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Larry Rice

Rodman & Rodman, P.C. Shares Cash Flow Tips for Small Business

Statistics show that in a good economy, approximately one third of all small businesses do not survive their first year of business. Approximately two-thirds do not survive year three. The primary reason a business fails is poor financial management, which in many cases is preventable.

So how can a small business survive in a bad economy? Larry Rice, CPA, Director of Strategic Consulting of Rodman & Rodman, P.C., Certified Public Accountants and business strategists catering to small and medium sized companies throughout New England, outlines critical cash flow tips for small business owners to help them weather a bad economy and beyond.

Create a cash flow projection or plan. Every small business should measure projected cash flow one year forward. That projection should be updated on a quarterly basis. A good cash flow projection starts with a good sales projection. Use historical data and be sure to consider any changes in your environment such as competition, economic change, etc. Once you have that sales projection, then it is a matter of translating those sales into the time frames that you get paid for those sales. When you place the payment for those expenses along side the receipt of revenues, you’ve created a cash flow projection.

Plan appropriately for capital expenditures. Due to an aversion of debt, many business owners pay cash for significant corporate assets. This can lead to a cash flow disaster. A good rule of thumb is that all long term assets should be financed over the expected life of those assets. If you are going to buy a machine that will last 10 years, you should seek to finance it over those 10 years. The idea is to match the outflows (the payment for the assets) to the time you expect to generate inflows (sales) from the use of that asset.

Better your credit management. Eager to make any sales, some owners do not have strong credit policies. The worst of all cash flow problems is to expend all the resources to make a product or provide a service, and then not get paid for it. Small business can not be too eager to have just any customers; they need to have the right customers. Go after the customers you want, not the customers who will waste your energy as you chase them to get paid.

Manage suppliers. Small business often pays its bills at designated times, which often are too early. Sometimes this is for convenience but can be dangerous to cash flow. Bills should be
paid timely to maintain good customer relations, but as close to the due date as possible. Seek opportunities for taking the better discounts for prompt payment from suppliers.

Manage inventory. Sometimes owners do not want to rid themselves of stale inventory at a discount, hoping that some customer will appear to pay full price. Sometimes the best course is to get rid of the inventory and use the cash for other more practical purposes.

Maintain a good relationship with a bank/lending officer. Not all credit decisions are objective. By maintaining positive communications, sometimes credit which might not be available can be secured when you maintain an open dialogue

According to Rice, “The most important financial statement is not the Balance Sheet or Profit and Loss; it is the Cash Flow Statement. Only the cash flow statement tells you how much cash your business is generating from operations. A very profitable company can still fail if the cash flow isn’t there to sustain that profit. Bottom line: more businesses fail because of poor cash flow than poor profit. Good cash flow planning is the key to small business success in any economy.”

Rodman & Rodman, P.C.

Founded in 1961, Rodman & Rodman, P.C. provides accounting, tax and business services to small and medium-sized companies throughout New England. With a focus on strategic planning, Rodman & Rodman goes beyond traditional accounting services and takes a proactive approach when serving clients to increase, preserve and sustain clients’ financial net worth.

From business valuations, taxation, audits, fraud detection and prevention services and succession planning to a variety of accounting IT services including software selection, implementation and training, the team at Rodman & Rodman serves as comprehensive advisors to clients. For individual clients, the company offers personal advisory services such as planning for real estate transactions, obtaining financing, estate planning and retirement planning as well as planning for college education. Rodman & Rodman Certified Public Accountants are located at 3 Newton Executive Park in Newton, Mass. For more information, visit their website at www.rodmancpa.com or contact Jen Reading at (617) 965-5959.

Larry Rice CPA, Rodman & Rodman

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Rodman & Rodman CPAs Provide Insight on Recent HIRE Act

Rodman & Rodman, P.C., a firm of CPAs and Business Strategists based in Newton and Braintree, provides insight on the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, that carries hiring incentives and stimulus measures.

Last month, President Obama signed into law H.R. 2847, otherwise known as the HIRE Act.

Rodman & Rodman outline what the act means to employers who hire qualified unemployed workers:

Under the HIRE Act, employers are exempt from paying the employer share of Social Security employment taxes on wages paid in 2010 to newly hired, qualified unemployed workers. The payroll tax relief applies only for wages paid with respect to employment beginning March 19th and before 2011. There are stipulations though. It applies to workers who: (1) begin employment with the employer after February 3, 2010 and before January 1, 2011; (2) were previously unemployed and; (3) do not replace other employees of the employer.

Employers will receive an up-to-$1,000 tax credit for retaining qualified unemployed workers. The workers must be employed by the employer for a period of not less than 52 consecutive weeks, and their wages for such employment during the last 26 weeks of the period must equal at least 80% of the wages for the first 26 weeks of the period.

For tax years beginning in 2010, the Act boosts to $250,000 the maximum amount that can be expensed under Code Sec. 179, and boosts to $800,000 the beginning of the investment based phaseout amount.

The Act allows issuers of certain tax credit bonds to elect to receive a direct payment instead of a tax credit to the bondholder.

The Act enacts a comprehensive set of measures to reduce offshore noncompliance.

HIRE Act also delays the application of worldwide allocation of interest for an additional three years.

Large corporations should be aware that the HIRE Act tinkers with their estimated tax payments in future tax years.

Rodman & Rodman advises employers to check with their accountant(s) to ensure they have a thorough understanding of the provisions of the new law. To speak with a CPA at Rodman & Rodman,

contact 617-965-5959.

Rodman & Rodman, P.C.

Founded in 1961, Rodman & Rodman, P.C. provides accounting, tax and business services to small and medium-sized companies throughout New England. With a focus on strategic planning, Rodman & Rodman goes beyond traditional accounting services and takes a proactive approach when serving clients to increase, preserve and sustain clients’ financial net worth.

From business valuations, taxation, audits, fraud detection and prevention services and succession planning to a variety of accounting IT services including software selection, implementation and training, the team at Rodman & Rodman serves as comprehensive advisors to clients. For individual clients, the company offers personal advisory services such as planning for real estate transactions, obtaining financing, estate planning and retirement planning as well as planning for college education. Rodman & Rodman Certified Public Accountants are located at 3 Newton Executive Park in Newton and 25 Braintree Hill Office Park in Braintree, Mass. For more information, visit their website at www.rodmancpa.com or contact (617) 965-5959.

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“8 Great Ways to Improve Business Value” Seminar on October 20th

On Tuesday, October 20, 2009 from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., a “8 Great Ways to Improve Business Value” seminar will be held at Rodman & Rodman’s Braintree office at 25 Braintree Hill Office Park. The seminar is geared towards entrepreneurs, family-owned businesses and small ownership groups. Larry Rice, CPA, Director of Strategic Consulting at Rodman & Rodman will lead the seminar and focus on the steps that business owners can take to increase their business’ value to maximize the return on sale of one of their largest personal assets – their business. Light refreshments will be served. There is no cost to attend.

To register for the seminar, contact Jen Minor at Rodman & Rodman at (617) 965-5959 or email jen@rodmancpa.com.  This seminar is co-sponsored by PR Works.

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Rodman & Rodman, P.C. Offers Businesses Essential Tips on How to Stay Connected and Retain Customers

In a good economy, there always exists the challenge of getting and keeping customers. In a down economy, it’s more important than ever that businesses not only make the sale, but really connect with their customers in order to retain them. Rodman & Rodman, P.C. Certified Public Accountants and Business Strategists, catering to small and medium sized companies throughout New England, offers tips on how businesses can stay connected with and retain their customers.

Rodman & Rodman offers businesses several tips:

Add value to the relationship. Provide more than just your product or service. From newsletters to product information, follow up calls, co-marketing with related businesses and by being a resource to your customer – try to add value to your relationship with them. Each of these ideas requires some extra effort and possibly expenditure, but the return is worth the investment.

Mirror your customer. Whenever directly communicating with your customer, determine your customer’s rate and emotion of communication and mirror it. This does not mean you should imitate them. Simply match the rate at which your customer is speaking and their level of emotion. For example:

If the speed at which your customer is talking is quick and you respond at a lumbering and pensive pace, you are likely making them uncomfortable. Put yourself in their place. Say you were trying to carefully explain to someone a computer problem and they cut in and quickly rattle off what you need to do. Even if they are right, are you really happy?  Would you want to speak with that person again with your next issue? Match their rate of speech as best you can as a seller or someone serving the customer for the best possible result.

How your customer is feeling about their situation shows in the emotion of their communication with you. In this case, it is slightly trickier because what you are mirroring is not the actual emotion of that customer, but the depth of that emotion. If a customer is angry, do not be angry, but be concerned. Very angry? Be very concerned. If the customer is frustrated, be empathetic. The point here is that good selling and customer service does not mean you must be upbeat and cheerful at all times. If a customer calls you in a panic, you need to show them that you are going to respond to their reason for panicking with a sense of urgency that demonstrates both concern and competency.

Provide smiling telephone customer service. Studies have shown that a customer service representative will more likely answer the telephone with a smile when a mirror is placed in front of them. Not only do the callers sense the smile in the customer service rep’s voice, the mirror provides a feedback mechanism to show the representative whether or not they are matching the emotions of the customer. This technique is highly effective and something to consider doing if your business fits the model.

“Customer service is what we all do. We serve our customers in exemplary fashion so that they buy from us, hopefully over and over again. Simply delivering the product or service you provide in the manner you proposed, at the time you promised, and at the price you quoted does not mean that your customer will return to buy again; refer you another customer; and/or like you or your business,” explained Larry Rice, Director of Strategic Consulting at Rodman & Rodman. He continued, “If you did not make your customer feel especially good about buying from YOU, the chances that the customer will choose the most convenient alternative available next time increases. Making a connection with customers is imperative.”

Rodman & Rodman, P.C.

Founded in 1961, Rodman & Rodman, P.C. provides accounting, tax and business services to small and medium-sized companies throughout New England. With a focus on strategic planning, Rodman & Rodman goes beyond traditional accounting services and takes a proactive approach when serving clients to increase, preserve and sustain clients’ financial net worth.

From business valuations, taxation, audits, fraud detection and prevention services and succession planning to a variety of accounting IT services including software selection, implementation and training, the team at Rodman & Rodman serves as comprehensive advisors to clients. For individual clients, the company offers personal advisory services such as planning for real estate transactions, obtaining financing, estate planning and retirement planning as well as planning for college education. Rodman & Rodman Certified Public Accountants are located at 3 Newton Executive Park in Newton and 25 Braintree Hill Office Park in Braintree, Mass. For more information, visit their website at www.rodmancpa.com or contact Jen Reading at (617) 965-5959.

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