When Silicon Valley and Signature Banks failed recently, there was a lot in the media about the FDIC insurance limit of $250,000 per person per bank. Any funds in a bank beyond that are uninsured in the case of bank failure. We all saw this point made again and again in the news. It turns […]
Archive | Finance
More Free Money!
During the pandemic, the CARES Act provided several programs to help businesses. The best known was the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), which had two phases, and was extremely popular. Another program under the CARES Act was the Employee Retention Credit (ERC), sometimes known as the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC). The ERC was nowhere near […]
Million Dollar Idea
With all the people and organizations who want time and money from us, how can we decide which people and organizations to spend our time and money with? And, let’s face it, we are constantly inundated with those wanting our time and money. Be it a course, an event, a book to read, a seminar, […]
What Are We Hiring the Office to Do?
What are we hiring the office to do? That’s a question asked by the CEO of a large investor in commercial office spaces. That’s also a question that CEOs of businesses large and small are asking right about now. Proponents of going back to pre-pandemic conditions are arguing that we are hiring the office to […]
Main Street Loans for Small Businesses and Middle Market Companies
While the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loans have gotten lots of publicity, lost in the shuffle is another new loan program from the federal government meant to help during the pandemic. It is called the Main Street Lending Program (MSLP). While the Small Business Administration has long made available a variety of loan programs and […]
The End of LIBOR
Do you lay awake at night wondering, “What will I do when LIBOR ends?” No? Me either. But if you have any financial instruments tied to LIBOR, you probably should pay a little attention to this issue. First, what is LIBOR? LIBOR is the London Interbank Offered Rate. It is a benchmark rate that indicates […]
A Plan for Profit Improvement
In my last blog I discussed the importance of timely and accurate financial statements for your business. This begins with having the right people with the proper training to do the job. But what if you’re getting good financial statements on a timely basis, but the profits aren’t up to your expectations? Then what? What’s […]
Improving Margins
In my last post I wrote about having Accurate and Timely Financial Information. Let’s say you’ve got your accounting straightened out so that you have good financial information on a timely basis. Now you’ve got something to base decisions on. Let’s assume neither your gross profit margin nor your net income is as high as […]
Why are My Taxes so High and What Can I Do about It?
I get asked this a lot lately. Here is what I think has happened. Back in Olden Times when I was working for a CPA firm and the Earth was cooling, earned income tax rates were 50% and unearned income rates were a whopping 70%! I’d ask successful clients whether they were considering expanding. Most […]
Of Profit Levers, Cost Behaviors and Sparklines
I am usually asked to work with a client because of one or more of these three reasons: 1. Poor accounting information. 2. Poor profitability. 3. Poor cash flow. In terms of priorities, sometimes cash flow just can’t be ignored. If I have a choice, I begin with accounting information, meaning accurate and timely financial […]