back on track. You (owner) may think everything is fine, but your accountant can tell you the truth that lies in the numbers.

As this report notes, there are reasons why an accountant can open up some powerful benefits for your business and “flex the muscles” of your business by doing the following things:

1. Reduce Business Expenses.

By digging into a company’s accounts payable (AP), accounts receivable (AR), operations, and market costs, your accountant can propose savings on the costs of resources and other business operation expenses. With access to the raw data of your resources, production costs and deliverables, ask your accountant to audit whether cheaper materials will result in loss of quality for your products; they’ll present you with the data you need to make a final decision.

2. Manage Cash Flow.

Financial modelling and cash flow visualization/management are a core part of year-round accounting. Often used as a financial map to the future, ask your accountant to point out key timing and processes that can make a big difference in your bottom line, or prepare you for growth.

3. Leverage Financial Information for Business Strategy.

Your accountant isn’t there to take decision-making powers away from you – on the contrary, he or she actually provides stronger support, or in some cases a strong contrary point of view, for making near and mid-term business decisions. Given enough time and history, you may wish to task them with creating 5-year plan or forecast to use as a road map.

In addition, an accountant can do the following:

1. Test growth options with a break-even analysis.

Your accountant can help you set up budget and forecast reporting. Begin by setting up goals to achieve in the next 12 months, and use simple charts and graphs to see if your assumptions pan out. It doesn’t have to be complex reporting, and you can identify how you have done in previous periods (month over month, etc.) to make better growth decisions.

2. Help you find the key performance indicators in your business.

Start with a few key performance indicators, or KPIs, that really matter to your business type and build from there. If you’re in retail, you might use inventory turnover. In construction, it might be job costing.

3. Understand cash flow projections.

Create financial reports right out of your accounting software to help plan for what KPIs you would need to understand in order to manage cash flow. It is important to know how expanding product lines, increased direct costs, adding employees or a new location can impact cash flow so you can mitigate surprises.

4. Use industry benchmarks to compare your numbers.

A number of different subscription-based sources or financial benchmarking analysis tools are available and can be used to evaluate how they compare to other companies.

In conclusion, significant rewards are available if you, the owner, are willing to let your accountant exercise his or her skills as an advisor. Don’t let anxiety over power plays and “pecking order” fuel your decisions. Surrendering to f ear over who is “in charge” is suicide to the business.

A green business is a business that cares about its profitability while at the same time is constantly attentive to the impact the business has on the environment.

As noted in a recent report UCLA’s newsroom, contrary to the idea that environmentalism hurts economic performance, a UCLA-led study has found that companies that voluntarily adopt international "green" practices and standards have employees who are 16 percent more productive than the average. Professor Magali Delmas, an environmental economist at UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the UCLA Anderson School of Management, and Sanja Pekovic from France's University Paris–Dauphine conducted a study how a firm's environmental commitment affects its productivity.

"Adopting green practices isn't just good for the environment," Delmas said. "It's good for your employees and it's good for your bottom line. Employees in such green firms are more motivated, receive more training, and benefit from better interpersonal relationships. The employees at green companies are therefore more productive than employees in more conventional firms."

The higher-productivity effect stems from employees' appreciation for their workplace, Delmas said. In addition, educating employees about a firm's environmental commitment and requiring employees to work together across departments come into play to reduce the organization's environmental impact.

The Small Business Administration (“SBA”) has made available an outline including links to resources that provide information on how to make your business more “green.” The following is a partial list of what the SBA has made available at its website. 

Become Energy Efficient

The Small Business Guide to Energy Efficiency includes tips, advice, and resources to help you save on energy costs: from energy saving tips to information on grants, loans and incentives available for making energy efficient upgrades to your facilities.

Adopt Environmentally Sound Business Practices

• Develop an Environmental Management System to enable your organization to reduce its environmental impacts and increase its operating efficiency.
• Comply with Environmental Regulations
• Conserve water
• Explore Green Commuting Options
• Reduce your business’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Improve Your Waste Management System

• Learn how to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle within your business
• Identify whether your business produces Hazardous Waste
• Check your municipal and state waste management websites for more information

Invest in Renewable Energy

• Review this site on Renewable Energy for Small Business Owners
• Browse the Guide to Renewable Energy to determine what system is best for your needs
• Search DSIRE for an energy rebate program in your state
• Join the EPA’s Green Power Partnership for opportunities to increase renewable energy use

As Lifescript observes, small and large businesses need to impress consumers and clients by implementing “green” practices. Make it a company-wide goal to decrease impact on the environment. Encouraging every person in the company to present ideas makes everyone accountable and interested in the office going green. Larger companies may seek outside consulting firms who specialize in eco-friendly business practices. The greening of the company may take place in stages with a plan of action put into place.

If you’re contemplating executing a business project and want to be as prepared as you can be then we highly recommend you dig your teeth into the following information.

As Technopedia defines it, a project plan is a formal document that is intended to serve as a roadmap from start to finish of a contemplated project. The plan is made up of elements such as resources used, milestones, and timing to name a few.

The plan is designed to guide the control and execution of a project, and it is the key to a successful project and is the most important document that needs to be created when starting any business project.

It is used for the following purposes:

• To document and communicate stakeholder products and project expectations
• To control schedule and delivery
• To calculate and manage associated risks

The plan answers the essential questions about the project, including the following, also noted by Technopedia:

• Why? - What is the task related to the project?
• What? - What are the activities required to successfully complete the project? What are the main products or deliverables?
• Who? - Who will take part in the project and what are their responsibilities during the project? How can they be organized?
• When? - What exactly is the project schedule and when can the milestones be completed?

The initiation of a project requires detailed and vital documentation to track project requirements, functionalities, scheduling and budget. Formal project plans establish detailed project requirements, including human and financial resources, communications, projected time lines and risk management.

The following seven steps, as noted by Wrike and Computer Weekly, show how to create a successful project plan:

Step 1: Identify and Meet with Stakeholders

A stakeholder is anyone who’s affected by the results of your project. That includes your customers and end users, too. Make sure you identify all stakeholders and keep their interests in mind when you create your project plan. Meet with the project sponsors and key stakeholders to discuss their needs and expectations, and establish baselines for project scope, budget, and timeline.

Create a Scope Statement document to finalize and record the details of the project scope. The project scope statement is arguably the most important document in the project plan. It is used to get common agreement among the stakeholders about the project definition. It is the basis for getting the buy-in and agreement from the sponsor and other stakeholders and decreases the chances of miscommunication. This document will most likely grow and change with the life of the project. 

Step 2: Baselines

Components of the project plan include: 

• Baselines: These are sometimes called performance measures because the performance of the entire project is measured against them. These are used to determine whether or not the project is on track during execution

Step 3: Set & Prioritize Goals

Prioritize stakeholder needs and set specific project goals. These should outline the objectives of the project — the benefits you hope to accomplish.

Step 4: Define Deliverables

Identify the deliverables you need to produce in order to meet the project’s goals. What are the specific products you’re expected to complete? Estimate due dates for each deliverable in your project plan. (You can actually finalize dates when you sit down to define your project schedule in the next step.)

Step 5: Create the Project Schedule

Look at each deliverable and define the series of tasks that need to be completed in order to accomplish each one. Next, identify any dependencies. Do certain tasks need to be completed before others can begin? Input deliverables, dependencies, and milestones into an app similar to a Gantt chart. Involve your team in some of the planning process. The people doing the work have important insights into how tasks get done, how long they’ll take, and who’s the best person to tackle specific tasks.

Step 6: Identify Issues and Complete a Risk Assessment

Are there any issues that you know of upfront that will affect your project, like a key team member’s upcoming vacation? What unforeseen circumstances could create hiccups? (Think cold & flu season, backordered parts, or technical issues.) Consider the steps you could take to either prevent certain risks from happening, or limit their negative impact. Conduct a risk assessment and develop a risk management strategy to make sure you’re prepared.

Step 7: Present the Project Plan to Stakeholders

Explain how your plan addresses stakeholders’ expectations, and present your solutions to any conflicts. Determine roles: who needs to see which reports, and how often? Which decisions will need to be approved, and by whom? Make sure stakeholders know exactly what’s expected of them, and what actions they’re responsible for. Instead of telling stakeholders that their expectation or request is unrealistic, tell them what’s required to make it happen: how much time, money, or manpower? Let them decide if it’s worth dedicating the extra resources.

In short, project planning doesn’t need to be difficult or complicated. However, project planning does need to be thorough if it’s going to be a useful tool for tapping into its potential rewards.