At a time when the construction industry is faced with unprecedented economic conditions, companies must do everything possible to remain profitable and maintain positive cash flows. Consider the following tips to help your clients in this industry: —By Michael J. Otis, CPA, president of Construction Accounting & Development Financing Inc.
Corporate finance & treasury management
Best of Both Worlds?
Over the past several years many companies pursued extremely aggressive growth, resulting in an accumulation of fixed assets on balance sheets. Many of these assets (especially land and buildings) have enjoyed an unprecedented appreciation in value. However, the current recession and accompanying credit crunch have caught some companies in a
Optimizing Company Cash: A Guide for Financial Professionals
by Michèle Allman-Ward and A. Peter Allman-Ward AICPA, 2007, 271 pp. Cash flows, liquidity, the banking system and other touchstones of business finance are laid out in this comprehensive and easy-to-follow guide to cash management, with copious exhibits and examples. Of particular interest to practitioners in this increasingly specialized field
Golden Business Ideas
The Right Way to Use PowerPoint Do you use PowerPoint, the Microsoft presentation software, to make sales pitches for new clients? Or do you use it, as a consultant would, to lay out in-depth analyses in an effort to convince a client or your boss to adjust complex business strategies?
Recovery of Embezzled Assets Half a World Away
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE FIRST STEP IN A FORENSIC INVESTIGATION is to gather as many details as possible about the facts of an alleged misappropriation. But CPAs need to be systematic to guard against “information overload,” which can lead to important factors being overlooked. CPAs, INVESTIGATORS AND ATTORNEYS need to develop
The Station Never Sleeps
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A TREASURY WORKSTATION INCLUDES both hardware and treasury management applications. Systems that go by that name generally allow companies to automate most of their core treasury operations seamlessly with a database and communicate directly with banks, other financial institutions and sometimes even customers and suppliers. They can typically
Features
FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE
Building a better CPA firm: Stepping up service offerings
A key step in business model modernization is determining how to implement services that satisfy clients and employees.