2016 has flown by and we are already in the fourth quarter! As we wrap up the year in just over a month, strategic planning for 2017 is happening in businesses across the world. As the person responsible for the bottom line, your job as a financial leader is quite simply to improve profits and cash flow.
By publishing overly-optimistic projections, your company could be at risk for internal financial problems, misleading investors, miscalculating inventory and staff, and more. As we reach the halfway point in the year, it’s time to revisit whether your company has realistic or optimistic projections. Are your sales projections still on target? Now is a good time
One common perception is if most sales projections fail, why do it? As you probably know, sales forecasts are used to predict a certain amount of revenue over a given period of time. Whether this is based on a gut feeling or on historical data, the worst thing you can do is over-promise and/or under-deliver. [box]Remember:
Whether times are good or bad, one task that companies still must undertake is projecting revenue. The tougher the times, the more important these forecasts become. When projecting revenue, it’s important to remember that your customer base is likely worldwide. Consequently, you must consider what type of economy your customer is operating in to accurately
During the Vietnam War era, the military coined the term SWAG – Scientific Wild-Ass Guess. CBS released “The Uncounted Enemy: a Vietnam Deception” in 1982 which highlighted the US Army and their “manipulation” of facts and figures during the Vietnam conflict. CBS claimed that General William Westmoreland and other military officers were conspiring to misrepresent information, resulting in
Do you need to take an umbrella to work today? Without a trusty weather app or friendly meteorologist, it would be difficult to know the answer. Fortunately, you probably have one of these tools to help you make an informed decision. The CFO/Controller is the meteorologist for the business. It’s your job to help the company decide when, and if,
Ready or not, it’s time to start the process of preparing your 2016 forecast. While it may seem a bit premature, a walk down the aisle of your favorite home improvement store to check out their (already) prominently featured holiday displays tells the story. Some of this can definitely be attributed to overzealousness to capture the consumer’s holiday
Historically, CFOs have relied upon traditional financial statements to guide their decision-making. Today, the prevalence of more sophisticated accounting systems and the demand for more information more quickly has given rise to the need for different kinds of reporting. Here’s a list of 5 tools that can help give you manage cash, identify areas for improvement, and
In today’s fast-paced business world, most companies use some sort of dashboard or flash report to monitor and improve productivity and other key performance indicators. Despite their wide use, many are still confused on what exactly should be measured and what constitutes a key performance indicator. Using Flash Reports to Improve Productivity What often happens is
Effectively managing cash flow is an issue that all businesses face, whether they have plenty of cash or are experiencing a cash crunch. Cash is the lifeblood that fuels current operations and allows for growth, so developing a strategy to manage this most important asset is key. Effectively Managing Cash Flow So how do you
See Also: ProForma Financial Statements Cost Center Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) Standard Costing System Activity Based Costing vs Traditional Costing Percent-of-Sales Method The percent-of-sales method is a technique for forecasting financial data. When forecasting financial data for strategic planning, budgeting, or for developing pro forma financial statements, analysts can use the percent-of-sales method
See Also: Future Value Adjusted Present Value (APV) Net Present Value Method Investment Analysis Discount Rate Present Value (PV) Definition The present value is simply the value of future dollars or currency in present day terms. The present value is simply answering the question how much a dollar in the future is worth today. Present
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