The financial information company Sageworks has released
The guide includes information on identifying opportunities for cash flow improvement and leveraging technology to improve cash flow. The first chapter recommends accounting firms begin by assessing how cash flow improvement can advance the day-to-day or long-term goals of their clients’ businesses. Sageworks provides a roadmap for uncovering advisory engagements that generate extra cash for business clients by focusing on the key drivers of their cash flow. Accountants can share the ebook with clients to help demonstrate the value accountants can provide.
“A recent study found that the median small business has an average of only $7 more in daily cash inflow than it has in daily cash outflow,” Sageworks research specialist Mary Ellen Biery wrote in the introduction. “This thin line of liquidity illustrates the opportunity for businesses to take steps to improve cash flow. As cash flow improves, the owner has the ability to invest in the products, the employees or other growth drivers of the business.”
She noted the Small Business Administration has identified insufficient or delayed financing as the second most common reason for business failure.
The final chapter of the book offers an overview of technology for creating and accelerating cash flow, including smartphone-enabled credit card readers and business intelligence software. A one-page practice aid at the end gives tips on how to “avoid cash flow catastrophes.”
