Management of Funds

CFO services involve a careful scrutiny of your accounts, including profits and losses. Although this may sound obvious, it is easy to neglect regular account-keeping especially when your focus may be on meeting client requirements. Managing funds is an indispensable part of generating profits. Profitability does not come only from your customers. Practices such as managing costs, reducing unnecessary expenses, and enhancing productivity also play an active role in increasing your profits.

CFO services provide a detailed scrutiny of your revenue sources, revenue generation methods, and costs associated with revenue generation to determine areas that may be leading to decreased profitability. At a minimum, you should be able to answer the following questions about your finances:

• Are your account sheets updated and accurate?
• Do they reflect profits and losses accurately?
• Are you able to identify your overhead expenses correctly?
• Are there overhead costs that could be curtailed?

Managing Overheads

It is important to note that while overhead is necessary for a business to function, it may not be directly involved in revenue or profit generation. Thus, your travel expenses, phone bills, and client entertainment could all be categorized as overhead expenses. However, controlling overhead is not the only way to reduce costs; in fact, cutting too much overhead could negatively impact your revenue stream. For example, if your business offering is such that it requires significant client interaction, then reducing client entertainment overhead expenses may not be the best option for you. Professional CFO services can help you decide if your overhead requires curtailing or not; and if it does, you have access to the expertise to advise you in deciding on how much you need to reduce your expenses.

Managing Debtors

Each time you present a client with an invoice for services rendered, it means your customer is yet to pay you. Unless there is a very strict policy for Cash on Delivery, it is highly likely that a business incurs several invoices per day, amounting to a significant number per month. Each invoice represents customers who are debtors of your company. A collection of these invoices, or a list of your debtors, can be termed as a statement. A statement also contains other details, such as amount owed, date, and amount paid. Debtor aging is an important aspect of this statement. Age here refers to the amount of time a debt has remained unpaid.

When you hire professional CFO services, you are better informed about the state of your company’s finances, and hence better prepared to reclaim the money. When debtor age goes beyond a limit that you fix, 30 days for example, you can contact your debtors and follow up on payment.

General Expenses Management

How do you decide whether your business is utilizing resources optimally? Or that the rates you have established for your services are competitive? When you hire professional CFO services, you are provided with informed advice on these types of questions. The CFO researches your accounts thoroughly and undertakes a detailed analysis around the general expenses incurred by your business. The professional CFO is well-positioned to guide you in managing your company’s general expenses, including taking corrective action when needed.

Outsourcing the CFO

If you are a start-up or a small to mid-size business, you do not need to hire a full time CFO. Instead, consider outsourcing this function. Ideally, investigate providers with experience managing requirements of businesses similar to yours. This will give you added leverage in the form of their experience and expertise.

Shop around before you finalize your decision on a part-time CFO services provider. Some providers also offer scalability – a big benefit for small to medium-sized businesses and startups. Scalability allows you to tap into industry-standard services and infrastructure while paying only for the services you actually use. Thus, it produces immense savings on investing in infrastructure costs and costs associated with hiring and retaining trained employees.

When you outsource your CFO requirements, you receive the dual benefit of direct profitability through smart financial management combined with savings on investment costs otherwise spent on funding a dedicated CFO position in your company.

Satish Patel, CPA
President, Analytix Solutions
Satish Patel, Founder-CEO of Analytix Solutions, has more than two decades of experience as a CPA. He has also advised small and mid-sized businesses on diverse matters such as valuation, accounting, and finance. His experience extends to raising capital and arranging for finance from angel investors.

Our 2011 revenue growth was 35%, and most of that growth was based on client and partner referrals. Not only did we acquire 30 new clients, most of our existing clients increased their commitment to the accounting services we provide or contracted with us to provide other complementary support services. In response to our clients, we also expanded our service offerings to meet client needs. Analytix Solutions became an Intacct Partner during 2011, which directly benefits clients who have outgrown QuickBooks and are searching for cloud based applications. We also launched a new, updated website and signed-on a few Partners to resell some of our accounting services. We thank all of our clients and appreciate their support.

For 2012, our goal is to continue to grow and prosper as a company. We have established a 30% target revenue growth goal. Our employee base has grown by 42%, and we are moving one of our facilities to larger space to accommodate our own internal growth and infrastructure requirements.

As we welcome the New Year, we would like to share with you our best practices for how we plan to further increase our own profitability in 2012.

1. Nurture existing client or customer relationships
There is an old business adage which claims that 20% of your customers generate 80% of your revenue. Do you know who your best customers are? Maintaining your existing customer base is less expensive than acquiring new ones. Focus on increasing business from your established clients based on the services they require to make their businesses run more effectively. Work to increase customer loyalty by providing them with rewards that recognize that loyalty. If you don’t already, maintain a database of your existing customers that includes their buying behavior patterns to assist you in acknowledging their loyalty.

2. Determine key performance indicators
Specifically, you should have a clear understanding of which metrics are critical to determining your company’s performance. Do you know what drivers directly impact your sales and cash flow? Is it a product’s average number of days in inventory? Labor costs? Always have a comparison for your performance indicators so that you know where you stand compared to the previous year’s indicators or industry benchmarks. Even more importantly, know the threshold for these indicators so that you can recognize underperformance in certain areas.

3. Review and analyze monthly financial statements
Make it a point to perform a realistic assessment of your financials each month. Pay attention to key performance indicators that you have established. If you don’t have time or the expertise to perform this function, hire someone with CFO level expertise on a part-time basis. Timely and accurate data is critical to decision making success. Establish a monthly objective to review your financial statements for the month prior by the 15th of the new fiscal month.

4. Increase efficiency
This can be best accomplished by automating processes wherever possible to eliminate manual functions that take employee focus off of value added services. Invest in software programs and applications that will help accomplish this goal, especially ones that assist with payroll, time and billing, and data entry.

5. Outsource non-core tasks to provide you with more time to run your business
Assess the time you and your employees spend on tasks that require completion but really add little value to your own customers and customer relationships. Focus on those functions which allow you to foster relationships and grow your business. At Analytix, we “walk the talk” and recognize our own limitations. We outsource non-core tasks that are not central to the services we provide to our own clients.

Integrating these five practices into your operations will assist in improving your profitability. We are currently offering a free analysis of your accounting business processes and accounting system. If you would like to learn more on how Analytix Solutions can help improve your profitability in 2012, please call me directly at 781.503.9004 or email me at snpatel@aixsol.com.

Satish Patel, CPA
President, Analytix Solutions
Satish Patel, Founder-CEO of Analytix Solutions, has more than two decades of experience as a CPA. He has also advised small and mid-sized businesses on diverse matters such as valuation, accounting, and finance. His experience extends to raising capital and arranging for finance from angel investors.

Accounting departments are not immune to these changes, and businesses must reassess their accounting departments to adapt to these trends.

1. Cloud Computing- Also termed software as a service, (SaaS), cloud computing is a new way of providing companies with software programs, allowing users to access the programs over the internet as opposed to having to load the software on an individual hard drive or central server. Emerging cloud and mobile technologies provide companies with increasingly more flexible options and 24/7 access to accounting data. In addition, cloud computing technologies have eliminated the problematic issue of single user systems that house accounting data on a single computer, allowing multiple user access. These technologies also eliminate the need to invest heavily in IT systems and staff thereby increasing profitability. With cloud computing programs, resolution of accounting system IT issues, data security and back-up often reside with the software developer taking the responsibility off of small to mid-sized businesses.

2. Outsourcing- This practice is becoming more and more prevalent across industries and is particularly beneficial to small to mid-sized companies. It provides a greater range of access to specific skill sets that may not be required or affordable on a fulltime basis. Outsourcing specific non-core tasks such as bookkeeping allow businesses to scale back services when they are not required or ramp up services during peak periods. Outsourcing functions such as CFO level services provide businesses with a high level expertise when they need it, expertise which may otherwise be in accessible or unaffordable if they needed to hire a full-time employee.

3. Virtual Office- Geographical boundaries are slowly being erased. It is now significantly less important where a company or its employees reside. This provides increased access to qualified accounting staff with a specific skill set, as they no longer need to be physically present in an office or even in a designated city or state to successfully accomplish accounting functions. This also reduces significant overhead expenses as office space to house staff is no longer essential to performing accounting and bookkeeping tasks. Tasks can be performed anytime, anywhere.

4. Self Service- Our world is becoming increasingly reliant on self-service as a result of technology. Today’s workforce is accustomed to 24/7 immediate access to information and the ability to quickly address tasks. Accounting departments must realize that monthly revenue and profitability reports are no longer sufficient. They must mobilize to offer real time access to live data so that decisions impacting the company can be made promptly and efficiently, by key decision makers with accessibility to this information.

5. Automation and Integration- Accounting departments must look to automate key business processes such as order entries and expense approvals to increase efficiency. This eliminates duplication of data entry and human error resulting in improved profitability. In addition, with access to more and more software programs companies must learn to integrate applications for accounting, CRM, e-commerce, payroll and POS so that they possess an all-inclusive snapshot of the company’s financial status. Companies that learn to effectively integrate, manage and analyze this data will be far better equipped to move swiftly and decisively on critical matters that impact their business.

Businesses must embrace these trends that impact their accounting department to remain competitive. We are currently offering a free analysis of your accounting business processes and accounting system. If you would like to learn more on how Analytix Solutions can help improve your profitability, please call directly at 781.503.9004 or email at sales@aixsol.com.

It is a new model of software service delivery that uses the Internet as a network to exchange information. In practice, cloud computing is all about services and not products, delivered over the Internet network. The advantage of the cloud is that it allows for centralized sharing of services, which in turn results in faster deployment of software, in turn leading to significant time and cost savings for business owners.

Cloud computing has already taken business management by storm; it is likely many companies are using some form of the cloud unknowingly, in the form of private networks.

Accounting and Cloud Computing

Accounting is seen as a traditional discipline where implementing cloud computing may seem like a distant dream. However, the reality is that accounting is already being touched by cloud computing.

There are many practical considerations that encourage the adaptation of the cloud for accounting purposes:
- Cloud computing results in scalable solutions.
- Cloud solutions can take off without a large capital or investment; provides better returns on investment.
- Reduces costs and time efforts in researching, establishing, and maintaining applications.
- Cloud solutions allow the system to be updated regularly.
- Cloud solutions result in increased adaptability of the system so that any new changes are reflected automatically and also initialized effectively.

All of these converge onto one truth: the cloud speeds up your accounting processes and helps make them much more accurate and error-free. This means your other equally vital functions, such as that of sales, can take up the majority of attention needed.

Further, integrating cloud computing into your existing systems is relatively easier. This is because it has application program interfaces that allow for seamless merging with existing or new systems. You can build up or strengthen existing applications on the same platform.

This also has significance for the small and medium-size business owners. They can outsource the entire function of accounting over the cloud with a host of benefits, including immense cost and time savings. The implementation of cloud is dependent on the vendor, hence, for a small or medium business, conducting accounting business over the cloud makes immense sense. Once you entrust the responsibility to a vendor, it is also the vendor who supplies interim IT and other support as required. So you save up significantly on infrastructure as well as on manpower hiring, training, and retention costs.

Security concerns are also easier to handle within a cloud. Since a single vendor is responsible for the system end-to-end, the vendor takes full responsibility for the application. You do not need to deploy several different security applications to take care of your data and information.

Further, the adaptability that is inherent within cloud systems ensures that the regulatory changes accounting is subject to get absorbed easily. Most of the current software is unable to adapt rapidly to changes and requirements that are the catchwords today.

Another big advantage of cloud computing for the small or medium sized business is that one can begin harvesting benefits without the need to invest a large amount of money or capital in the beginning: a fact that holds a big promise for small and mid-sized businesses.

Apart from secure payment transactions, automating has a host of other benefits:

• Timely updates of records and data
• Speeding up existing processes
• Reducing or eliminating the need for periodic human intervention, and thus reducing error margins

In the competitive times that we are currently living in, there is very little room for error. Depending on the industry type, acceptable human error margins could hover anywhere between 2% and 5%. While documentation of error is a statistical function and is relative to assignments, automation can help reduce errors.

Automation and Accounts

Automating your accounts will save you a lot of time that would otherwise be used in making manual entries. Functions such as recording credits and debits are an intrinsic part of accounting. Doing this the traditional way eats up time and exposes data to errors. These could range from simple, typographical errors to larger, more serious ones. However, once you automate processes, the software creates folders or sections that are programmed to allot entries to the assigned columns, without error.

With automated systems in place, tracking accounts is also an easier process. Needless to say, automating also plays a role in deterring fraud.

Security and Integrity

The key to automation lies in reducing the opportunities for error (OFE). Lower the OFE, higher the accuracy of your final product. Once programmed, the automation software will also carry out regular updates and reports that can then be reviewed by concerned personnel.

At a time when data safety takes center stage, automated accounting works to reduce instances of human interface, ensuring safety and integrity of the process.

If your organization manages large amounts of numeric data, automation can prove highly cost effective. Automating software can carry out the same amount of work within shorter time periods, and with higher accuracy, thus eliminating the need to rework accounts.

Overview

• Automation allows for customization and improvisation at multiple levels and in a fast and secure manner. Automating your accounts system will ensure that they will remain in sync with the company’s growth. As your offerings grow, so will your accounts; automating will ensure that little or information is lost, while allowing the changes to be smoothly integrated into the existing systems.
• Automation allows for all concerned parties to access their information at will. This in turn, further frees up precious human resource for other areas needing intensive human intervention.
• Since automation also includes keeping a track of activity, there is lesser chance of mistakes going unnoticed for large periods of time. Your vendors and customers both can track their data independently and in a secure manner, reducing chances of fraud.

Automated accounting can prove to be indispensable; especially for small and midsize businesses where budgets are limited. The dual problem of focusing on client requirements while staying well within budget outlines can be resolved by automating accounting processes. Automation can help you do away with the need to establish a resource pool that needs to be trained and maintained. More importantly, it can help you meet your business requirements well within the outlines of your budget.

Analytix Solutions is participating in Jiffy Lube Tradeshow and offering cost-effective, scalable and qualitative services meant for small and mid size businesses. Company offers one-stop solution spanning from accounting software selection and implementation to integration of third party application which are ideal for multi-unit franchise businesses. These services can offer franchise business the liberty to focus on their core business leaving their non-core functions to Analytix Solutions like Jiffy Lube. Leveraging Analytix financial solutions, franchise businesses can leverage an entirely integrated, secure; web based reporting system that offers real-time access to vital business metrics. Analytix services can improve contingency plans, increase productivity without expanding overhead expenses, and save costs and time through automation. In addition, the company also offers value added services, i.e. IT services, web marketing, including data entry solutions. The company has been in this industry since 5 years and manifests state-of-the-art infrastructure, talented team of experts with vast experience in their respective genres and highly professional business delivery model.

“We have started with a mission to serve startups and franchise businesses to boost their productivity by offering them the liberty to focus on their respective businesses by offering them expert back office financial support though one-stop accounting and bookkeeping solutions. Our online marketing services will also build their brand name by facilitating online marketing tools and platforms. We have come a long way since then. We are looking forward to serving different franchise businesses of diverse verticals offering them winning combination of back office support coupled with solution to online marketing” said Jason.

Headquartered in Woburn, Analytix Solutions has earned a great rapport and wide client base coming from multiple verticals across the globe.

About Analytix Solutions

Analytix Solutions is a professional accounting and bookkeeping service provider along with web marketing solutions with a vision to become one of the prominent back office services and online marketing services providers in United States leveraging its expertise, experience and state-of-the-art infrastructure. For more details about the company please visit http://www.analytixsolutions.com

There has been a prominent explosion in the number of while label brands. This is specifically true in Europe, where white label goods and services have captured almost half the products and services that is marketed and offered worldwide which may span from consumer products to IT services like accounting and bookkeeping services. This trend is catapulting. What advantages this white label services and products bring in the market and to whom?

Who Are Beneficiaries

White label products and services are those services which are created and produced by one company and the same is branded and marketed by other small and midsized enterprises lacking appropriate infrastructure, manpower, and ample fund and a vision, channel and market to sell the product. Benefits of white label products and services include:

Save Development Cost: These products and services are developed and created by small companies hence the development costs are borne by these companies. This enables the marketing and selling enterprises to save production and development costs on these products and they can cheaply partner with the white label companies to incorporate new products to their services without establishing any in house resources to develop such services and products.

Easy Access to Services: Easy access to solutions and products, in the form of white label products, and services can enable a brand to reach out bigger market faster with customized solution to the customers in a cost effective manner.

Product Expertise: Marketing and private labeling company can retain the viability of innovativeness and scalability in the product and solution by partnering with the developing company. The white label company can always add new updated features to the product and service to offer the private label company an edge over other service providers.

Multiple Service Portfolios: Marketing companies can incorporate diversity in their service portfolio by offering multiple products and solutions to the customers of various verticals.

Market Penetration: Small of midsized private label companies can enter into new markets without actually producing and developing the services and products. It will open up new avenues to the private label companies.

Cross Promotion of Multiple Products: The white label products will enable the private label companies to cross promote and sell different other products and solutions into the market easily at least expense leading to brand building.

In this way white label and small and medium size private labeling companies both are complementary to each other and this concept is very much in trend these days in the global market. Small producing companies can create and develop products and solutions and they don’t need to search for the market. On the other hand the small and midsize enterprises can partner with these white label companies to market and sell their products and solutions under their own brand name at a cost effective manner.

For more information on White Label Accounting and Bookkeeping Solutions send us an email at sales@analaytixsolutions.com or call us at 781-503-9004

The Challenges

A few of the challenges could include change management issues, deployment and procurement delays, insufficient knowledge transfer, lack of senior management support, communication gap etc.

Change management system is often not in practice to deal with the transition in several companies. Lack of methodology and foolproof planning is yet another pitfall that frustrates the success of outsourcing transition. In addition, communication breakdown or lack of proper communication also contributes to the failure of transition. Lack of proper knowledge transfer puts the transition phase in doldrums. More importantly, absence of senior management backing to the transition process is the most prominent pitfall that jeopardizes the entire transition initiative. The bigger challenges may be even unpredictable because not all challenges can be predicted at the initial level.

The Best Practices to Ensure Successful Transition

Methodology

Methodology isn’t simply a process, it shows how important an accounting and bookkeeping services provider treats the transition phase and with how much of maturity level. The core elements of a good methodology are frequent audits, facilitation of tools and techniques, simplicity of implementation and effectiveness of monitoring process.

Robust Planning

More robust the planning process, better the execution. The key activities at the planning phase should be amalgamation of timeline and expectations, proper resource allocation, and clearly defined criterion to access the success of transition phase should be formulated to make the outsourcing online bookkeeping from transition to business phase.

Risk Management Approach

The proactive approach to predict potential drawbacks early, gives sufficient time to carry out amendments, if required, and enables design a response strategy. In this risk management practice risk identification and risk response methodology should be reviewed occasionally. Risks must be specified clearly and the impacts and possibilities need to be evaluated. Every potential risk response should be addressed with equal significance.

Governance

Many transitions fail with the failure of implementing a governance structure. “No-slack” implementation of governance structure during transition ensures alignment of project objectives with the stakeholders. The communication plan also needs to clearly circumscribe the frequency and format of communication that will be received and sent by shareholders. The well structured governance tracks status of project and changes if any and more importantly, avoids any surprises.

Buyer Readiness

Synchronization of service provider’s past experience and buyer’s readiness is instrumental in the successful transition of online bookkeeping phase. Support of management team should be identified and involved closely to check the progress and delivering support. Clearly defined expectation, clear, fair and upfront communication with affected staff should be the initiative of change management. Resource and budget allocation should be done to guarantee the support to multiple work streams.

Partnership Approach

The joint efforts of accounting bookkeeping service provider and buyer ensure the success of the outsourcing initiative. The teamwork of online accounting service provider and buyer during the transition phase constitutes the foundation and pitch of relationship for the duration of the contract. All pitfall and issues needs to be viewed as project issues rather than service provider or buyer issues. Understanding and trust among both the parties are crucial and they should work towards the common goal of successful transition.

These are a few of the best transition practices that should be considered when hiring online bookkeeping and accounting services.

“Mid-size businesses are struggling with how to manage their accounting and bookkeeping efforts in a cost-effective way as their companies grow,” says Satish Patel, president and founder of Analytix Solutions. “Cloud-based financial management is the future. By partnering with Intacct, Analytix can provide companies with comprehensive, highly-customized offerings that allow them to achieve a broad range of objectives, such as reinvesting in their business and eliminating the need for additional headcount.”

Through the partnership, Analytix Solutions will deploy Intacct’s industry-leading cloud financial applications to help clients improve performance, take better advantage of financial advice, and make better and faster business decisions. As a cloud-based system, Intacct also enables Analytix’s clients to dramatically reduce IT and operating costs and achieve a far lower total cost-of-ownership than with traditional on-premises financial software.

“Intacct’s cloud financial applications are ideally suited for firms like Analytix Solutions that offer virtual CFO services – allowing firm employees and clients to access financial information and collaborate in real-time from anywhere in the world via the Web,” said Taylor Macdonald, VP of Channels for Intacct. “We’re excited Analytix Solutions has joined the Intacct Partner Program and look forward to working with them to help mid-sized businesses move to cloud financials and improve their overall business performance.”

About Intacct
Intacct is a market and technology leader in web-based financial management and accounting applications for businesses and CPA firms. Bringing cloud computing to finance and accounting, Intacct’s award-winning applications are the preferred financial applications for AICPA business solutions. Intacct applications are used by thousands of businesses from startups to public companies and are designed to improve company performance and make finance more productive. The Intacct system includes accounting, contract management, revenue recognition, inventory, purchasing, vendor management, financial consolidation and financial reporting applications, all delivered over the Internet via cloud computing. Intacct is headquartered in San Jose, California. For more information, please visit http://www.intacct.com or call 877-437-7765.

About Analytix Solutions
Analytix Solutions is a professional services firm providing virtual accounting, bookkeeping and CFO-level services to small to mid-size companies. In addition, Analytix also offers a full range of secondary financial and IT support services including data entry, data migration, systems integration, payroll services and application development. The company is jointly owned and operated by a CPA and an IT expert with over 40 years of combined experience. Analytix Solutions was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit http://www.analytixsolutions.com.