In the article, Process Mapping - A Great Technique to Streamline Admin Operations, we praise the benefits of Process Mapping as a tool to streamline financial operations. We compared processes to engines; if they are cared for properly they operate at a high level; if they aren’t performance degrades and, eventually, they quit working.
Walter Isaacson articulated how the concept of ‘bending reality’ helped Steve Jobs push for breakthrough innovations at Apple. This approach is also sometimes covered through the concept of stretch goals.
Have you ever wondered why one business has buyers lining up to pay top dollar while another sits on the market for months or years? What do buyers look for when buying a business?
In today’s challenging economy, there is more pressure than ever on small to mid-size firms from their banks, their CPAs, investors and the SEC (if they are public) to produce accurate and timely financial reports. In many firms this task, painful and slow if not automated, falls on the shoulders of the firm’s Accounting Team, usually the Controller.
I recently wrapped up yet another significant fraud examination for a small business client who trusted her bookkeeper infinitely. Sadly, all too often, the thief in your company is just that – the person my clients keep closest. Someone in their inner circle. Someone they keep company with. All the red flags were there. The client could not get basic financial reports from her bookkeeper. The bookkeeper’s lifestyle did not match her income. Answers to basic financial questions were met with plausible explanations, but no documents or proof. Why would they be? After all, the bookkeeper was infinitely trusted.
