Cash,
Also King
By Marty
Shindler
"We are profitable, but its always a struggle
to pay bills and sometimes even to meet payroll. Thats why I would
like to write a business plan to raise additional cash," explained
the owner of a mid-sized production support facility. "I read your
column about business plans, When Showing Up Is Not Enough,
and decided to call you."
"A business plan to raise cash could help expand
the company, add another location, or purchase the next generation of
equipment," I replied, "but this doesnt seem to be your
objective. Let me see your latest monthly financial statements."
"Monthly? We prepare them quarterly," he
said.
"First mistake," I said. "To effectively
manage the operation, you need monthly financial reports that should
be available less than a week after the end of the month. Let me see
this weeks receivable aging instead, and the accounts payable
aging as well."
"Our accountant prepares those when the quarterly
financial reports are done," replied the owner, now getting a bit
defensive.
"Second mistake," I replied. "Receivable
and payable aging reports should be done at least weekly. With todays
accounting software, this information can be available at any time.
You wouldnt read last months newspaper and expect to be
up to date on the news. Why should financial reports that are weeks
or months old be any different?"
Companies in this situation are not unusual. According
to a recent study published in the Journal of Accountancy (yes,
I admit to being a subscriber) one in five small business owners rate
accounting and bookkeeping as their number-one management weakness.
And the report said that this is the number-one way that owners could
improve their skills and their companys prospects.
I looked at my clients latest financial statements.
Because they were able to accurately bid and complete the work on time
and on budget, the company was profitable. And their spending habits
were not excessive.
But a review of their balance sheet proved that Accounts
Receivable and Accounts Payable were out of proportion. Furthermore,
the aging reports showed that a significant percentage of the amounts
they owed and that were owed to them were overdue.
Delving a bit further, I asked their accounting department
to prepare a report that stratified Accounts Payable data. I was looking
for how long it took an invoice to be entered into their accounting
system after it was issued by the vendor.
The results were amazing! Seventy percent of their
invoices were input more than 21 days after being issued. And the reports
also showed that more than 90% of the total dollars paid were paid on
invoices input over a month after the invoice date. This meant that
the accounting department often had to pay invoices the day they arrived
in the department, frequently at the insistence of complaining vendors.
This obviously allowed insufficient time to plan cash flow.
Making payments was always an emergency situation,
often requiring a manual check instead of one included in the weekly
computer run. Manual checks take significantly more time than computer
checks and drain important resources from more productive work.
A walk around the production department revealed part
of the problem. Many of the in-house producers and department heads
had stacks of incoming invoices sitting on their desks. Because they
were too busy to do paperwork, or simply had a sheer dislike of it,
invoices were not being approved and sent to accounting until a vendor
called to complain.
Accounts Receivable, the amounts owed from customers,
were also way out of proportion. Although the company spelled out its
bids carefully in its proposals, it failed to include adequate payment
terms. A small upfront fee may have been required to start work, but
the rest of the contract price was not due until the end of the project.
This practice had been acceptable when the company did mostly quick
projects, but as the length of the projects increased, it became a significant
cash flow problem.
Furthermore, there was little communication between
production and accounting. Sometimes weeks would pass after a project
was delivered to the customer before accounting was told to send the
final invoice. Then it frequently took several days before the billing
clerk could get the invoice out. Often it was not discovered that an
invoice should be sent to a customer until the customer requested one
in order close the books on the project. What an embarrassment! No wonder
there was always a cash crunch, even in this profitable company.
Fixing both problems would not be hard. It would only
require that the company change its mindset about accounting matters.
The staff had to have as their motto: Cash is King. Their paychecks
depended on it.
It would also require a change in the way they handled
relationships with customers and suppliers alike. Many employees would
need to assist in new program and, in some cases, change the way they
did their jobs.
We designed a comprehensive but relatively simple program.
For the Accounts Receivable:
- All proposals included benchmark dates on which payments were due.
- Accounting maintained a log of estimated payment dates for each
project and prepared invoices, subject to producer approval, several
days before the benchmark date.
- Payments over a set dollar figure were to be made via wire transfer.
- Aging reports were produced weekly and reviewed at the regular staff
meeting.
- Responsibility for monitoring the account (and for prompt follow
up) was given to each producer.
- For producers, this was no longer a part of the job "when they
got around to it," but an item that appeared on their performance
appraisal. It became every bit as important as getting the job done
on time and on budget.
For the Accounts Payable:
- Purchasing prepared a P.O. for each item, approved in advance by
each producer. A copy was sent to accounting.
- Vendors were instructed to send all invoices directly to accounting.
- Receiving documentation was sent to accounting promptly.
- If the total on the invoice was comparable to the P.O., the invoice
was entered into the system with no further involvement of the producer.
- Payment terms were reviewed with many vendors. Most agreed that
they would be willing to get payments 30 to 45 days after invoice
date if they could be confident that the company had its act together.
In a relatively short time, the plan worked. Cash crunches
were fewer and further apart. The company could now plan its cash flow
and was even able to invest short-term excess cash.
We often say that content is king, and may have come
to believe that it is the only king. But without effective cash flow to
feed the content king, all is for naught. If cash flow is a problem for
your company, consider implementing a similar program. The results could
be surprisingly positive, and you may be seen as a king (or queen) for
suggesting it.
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