Overall Description:
Benefits:
While every business needs finance this package should only be used if the value it creates justifies your investment. We will help with that and since we view ourselves as teachers don't hesitate to ask us for coaching or help with a one time project.
At a high level, the Finance Package provides the benefits of having your own finance department for a fraction of the investment. There is a lot your finance team does, but based on research the items listed below are what we believe will help fill the gap in the market today.
More specifically, it seems to us that most people forecast using only historical data. If you like driving while looking through your rear view mirror than this works. But if you want to see whats in front of you... This is how we build your road map and uncover what gauges (Key Performance Indicators or KPIs) are important for us to monitor along the way.
It doesn't stop there though. Using the models we can determine how different choices may change the economics of your business. This may be used to find and manage risk or it can be used to test pay off of a new product or service.
Some of the benefits of this package are increased focus on strategic objectives, more informed decisions, and peace of mind.
Features:
As stated above, this isn't an all inclusive list. If you have something in mind, definitely reach out to us!
Forecast & KPIs:
There is no way to list everything involved here, but one of the biggest complaints we hear when talking to business leaders is they do not know how their operations or business impact their financials.
We are going to solve that. To many people miss the true value in having a forecast. Sure its nice to know how much profit your going to make this quarter, but let's be real if either of us had a crystal ball we would be rolling in dough.
The true benefit of a forecast is that it forces you to plan. A real forecast involves breaking the business down by the events or things that drive cost and/or revenue. Then making assumptions for seasonality, volume, pricing, and much much more.
It's tracking to this forecast and understanding where our assumptions need to be tweaked that really add value to your business. That's where the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) come in to play. These will include financial and/or non financial data depending on our goals and what we are trying to track. These are how you're going to bridge the gap between your financial statements and your business operations.
Financial Models:
How do you know if something is a good investment? Or more simply, maybe you want to know how a decision today affects cash flow going forward. There are millions of ways to use models (including forecasting) but the most basic is to model cash flow needs over a specific time period.
These models are insanely customized to fit the question you need answered and assumptions surrounding your business. Depending on the scenario, we build a dashboard for you to tweak or change the assumptions. Stealing from one of the principles of value investing... It's better to be approximately right than precisely wrong. For this reason, we want the ability to see the outcome as a range.
If that sounds confusing, don't worry. Bottom line here is these are meant to help us make smart, strategic, focused, and rational decisions. You can leave the rest of it to us.
Reporting:
You need data to make decisions right? For us, the power of accounting is that it creates the foundation to make smart decisions. Unfortunately, it isn't always easy to connect your Income Statement to your business and if you can't make that connection than how can you use it to make decisions?
Most people see financial statements as numbers on a sheet of paper. If they're lucky maybe they understand what those numbers mean. We don't see the numbers (yes, I'm exaggerating) we see a story. Every well structured report should be telling you a story about your business.
That's what this is about. Based on your strategic objectives, goals, and/or current challenges we draft a report that tells you what you need to know.