Budgeting Forecasting Software Interview with Sheri Crawford
Senior Business Consultant, Bradley Allen and Associates, PC
Q: Sheri what do you do at Bradley Allen?
A: I am the primary business consultant. I don’t do any compliance work.
Q: What kind of things do you do in the consulting department?
A: We do what we call strategic planning. We do monthly, quarterly or semi-annual strategic planning with clients, which is a whole product within itself. We also recently started a couple business groups where we meet on a monthly basis and do presentations on a specific topic. Then we meet with the client for two hours each month to talk more in detail about that topic and how it relates to their business. Q: What are some of the topics that you discuss?
A: We talk about key performance indicators. We talk about cash flow. And I talk a lot about the Up Your Cash Flow budgeting forecasting software. We talk about working on, rather than in your business.
Q: So these are groups comprised of your clients?
A: That’s how we’re using this group. Other CPA firms in the area that are doing similar things are using it to attract new clients. Q: You consult a great deal with your clients. What role does Up Your Cash Flow budgeting forecasting software play in your consultations?A: Up Your Cash Flow budgeting forecasting software has helped me considerably in the strategic planning process. We’re using it to help our clients in all of our strategic planning sessions. We sit down with a client and we forecast what we think is going to happen. Then we maintain forecasted to actual monthly data. Up Your Cash Flow Forecasting Software plays a big role in how we do it. It’s our measuring stick. We say to the client, ‘OK we sat down in November, December and January and we forecasted the activity we expected to occur. Now things are either on track or whacked out for better or for worse. Why did this happen?’ Q: How do you identify the clients you want to work with on this level?A: The primary candidate for us is the small business owner who’s interested in what his distributions are going to be. That’s probably the biggest purpose for us in selling Up Your Cash Flow related services. Q: The small business owner wants to figure out where they will take their money out of the business?A: They’re freaked out they’re going to have to pay taxes and or they’re worried how that will impact the vacation home they want to buy in Florida or Aspen. Or they want to buy a boat. We’ve got a client that just bought a half million-dollar motor home and wanted to know how he was going to pay for it. Q: How about people that want to expand their business?A: Yes, we do some of that. About 70% of our clients on Up Your Cash Flow budgeting forecasting software are the case I just mentioned. Another chunk is people who are starting businesses. We had a group of guys last year that formed a law firm and kind of freaked out about all the administrative responsibilities that were new to them as partners of their own firm. We have quite a few clients of that type, people who are starting their own businesses. It’s their first or second year and they’re trying to figure out, ‘How in the world am I going to make this happen. What’s my break-even going to be?’ Break-even is always a huge one. ‘Just to stay afloat what do I have to do?’ Q: What size clients are you working with on an ongoing basis?A: Most of our firm’s clients are somewhere between 3 to 4 million and up, to 10 or 12 million. We have a few in that 15 to 40 million range. Q: Typically these businesses that are trying to pull out their distributions - are they the 3-4 million dollar businesses?A: That’s correct. Q: About how many of them are you working with right now?A: We’re working with about 20 clients on Up Your Cash Flow budgeting forecasting software. Q: Fantastic. They’re all on a program where you regularly compare their actual activity versus their forecast?A: Correct.
Q: Have you totaled up about how much money you’ve made with Up Your Cash Flow budgeting forecasting software?A: Not really but we’re doing well. All of our clients are on what we call fixed price agreements. We sell our clients a $30,000 job and that job will include that we’ll do their compilation, quarterly accounting and their annual financial statement. We’ll do retirement planning, strategic planning, which includes cash flow forecasting. We throw all that together and say here’s $30,000 worth of work we’ll do for you this year. Q: So everything is packaged in there?A: All of our jobs are what we call bundled. We bundle all of the services together and sell the client on one price. Q: So you’re never charging separately for your services?A: When I first started with Up Your Cash Flow budgeting forecasting software I was charging about 2,000 to 3,000 dollars a year for the service. Starting in 2001 we bundled it in with the other services. Q: And they adjusted the price accordingly?A: We do what we call a pricing analysis. We don’t just shoot from the hip to get that 30,000-dollar number. We list all the jobs that we’re going to do for the client, we estimate what our cost is going to be for that, and we assign a cost to it. In these costing analyses we put together for the client we are still charging them between 2 and 3 thousand dollars for the cash flow management related services, depending on how much work it will be. If it’s a new client it’s going to be more setup time and learning about their business as you go. On the other hand if I’ve been working on them for a while now it’s going to cost me a lot less to forecast their upcoming year because I know them pretty well. Part of the charge to is to maintain it on a monthly or quarterly basis. Q: Do your monthly and quarterly Up Your Cash Flow meetings springboard you into other opportunities with those clients?A: Yes. Big things and little things. We’ve gotten more into loan applications, acquisitions and partners leaving or coming in. I mean all that stuff turns up. Commission schedules for new sales people, some receivable and inventory management. Q: Are there any Up Your Cash Flow clients who have a great success story?A: There’s that client I mentioned earlier. The one that just bought this half million-dollar motor home. Q: Yes, I remember. A half million-dollar motor home – that’s got to be some vehicle!A: It’s really a push-diesel bus. Anyway he’s wanted it for a long-time. He has a vacation house in Florida and two homes here in Colorado. So we had to figure out how to make all that work from a tax structure. Q: What kind of business is it?A: High-end foreign auto body shop. He only works on Mercedes, Jaguars, BMWs… Q: Is it one location?A: Yes one really large shop. You know a lot of these small business owners only do 3 or 4 million but they bring 20 percent to their bottom lines. That adds up through the years. Where the big clients get 4 to 5 percent to the bottom line and they’re cranking at 15 million. Q: So you helped him figure out a strategy where he could pull out enough cash to buy his dream motor home?A: Correct, but the motor home was actually kind of a secondary thing. First we needed to hire a high-end general manager for his shop. High-end meaning somebody who is going to have a base salary of 75 to 95 thousand and then have a commission structure that would throw him up double that. So that’s kind of high-end for a guy who’s doing 3 to 4 million. Up Your Cash Flow budgeting forecasting software absolutely helped us in that process of figuring out when we were going to get that guy into place and when would be the appropriate timing to hire them. It wouldn’t make any sense to go spend even 50,000 dollars on a motor home if you don’t have time to be in it because you’re constantly in your business. Q: Absolutely.A: That was step one. Step two is – ‘Now I’ve got this guy in place, he’s doing what I need him to do, and we’ve figured out how to avoid this or that problem - how do I obtain my desired possession or vacation spot?’ Q: I see.A: One of the things that Up Your Cash Flow has allowed us to do is enter into retirement and personal planning work with individual owners. Q: That’s interesting because we typically think of the software as a business cash flow tool and you’re looking at it as helping a business owner plan an exit strategy?A: Yes. Even if that exit strategy is 10 years down the road. ‘OK we’ve got ten years - how are we going to build what you need.’ We use Up Your Cash Flow to plan how we’ll pull out the distributions. It’s been extremely effective for us.Cash Flow Forecasting Software - Click Here
Senior Business Consultant, Bradley Allen and Associates, PC
Q: Sheri what do you do at Bradley Allen?
A: I am the primary business consultant. I don’t do any compliance work.
Q: What kind of things do you do in the consulting department?
A: We do what we call strategic planning. We do monthly, quarterly or semi-annual strategic planning with clients, which is a whole product within itself. We also recently started a couple business groups where we meet on a monthly basis and do presentations on a specific topic. Then we meet with the client for two hours each month to talk more in detail about that topic and how it relates to their business. Q: What are some of the topics that you discuss?
A: We talk about key performance indicators. We talk about cash flow. And I talk a lot about the Up Your Cash Flow budgeting forecasting software. We talk about working on, rather than in your business.
Q: So these are groups comprised of your clients?
A: That’s how we’re using this group. Other CPA firms in the area that are doing similar things are using it to attract new clients. Q: You consult a great deal with your clients. What role does Up Your Cash Flow budgeting forecasting software play in your consultations?A: Up Your Cash Flow budgeting forecasting software has helped me considerably in the strategic planning process. We’re using it to help our clients in all of our strategic planning sessions. We sit down with a client and we forecast what we think is going to happen. Then we maintain forecasted to actual monthly data. Up Your Cash Flow Forecasting Software plays a big role in how we do it. It’s our measuring stick. We say to the client, ‘OK we sat down in November, December and January and we forecasted the activity we expected to occur. Now things are either on track or whacked out for better or for worse. Why did this happen?’ Q: How do you identify the clients you want to work with on this level?A: The primary candidate for us is the small business owner who’s interested in what his distributions are going to be. That’s probably the biggest purpose for us in selling Up Your Cash Flow related services. Q: The small business owner wants to figure out where they will take their money out of the business?A: They’re freaked out they’re going to have to pay taxes and or they’re worried how that will impact the vacation home they want to buy in Florida or Aspen. Or they want to buy a boat. We’ve got a client that just bought a half million-dollar motor home and wanted to know how he was going to pay for it. Q: How about people that want to expand their business?A: Yes, we do some of that. About 70% of our clients on Up Your Cash Flow budgeting forecasting software are the case I just mentioned. Another chunk is people who are starting businesses. We had a group of guys last year that formed a law firm and kind of freaked out about all the administrative responsibilities that were new to them as partners of their own firm. We have quite a few clients of that type, people who are starting their own businesses. It’s their first or second year and they’re trying to figure out, ‘How in the world am I going to make this happen. What’s my break-even going to be?’ Break-even is always a huge one. ‘Just to stay afloat what do I have to do?’ Q: What size clients are you working with on an ongoing basis?A: Most of our firm’s clients are somewhere between 3 to 4 million and up, to 10 or 12 million. We have a few in that 15 to 40 million range. Q: Typically these businesses that are trying to pull out their distributions - are they the 3-4 million dollar businesses?A: That’s correct. Q: About how many of them are you working with right now?A: We’re working with about 20 clients on Up Your Cash Flow budgeting forecasting software. Q: Fantastic. They’re all on a program where you regularly compare their actual activity versus their forecast?A: Correct.
Q: Have you totaled up about how much money you’ve made with Up Your Cash Flow budgeting forecasting software?A: Not really but we’re doing well. All of our clients are on what we call fixed price agreements. We sell our clients a $30,000 job and that job will include that we’ll do their compilation, quarterly accounting and their annual financial statement. We’ll do retirement planning, strategic planning, which includes cash flow forecasting. We throw all that together and say here’s $30,000 worth of work we’ll do for you this year. Q: So everything is packaged in there?A: All of our jobs are what we call bundled. We bundle all of the services together and sell the client on one price. Q: So you’re never charging separately for your services?A: When I first started with Up Your Cash Flow budgeting forecasting software I was charging about 2,000 to 3,000 dollars a year for the service. Starting in 2001 we bundled it in with the other services. Q: And they adjusted the price accordingly?A: We do what we call a pricing analysis. We don’t just shoot from the hip to get that 30,000-dollar number. We list all the jobs that we’re going to do for the client, we estimate what our cost is going to be for that, and we assign a cost to it. In these costing analyses we put together for the client we are still charging them between 2 and 3 thousand dollars for the cash flow management related services, depending on how much work it will be. If it’s a new client it’s going to be more setup time and learning about their business as you go. On the other hand if I’ve been working on them for a while now it’s going to cost me a lot less to forecast their upcoming year because I know them pretty well. Part of the charge to is to maintain it on a monthly or quarterly basis. Q: Do your monthly and quarterly Up Your Cash Flow meetings springboard you into other opportunities with those clients?A: Yes. Big things and little things. We’ve gotten more into loan applications, acquisitions and partners leaving or coming in. I mean all that stuff turns up. Commission schedules for new sales people, some receivable and inventory management. Q: Are there any Up Your Cash Flow clients who have a great success story?A: There’s that client I mentioned earlier. The one that just bought this half million-dollar motor home. Q: Yes, I remember. A half million-dollar motor home – that’s got to be some vehicle!A: It’s really a push-diesel bus. Anyway he’s wanted it for a long-time. He has a vacation house in Florida and two homes here in Colorado. So we had to figure out how to make all that work from a tax structure. Q: What kind of business is it?A: High-end foreign auto body shop. He only works on Mercedes, Jaguars, BMWs… Q: Is it one location?A: Yes one really large shop. You know a lot of these small business owners only do 3 or 4 million but they bring 20 percent to their bottom lines. That adds up through the years. Where the big clients get 4 to 5 percent to the bottom line and they’re cranking at 15 million. Q: So you helped him figure out a strategy where he could pull out enough cash to buy his dream motor home?A: Correct, but the motor home was actually kind of a secondary thing. First we needed to hire a high-end general manager for his shop. High-end meaning somebody who is going to have a base salary of 75 to 95 thousand and then have a commission structure that would throw him up double that. So that’s kind of high-end for a guy who’s doing 3 to 4 million. Up Your Cash Flow budgeting forecasting software absolutely helped us in that process of figuring out when we were going to get that guy into place and when would be the appropriate timing to hire them. It wouldn’t make any sense to go spend even 50,000 dollars on a motor home if you don’t have time to be in it because you’re constantly in your business. Q: Absolutely.A: That was step one. Step two is – ‘Now I’ve got this guy in place, he’s doing what I need him to do, and we’ve figured out how to avoid this or that problem - how do I obtain my desired possession or vacation spot?’ Q: I see.A: One of the things that Up Your Cash Flow has allowed us to do is enter into retirement and personal planning work with individual owners. Q: That’s interesting because we typically think of the software as a business cash flow tool and you’re looking at it as helping a business owner plan an exit strategy?A: Yes. Even if that exit strategy is 10 years down the road. ‘OK we’ve got ten years - how are we going to build what you need.’ We use Up Your Cash Flow to plan how we’ll pull out the distributions. It’s been extremely effective for us.Cash Flow Forecasting Software - Click Here