Alan Campbell, B2B CFO®

Earlier this year, several of my partners at B2B CFO® compiled a collection of insightful business tips for the small business owner into a e-book titled “The Ultimate Small Business Playbook”. I have included a copy of one of my favorite articles below for your review. You can download a free copy of this e-book by clicking on this link – http://media.b2bcfo.com/index.php?page=Book-of-Lists-Ebook.
Financial Management Makes the Difference
By David Kirkup

Well managed companies employ many tools to optimize financial performance, some of which can be very sophisticated. However, most of these techniques fall within three key areas: accurate financials, adequate internal control and proactive management.

Invariably, companies that under perform their peers or experience fraud or some other catastrophe will have failed in at least 2 of these categories. And the price of failure can be harsh. Many companies that experience a negative event – such as a fraud perpetrated by an employee or a significant misstatement of their financial statements – may be forced into bankruptcy or may be forced to merge or restructure against their wishes. So it is wise to review your business operations and determine if you are lacking in these areas. If so, you should take quick, calculated action to supplement the areas of internal control, financial reporting and financial monitoring.

Accurate, detailed financial statements produced in a timely fashion

• Management should ensure that financial statements and management reports are produced in a relatively timely fashion. If your accounting staff cannot produce meaningful reports in a timely fashion or if the information is inconsistent or contains many errors, you could have a serious problem. If erroneous data is being sent to bankers, auditors or joint venture partners, you may lose credibility or may incur financial losses directly attributable to the loss of confidence of your stakeholders – such as the closure of a debt facility. You should ask yourself these questions:
• Is the financial data contained with reports consistent? Does it dovetail with what you know is happening with the business? Does it allow you to exploit new opportunities and control exposures?
• Are you able to answer relatively simple questions such as what has led to an improvement or deterioration in your business over time or what is the biggest contributor to operating profit?

Adequate internal controls including adequate segregation of duties

• Most business fraud is quite simple in nature. Making checks to fictitious vendors or altering such checks are very common. Most fraud results from opportunity and lax supervision.
• Does your business have adequate controls and procedures in place to prevent errors and irregularities?
• Do the proper checks and balances exist so that one employee does not have an undue level of access or control? What controls and procedures are in place to prevent an employee from making an unauthorized disbursement by check or wire transfer? What prevents an employee from setting up a phony vendor or phony employee in your computer system?

Proactive, well informed, inquisitive management
• The most valuable asset to a small business is astute management that asks the right questions, has a strong vision and is able to capitalize on opportunities quickly and efficiently. This type of management will use the solid financial data at their disposal to determine where their business is headed, to change course and/or speed and use all their resources to get to their destination.
• Management will need to be able to “mine” data to determine how the business is doing and why? Which clients are profitable and which are less so? Which products generate the highest gross margin and which contribute little? How are the trends in your business versus competitors of a similar size and make up? How do you position your business for a trade sale and how do you modify your business to give rise to a higher purchase price from an acquirer?
• Management will need timely, reliable financial data produced in a strong control environment to be really successful. Otherwise, you will be making decision and determining a course that might not be the best one.

If your management is not able to be really proactive, to gain the knowledge that they require from management data and to be truly inquisitive, you may be incurring serious exposure due to poor performance in financial management.

The inclusion of a B2B CFO® partner onto your senior team can give you the financial expertise and strategic insight that you need to maximize the performance of your operation. Our partners, who have over 4000 years of cumulative experience, (including significant merger and acquisition related experience), are part of the largest US firm providing services on a part-time basis to closely-held companies with annual revenues of as much as US$75 million.
Copyright © 2012 B2B CFO®

As a trusted advisor and partner, Alan Campbell, will help you achieve your financial goals and make the most of the business you have worked so hard to build.

B2B CFO NAMED IN PRESTIGIOUS INC. 5000 LIST

184% Growth Earns B2B CFO Spot in the 2010 List of Fastest
Growing Companies in America

Phoenix, Ariz. August 24, 2010 – B2B CFO, nation’s largest
provider of CFO services to small businesses, has been named to the
prestigious Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in America.



Now in its 29th year, Inc. Magazine’s annual ranking judges US-based
and privately held companies by their revenue growth. This year’s
list was ranked on the percentage in revenue increase from
2006-2009. B2B CFO’s growth earned 84th place in its industry.

“There are approximately 27 million small businesses in the U.S.
today,” said Jerry L. Mills, founder and chief executive officer of
B2B CFO, “It is a huge honor to be among the fastest growing and the
most successful businesses in the country. Our firm has experienced
tremendous growth over the past few years and we are on track to
continue expanding. I am especially grateful to all of the firm’s
dedicated Partners who continue to advocate our services around the
nation.”

In a personalized letter congratulating B2B CFO on this
accomplishment, Jane Berenston, editor-in-chief of Inc. Magazine’s
wrote “Congratulations: your company, B2B CFO, has made the 2010
list of the fastest growing private companies in America. This
achievement puts you in rarefied company, especially if you consider
that over 27 million businesses are registered in the USA. The elite
group you’ve now joined has, over the years, included companies such
as Microsoft, Timberland, Visa, Intuit, Jamba Juice, Oracle, and
Zappos.com. I look forward to congratulating you in person in
Washington, D.C.”

B2B CFO’s growth is reflected in numerous awards this year. The
company was also recently named in ACE Corporate Growth Awards,
which recognized the most successful and fastest growing companies
in Arizona.
In August 2010, B2B CFO has grown to 170 Partners across 39 states,
representing 5,000 years of cumulative experience. Each Partner is a
seasoned financial executive who serves as CFO to growing businesses
on as-needed basis. Approximately 80% of the Partners have a
background that includes senior executive positions at the Big Four,
and all of the Partners have held high level executive finance
positions in various industries in corporate America. Together, B2B
CFO Partners work with more than 500 businesses in the nation with
combined annual sales of more than $3 Billion.

Jerry L. Mills and many of the B2B CFO Partners regularly dedicate
time to educate business owners on financial matters. Mills is a
frequent speaker and contributor and has been featured on many
national media networks including FOX Business, Fortune Small
Business, Smart Money and many others. Mills is also the author of
The Danger Zone – Lost in the Growth Transition, and Avoiding The
Danger Zone – Business Illusions, both business non-fiction books
that help entrepreneurs understand and build a strong financial
strategy.

“We look forward to participating in the Inc. 500|5000 conference in
Washington, DC this fall,” added Mills. “Along with my colleagues, I
look forward to the October 2nd awards ceremony and to meeting the
entrepreneurs that created the other 5000 fastest growing companies
in America.”

About Inc. Magazine

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc.
is the only major business magazine dedicated exclusively to owners
and managers of growing private companies that delivers real
solutions for todays innovative company builders. Inc. provides
hands-on tools and market-tested strategies for managing people,
finances, sales, marketing, and technology.

Inc. Magazine’s 29th annual Inc. 5000 ranking of the fastest-growing
private companies in the country is available online at
www.inc.com/inc5000/list

About B2B CFO

Headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., the firm was founded in 1987 by
Jerry L. Mills. B2B CFO is the nation’s largest CFO firm serving
entrepreneurial, growth and mid-market companies with revenue under
$75 million. The firm’s partners have an average of 25 years of
experience and each individual partner is a senior level executive
with a broad range of expertise. Please visit online at
http://www.b2bcfo.com/