Accounting and Business Services

If you’re looking for a firm that will focus on your individual needs, and always treat you like a client who matters, look no further. Our firm is large enough to offer a full range of professional services but small enough to give you the individual attention that you deserve.
We will thoroughly and conscientiously study your personal situation, and tailor our advice to your specific needs.

 

Accounting for Small Businesses

As a business owner, you have a lot more essential things to do than being your own accountant.

Our goal is to help you find the most efficient and effective method of accounting for your business. Accounting is a support function that requires a separate skill set and expertise. It is counterproductive for you to grow your business while trying to do certain support work such as accounting. There is an unseen opportunity cost involved if you take on this task.

We take care of your books for you, so you can get back to your core tasks of running your business profitably.

  • Our accounting services range from basic bookkeeping to more advanced controller services
  • We incorporate both financial and managerial/cost accounting into our services

Bookkeeping Services

We understand that bookkeeping is one of the most fundamental aspects of business financial management. Therefore, your books must provide reliable management information if it’s going to be useful. You might need to reconsider your current bookkeeping service if you cannot answer affirmatively the following questions:

  • Can your books satisfy a 5-part test: accuracy, completeness, correct presentation, correct cut-off period, and correct representation of your business financial position?
  • Do your financial reports provide relevant metrics to the industry in which you operate?

We will update your books on a monthly, quarterly, weekly basis, depending on our service engagement. Basic services typically entail the following:

  • Monthly bank and credit card reconciliations
  • Journalized entries as needed at end of reporting periods
  • Post/update payroll entries if applicable
  • Help maintain the integrity of the general ledger by ensuring transactions are correctly classified
  • Generate an income statement
  • Generate a balance sheet
  • Provide ongoing consultations as needed

Related services that may be added as needed:

  • Accounting system setup
  • Cleanup of your books
  • AR and AP services will be considered on a case-by-case basis depending on what is best for your situation.

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Controller Services

As your business grows, transactions and processes become more complex. At some point, you will need more advanced accounting services oversight and consultations. A bookkeeper alone is not enough, and a full-time Financial Controller may still be too expensive for you. This is where we come in to provide outsourced (part-time) controllership services

Most of our services can be offered as a separate consultation, or as part of an entire outsourced package. As your Financial Controller, we can work with your existing bookkeeper or you can outsource everything to us. Controller services typically include but not limited to the following:

  • Accounting/bookkeeping system oversight and review
  • Establish procedures and best practices for month-end and year-end close
  • Establish customized internal controls to protect against significant errors or fraud
  • Revenue recognition (ASC 606) if applicable
  • Training for your bookkeeping staff
  • Inventory accounting (if applicable)
  • Fixed asset accounting (if applicable)
  • Fund accounting (if applicable)
  • Accounting for leases (if applicable)
  • Accruals/deferrals/adjusting journal entries as needed
  • Intercompany transactions
  • Generate management reports
  • Special reports for review and action (AR/AP aging, etc.)
  • Discuss or help you interpret financial and operating results

This is usually for small to mid-size businesses that are experiencing growth and need more professional support.

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CFO (Chief Financial Officer) Services

In everyday language, your CFO is your “right-hand person”, a strategic partner and trusted advisor. As an entrepreneur or CEO, you have goals to achieve but lack the time and expertise necessary to flesh out all the strategic plans and intricacies of finance. The CFO will help you to develop the strategies needed to achieve those goals while helping to maximize the value of your business from startup through the exit phase. Let’s face it, your business could be your most valuable asset because it takes a significant amount of your precious resources (time, money, energy) to build.

The right CFO will have mastery of the drivers and levers of your business to influence results. The CFO acts as a financial quarterback to coordinate a professional team of business advisors in banking, insurance, taxation, investments, employee benefits, HR, and payroll, etc. Hiring a full-time CFO can be very costly but the good news is that a small business can take advantage of this service on a part-time basis.

CFO services differ from accounting services in that we are not processing or recording transactions and creating financial reports based on historical events. Instead, with a CFO engagement, the service is switched to a more strategic focus.

  • Cash flow management
  • Budgeting and variance analysis (monitoring)
  • Forecasting, FP&A functions
  • Strategic planning – finance and operations including tax impact
  • Business intelligence and monitoring result through metrics, KPIs, and comparable measurements (trends analysis, industry benchmarks, etc.)
  • Coordinate with bankers, insurance agents, attorneys, HR, payroll, or major vendors, etc.
  • Provide insight and information to make management decisions.
  • Review risk factors and assist with procedural guidelines or standard operating policies
  • Assistance with aspects of M&A (mergers and acquisitions) due diligence, tax advice, etc.
  • Optimization techniques, margins, and analysis of product or service line profitability

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Additional (Including Stand-Alone) Services

Cash Flow Management

Cash flow is the life of your business. Therefore, cash flow management is an extremely critical management function. We can help you to manage your cash flows which include creating and maintaining a cash budget. A cash budget will forecast and help you to:

  • Identify when, where, and how your cash needs will occur
  • Help you to structure your collections and payments (receivables and payables management)
  • Identify ideal sources for meeting your additional cash needs
  • Maintaining good standing with your creditors (bankers, lenders, suppliers, etc.)

We can also help you compute, forecast, and analyze free cash flow to your investors for potential business valuation or other managerial purposes.

Cash flow management may be provided to you as a stand-alone service or as part of a broader CFO type service. But we will first evaluate your needs and make recommendations.

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Internal Controls

Strong internal controls provide several advantages including risk management, asset protection, integrity of transactions/financial reports, business, or shareholder value, etc.  Although the cost-benefits of internal controls must be measured, almost all entities will benefit from having some levels of internal control systems in place.

We will evaluate your current operating and control environment to determine its consistency with your company policies, procedures, regulations, and other best practices. We will then provide a customized solution based on what is right for your particular needs. Our solution addresses the following:

  • Segregation of duties
  • Ensure that proper authorization of transactions is in place and that they are consistent with established policies and guidelines
  • Security of company assets such as cash, inventories, equipment. This includes ensuring that steps are taken to reconcile various accounts including physical inventory and other assets with electronic records.
  • Documentation of policies and procedures. This could include the establishing of proper standards (e.g. standard operating procedures) and making them accessible to all staff, along with appropriate training and awareness for staff members.

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Job Costing

Job or project costing is relevant to many types of businesses. If you own a construction, manufacturing, or other project-based business, we can provide services that are unique to your business. Some of these services include:

Job cost system set up

Ongoing maintenance

Bookkeeping and accounting unique to project-based businesses.

It is important to note that bookkeeping and accounting for construction, manufacturing and certain other project-based businesses are not the same as the general one-size-fits-all type of bookkeeping that is typically provided. We will tailor our bookkeeping services to your business, industry, and situation.

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New Business Formation

If you are starting a new business, registering or changing an existing business, we can help. We provide consultations for new and existing businesses either as a stand-alone service or part of a broader project. Please contact us for more details.

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Non-Profit Organizations

Services to nonprofit entities include set up and maintenance of tax-exempt status. Set up of nonprofit include initial application for exempt status with the IRS.

We handle all the IRS reporting for you by filing applicable form 990 series.

We provide accounting, tax, and consultation services to non-profit organizations as well. Some non-profits are required to file various versions of the 990 series tax form while some do not.

Bookkeeping and accounting services are done with relevance to the unique nature of non-profit financial reporting. We can help you to set up your accounting systems or provide the accounting services on an outsourced basis.

Churches: we also provide services to churches. Churches are a bit unique in a few ways including the fact that they do not file form 990, and pastors have a dual status. We will provide more details about this in a one-on-one consultation

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Operational Planning (Budgeting, Break-Even, etc.)

Operational planning, budgeting, forecasting, break-even, etc. can be provided as separate consulting engagements but some of these services can also be provided as part of a part-time CFO service package.

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Payroll Services

Constantly changing federal, state, and local laws and tax regulations make payroll management an ongoing challenge for business owners. Our payroll services professionals are well versed in these laws and regulations. We can proactively alert you to material changes that will affect your business and your employees while also keeping payroll running smoothly no matter how large your business and your employee population become. We can help you with both live and after-the-fact payroll and tax reporting.

Depending on your needs, we can provide this service directly or help you find a suitable payroll provider to outsource and coordinate this function.

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Strategic Business Planning

A Strategic Plan is often needed when…

  • Starting a new business, or expanding into a new location
  • Launching a new product or service
  • Buying a new business, product or service
  • Turning around a declining business

We take a multidisciplinary approach to help you clarify and think critically about the direction you’re about to take. This can include but not limited to financing, market attractiveness; product, service, or price leadership; macro and micro environmental factors; cost-volume analysis and relationships; planning, budgeting, forecasting, scenarios, and what-ifs.  This can help you decide what’s best and help ensure that all your key business leaders are on the same page.

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Call today to schedule an appointment!