HELP ME PLAN MY FUTURE!
The Small Business Market Desires Practical,
Educational, Forward-Looking Advisory Services
By Robert L. Wolff, Jr., December 2003
Compilation, audit, payroll and income tax returns - accounting firms are masters at managing and reporting on historical financial activity. However, surveys show that small business owners need, want and expect their accountants to step out of this historical comfort zone and help them plan the future and better understand the numbers that are presented to them. Whether you call this role part-time CFO, business consultant or simply advisor, the small business market desires practical, educational, forward-looking advisory services. So if you're looking for a way to make your clients love you and increase your revenues at the same time, here are some tools that can help.
Up Your Cash Flow (www.upyourcashflow.com) from Granville Publications Software is a financial budgeting software and forecasting tool that can be utilized to provide your clients with a financial forecast and projection.
"Entrepreneurs need three things that their accountants rarely deliver," says Harvey A. Goldstein, CPA, managing partner of Singer Lewak Greenbaum and Goldstein, LLP. "Accountants need to step into their clients' shoes and ask the following questions: 'How much cash do I need? When will I need it? And where will I get it?'
Profit is important, but it's not the life-blood of a small business. Accountants must realize that once a decision, transaction or other event is over, the only thing left to do is learn from it. They must be forward thinkers who use their insights, knowledge and methodical skills to be forecasters of the future and answer the questions."
Mr. Goldstein knows this firsthand. Following his own advice, he has grown his Southern California CPA firm to over 200 professionals and staff. In the past 35 years, he has worked with clients in manufacturing, wholesale/distribution, law and professional services. And when traditional cash flow and business modeling tools proved too complex or simply inadequate, he developed his own tool - Up Your Cash Flow. This tool has helped accountants and small business owners create budgets, forecasts and projections without the need for too-often confusing spreadsheets. In the past 10+ years, user feedback has steadily increased Up Your Cash Flow's capabilities, making what-if scenarios easier to develop, analyze and more.
Services utilizing Up Your Cash Flow range widely. Randy Rupp, CPA of Mueller and Company, LLP, in St. Charles, Ill., uses it to structure merger and acquisition deals. With Up Your Cash Flow's ability to consolidate cash flow forecasts for a client and the business being acquired, Mr. Rupp can show the bank what the combined entity will look like after debt service.
Similarly, Aggie Dahar of the Toledo Chamber of Commerce uses Up Your Cash Flow to create projections to help start-up and existing businesses get loans. One reason for her 95% loan approval rate is that lending institutions and the SBA accept Up Your Cash Flow's output because they know the product and prefer how it presents the natural flow of a business.
John W. Nelson III of The Capital Connection in Newport, R.I., has created over 2,000 sets of projections since 1994. He believes Up Your Cash Flow is a key reason why his clients gain financing. As Nelson says, "The words talk to the numbers and the numbers talk to the words." Other professionals utilize Up Your Cash Flow's One-Hour Forecast to add value to meetings with new or existing clients, which often leads to more detailed forecasts and ongoing business consulting services..
The Small Business Market Desires Practical,
Educational, Forward-Looking Advisory Services
By Robert L. Wolff, Jr., December 2003
Compilation, audit, payroll and income tax returns - accounting firms are masters at managing and reporting on historical financial activity. However, surveys show that small business owners need, want and expect their accountants to step out of this historical comfort zone and help them plan the future and better understand the numbers that are presented to them. Whether you call this role part-time CFO, business consultant or simply advisor, the small business market desires practical, educational, forward-looking advisory services. So if you're looking for a way to make your clients love you and increase your revenues at the same time, here are some tools that can help.
Up Your Cash Flow (www.upyourcashflow.com) from Granville Publications Software is a financial budgeting software and forecasting tool that can be utilized to provide your clients with a financial forecast and projection.
"Entrepreneurs need three things that their accountants rarely deliver," says Harvey A. Goldstein, CPA, managing partner of Singer Lewak Greenbaum and Goldstein, LLP. "Accountants need to step into their clients' shoes and ask the following questions: 'How much cash do I need? When will I need it? And where will I get it?'
Profit is important, but it's not the life-blood of a small business. Accountants must realize that once a decision, transaction or other event is over, the only thing left to do is learn from it. They must be forward thinkers who use their insights, knowledge and methodical skills to be forecasters of the future and answer the questions."
Mr. Goldstein knows this firsthand. Following his own advice, he has grown his Southern California CPA firm to over 200 professionals and staff. In the past 35 years, he has worked with clients in manufacturing, wholesale/distribution, law and professional services. And when traditional cash flow and business modeling tools proved too complex or simply inadequate, he developed his own tool - Up Your Cash Flow. This tool has helped accountants and small business owners create budgets, forecasts and projections without the need for too-often confusing spreadsheets. In the past 10+ years, user feedback has steadily increased Up Your Cash Flow's capabilities, making what-if scenarios easier to develop, analyze and more.
Services utilizing Up Your Cash Flow range widely. Randy Rupp, CPA of Mueller and Company, LLP, in St. Charles, Ill., uses it to structure merger and acquisition deals. With Up Your Cash Flow's ability to consolidate cash flow forecasts for a client and the business being acquired, Mr. Rupp can show the bank what the combined entity will look like after debt service.
Similarly, Aggie Dahar of the Toledo Chamber of Commerce uses Up Your Cash Flow to create projections to help start-up and existing businesses get loans. One reason for her 95% loan approval rate is that lending institutions and the SBA accept Up Your Cash Flow's output because they know the product and prefer how it presents the natural flow of a business.
John W. Nelson III of The Capital Connection in Newport, R.I., has created over 2,000 sets of projections since 1994. He believes Up Your Cash Flow is a key reason why his clients gain financing. As Nelson says, "The words talk to the numbers and the numbers talk to the words." Other professionals utilize Up Your Cash Flow's One-Hour Forecast to add value to meetings with new or existing clients, which often leads to more detailed forecasts and ongoing business consulting services..