Business owners and executives
The key services we offer businesses are to prevent or discover fraud—e.g., embezzlement or employee theft.
As you'll see by scrolling down this page, we offer many other valuable services to business owners and executives.
When the numbers don’t add up
When we’re called in by business owners, it’s usually because they have specific concerns: “I don’t understand why profits aren’t higher.” Or they may be suspicious: “Is it possible that my business partner has been stealing money from our company?”
First, we often perform a quick overview of a company’s books and records. If we find any clues as to the causes of the drop in company profits or cash balances, we may then suggest a more thorough, yet cost-effective, financial investigation.
Case study: How can we be losing money?
In one case, I was hired by a manufacturer of baked goods who delivers bread, cakes, pies, and many types of pastries to dozens of Long Island restaurants. The owner called me because according to his figures, he produced 42 different types of products, and all were profitable. However, the books showed that he was losing money.
After going over all of his financial documents, and asking him a number of additional questions, it soon became apparent that theft was likely. I suggested to the owner that he park his car diagonally across the street from his company’s delivery bay early in the morning on the day the plant was closed. I also suggested that he bring a camera. Sure enough, at 6:30 a.m., the owner watched a van pull up to the back of his plant. He photographed one of his employees and several other men loading boxes of cannoli shells into the van.
To eliminate any possible “explanation” the employee might have for why he’d taken the cannoli shells, the owner did the same thing the following week. Once he had two weeks worth of photographs, he went to the police.
Planning the sale of a business
Another service we offer is guidance to the business owner who anticipates selling his or her company within the next ten years. We do what we call a “Profit enhancement consulting engagement,” (see one interesting example, below) which is designed to determine how to maximize the annual profits and cash increases for each of the next several years--before the business is put up for sale.
If, for example, you’re a business owner and you plan to sell your business, say, 5 or maybe 7 years from now, you might benefit substantially from a baseline valuation. This is not unlike the baseline EKG that your physician may suggest. The idea is to value the business while it's financially healthy, and every few years afterwards. This will help the business stay on track to keep increasing profits in anticipation of selling the company.
Other cases in which business valuation is helpful:
Having a business valuation can be invaluable in a number of situations. Some are predictable, others aren’t. That's one reason why planning ahead is always a good idea:
- Divorce
- Death
- Estate and gift planning
- Shareholders’ disputes
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Bankruptcy
Profit enhancement consulting
This type of work can be done by a creative accountant. It’s also the type of service we’ve performed for--among other clients--the CEO of a $20 million company with about 100 employees.
This was a particularly interesting consulting assignment. The CEO wanted to determine the potential financial return on: 1) subsidizing employees’ fitness club memberships; 2) having an on-site fitness center; and 3) building a complete health center.
We were able to attach numbers to such goals as:
- Reducing employee turnover
- Cutting absenteeism
- Minimizing injuries on and off the job
- Reducing health care premiums; and
- Improving employee wellness and morale
