Selling your business can be a cumbersome task. Where do you even start?
Most business owners are experienced at running a business, often very successfully. However, selling a business is usually not something most business owners have a great deal of experience with, especially if this is their first sale.
Most business owners know about valuation and exit scenarios and have heard stories from others about their experiences selling their business – both positive and negative. But there are so many terms, details, possible scenarios, and implications involved in any merger and acquisition (M&A) transaction that it’s next to impossible for most business owners to be experts in this area.
Rather than getting caught up in all sorts of lingo and potential details, it’s best to understand that any sort of M&A transaction is a nebulous process – the value of the deal is as acceptable as whatever both parties involved agree it is. Instead focus on a couple of key areas that you, as the business owner, can control.
How Boards Can Prepare for Industry Innovation & Disruption
Adopting new technology can be daunting, but innovation is critical to business survival in the age of digital disruption. A recent survey by Ernst & Young revealed insights to help boards of directors improve their companies’ approaches to adopting emerging technologies. Here, we’ve broken down the key takeaways for boards looking to expand and improve their company’s focus on innovation.
Client Spotlight-National Cardiac Inc. (NCI)
The team at TGG has been working with National Cardiac for over 2.5 years and in that time, they have had some exciting breakthroughs that will change the way cardiac health is administered across the country. We recently interviewed the CEO of the company, Steve Kenney, about their current innovations and plans for the future. Here are some excerpts from that interview:
Will AB-5 Be Overturned in the Face of Coronavirus?
As we look into the second quarter of 2020, the question that remains on many business owner’s minds is: will the rules outlined in AB-5 stand in the face of coronavirus? Concerns around the new criteria for worker classification outlined in Assembly Bill 5 were common at the start of the year, and many business owners chose to reclassify large portions of their workforce as W-2 wage earners rather than their previous classification of a 1099 independent contractor.
Managing Cash Flow: The pros and cons of alternative financing
Small and medium-sized businesses have historically had challenging relationships with traditional lenders. When these business owners are in need of more cash flow, they are the least likely to be approved.
If you’re a new business owner you’re going to find it difficult to obtain a traditional loan from a bank. In most cases, any of the following could prevent you from getting a loan:
You’ve been in business for less than two years
You have a credit score below 640
You want to borrow less than 250,000
The good news is that technology in the financial sector is revolutionizing the way lending is done and big banks are no longer the only option for SMB loans. Alternative financing in the U.S has tripled in size from 2014 ($11 billion) to 2016 ($34 billion)*:
Accounting and finance tactics to survive and thrive
This is an article of accounting and finance tactics on how to survive and thrive that our CEO, Matt Garrett shared in a webinar presentation with Vistage. You can view the recorded version of the webinar and the article here as well as on the Vistage website.
When Matt Garrett, CEO and Founder of TGG Accounting, started thinking about how he would lead his team through the COVID-19 crisis, he thought of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton whose story of survival was chronicled in the book “Endurance.”
“What got this team to survive in brutal conditions was process, routine and sense of purpose,” says Garrett. He has adopted a similar strategy, which is this is just one of the insights he shared for surviving and thriving in a recent webinar for Vistage. Here are the seven tactics for thriving that he outlined to help small and midsize businesses power through today’s health and economic crisis.
Checklist for Evaluating your CPA Relationship [infographic]
As businesses grow and change, it is necessary to re-evaluate your relationship with your Certified Public Accountant (CPA) from time-to-time and assess whether that CPA is the right match for your business.
If your business has grown significantly since you hired your CPA, now might be a good time to look at that relationship. Here are questions to ask yourself and your CPA to better judge whether you are well-served and tips on how to find the right CPA if you discover that it is time for a change.
Research.
Business Liquidity and COVID-19
Liquidity is vital to riding our crises and times of financial uncertainty.
Business liquidity during times of instability is vital to longevity and ultimately, to survival. Having liquidity allows a business to continue to meet payroll and fulfill operating costs and expenses.
Here are a few ways to look for liquidity during this time of uncertainty:
Reduce Overhead Costs
Companies like Cisco have a “Pandemic Response Plan” — Do you?
In a world that is changing more quickly than ever, businesses need a plan when things go sideways. Companies like Cisco have taken the principle of “planning ahead” seriously, ensuring that they don’t have to be worried about the effects of the Coronavirus outbreak, they can calmly implement their Pandemic Response Plan. According to the document published to their website, Cisco has “well-established processes to coordinate our efforts during outbreaks like COVID-19, including our Global Business Resiliency (GBR) and Supply Chain Incident Management (SCIM) Processes.”
Business Resiliency programs centered on surviving unprecedented crises, like the coronavirus outbreak are the exception, not the rule, especially in smaller companies. Annual reviews and “fire drills” ensure that operations do not become so reliant on existing supply chains and processes that they cannot pivot in case of a crisis. For critical business operations, larger companies conduct audits and annual exercises to make sure their resiliency plan works to mitigate disruptions.
TGG: Important Updates to the SBA Paycheck Protection Loan Program as of April 3, 2020
The SBA Paycheck Protection Loan Program has changed as of today, Friday, April 3, 2020.
Matt Garrett reviews the eligibility requirements, loan terms and fund allocations required for businesses who receive these PPP loans.
Exit Planning and Growth – What should you focus on?
You’re thinking of selling your business…now what? It can be an overwhelming process to know where to start and what buyers are going to be focusing on. Here are some pointers on where to start as you target a future exit; which revolves around planning ahead and running a financially conservative business.
Quality of Earnings Report
Historically, companies planning for an exit strategy would focus on three years of audited financial statements as the standard reporting expected by a buyer. Today, a Quality of Earnings Report is much more desirable. For either of these to be effective (or even possible) however, you need to have accurate books. With those in place your CPA can come in and give you a Quality of Earnings Report to prove beyond a doubt to a potential buyer that the financial information you are providing is correct.
Practical Ways to Structure Remote Teams in the Face of Coronavirus
As soon as the statistics, predictions and hypotheses related to the economic fallout from the Coronavirus outbreak are put in print, they change. That stated, as of March 18, 2020, we, the team at TGG, want to share what we can with our network to help you structure remote teams in the face of great change.
It has been a little more than 10 weeks since the Coronavirus outbreak began to be reported globally. In the past 3 days, the U.S. has moved from banning gatherings of 500 or more to 50 or more and now 10 or more. Over the past three days, a ban on all gatherings of 50 or more individuals has expanded to a ban on all gatherings of 10 or more people at any time. Drive-through tests are being set up around the U.S. with the ability to swab sick individuals and provide results more rapidly than the current 3-day wait. Though at this time there are few stations to be found.
Boom or Bust Part IV: 3 Ways to Assess Your Customer Base & Measure Performance
In the fourth and final part of our Boom or Bust series, we are focusing on assessing your sales metrics and customer base to measure performance. The tactics we’ve outlined below are designed to help you mitigate risk, grow your business and diversify your customer base.
7 smart financial strategies for surviving an economic crisis
This is an article of financial strategies our CEO, Matt Garrett shared with Vistage. You can view the original article on the Vistage Website.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to worsen, finance experts say the global economy is spiraling towards a recession at best. Some also warn that a depression may be right around the corner with unemployment levels we have not seen for 90 years.
“This is 100% unprecedented,” says Matt Garrett, CEO of TGG Accounting, who has spoken to more than 600 Vistage groups about finance best practices for small and midsize firms. “We’re going to lose years and years of productivity. It’s going to present a massive unemployment problem…and a massive problem for the business community at large.”
Boom or Bust Part III: 4 Ways to Retain Key Talent in a Competitive Market
In the third part of our 4-part series, we are focusing on how to retain your employees since they provide real value to your business every day. The ideas we’ve outlined below are intended to help you find ways to keep your employees fulfilled in their current positions in a tight job market.
TGG Accounting Named to Inc. Magazine’s 2019 List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies
Inc. Magazine Unveils Its Annual List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies—the Inc. 5000. For the 5th Time, TGG Accounting Appears on the Inc. 5000, Ranking No. 3756 With Three-Year Revenue Growth of 53 Percent
NEW YORK, August 14, 2019 – Inc. magazine today revealed that TGG Accounting is No. 3756 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy’s most dynamic segment—its independent small businesses. Microsoft, Dell, Domino’s Pizza, Pandora, Timberland, LinkedIn, Yelp, Zillow, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000.
Boom or Bust Part II: 5 Ways to Prepare For & Withstand a Business Downturn
In the second part of our 4-part series, we are focusing on how to prepare for and withstand a downturn in your business. The strategies below are designed to help you withstand business, industry or economic changes while increasing safety. Our recommendations are focused on proactive measures you can take to prepare your business for the future.
Boom or Bust Part I: 5 Opportunities During Times of Growth
We are beginning a 4-part series, focused on safeguarding your business to withstand economic changes; both positive and negative. We will give you tactics to consider depending on how the overall economy is directly impacting you and the performance of your business. We’ll begin our series with five opportunities to contemplate during times of growth.
In March 2019, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index increased to a historically strong level. Of the small business owners surveyed, 23% said the next 3 months was a good time to expand their businesses. If you are one of these business owners and the current market has been good for you, then here are 5 tips to help you capitalize on your success.
The Top 5 Most Important Tax Changes for Small Businesses
Tax season is officially in full swing. For those in the small business world, there are a lot of questions surrounding the recent 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and how those changes to the tax code could positively or negatively affect this year’s filings. These are some of the biggest changes seen in three decades and the overall result is a big win for small businesses. We looked at the changes and pulled out the five most important tax changes for small business owners.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Every year TGG’s Founder and CEO, Matt Garrett speaks with thousands of small business owners around the country. They ask him numerous financial and accounting questions, yet the same ones come up time and time again. These are the most frequently asked questions Matt has been asked:
Basic Business Model
At TGG, we believe in simplifying things whenever possible, especially when it comes to developing a basic business model. Accounting is complicated enough! One area where simplification helps tremendously is benchmarking. While every business has some unique characteristics, businesses within industries share many more similarities than differences with respect to how they make money and what range of profitability can be expected.
Simplifying and comparing to a Basic Business Model provides the benefit of benchmarking any business against the expected industry business performance at any given time. It can be broken down into the following five parts; Revenue, Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), Gross Profit, Sales, General and Administrative Expenses (SG&A) and Net Operating Income. The basic business model is a static equation, but the inputs change by industry, making this simplistic model extraordinarily powerful.
Infographic: Roles & Responsibilities in your Accounting Department
When it comes to accounting, a multi-layer structure is critical to provide appropriate internal controls and to produce accurate and timely financials to manage your business. Check out our infographic and click here to read our blog to learn more about each accounting level.
The Ideal Accounting Department
What should your ideal accounting department look like? It’s a common question among businesses. It’s important to know proper roles and responsibilities along with how to best structure it. When it comes to accounting, a multi-layer structure is critical to provide appropriate internal controls and to produce accurate and timely financials to manage your business.
Executing Your Plan
You have a plan that’s specific to your business. Now what? How do you execute on this big picture plan? Start by using your budget and forecast to run your business by the numbers. Running your business by the numbers also means tracking Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) and establishing a regular cadence for meetings to be able to execute your plan and measure your results.
Annual Business Planning Checklist
Annual business planning is one of the most important things that a business owner or CEO must do. It sets the strategy, the goals and determines the tactics for the following year.
Of course, there is a lot to consider in terms of where your business has been and where you are headed. It’s important to be organized and stay focused because how you plan often sets the tone for your business. Here are 7 key steps for an efficient planning process.
How to Read a Nonprofit Statement of Activities
The non-profit statement of activities reads much like an Income Statement in for-profit organizations.
Instead of breaking down the activities into Revenue, Cost of Sales, General and Administrative Expenses, and Other Income and Expenses, the non-profit statement breaks down income and expenses into three major buckets:
Program revenue and expenses
Fundraising revenue and expenses
General & Administrative expenses
How We’re Turning Small Business Accounting on Its Head
Only one in 20 small businesses has accurate financial statements.
That makes up only five percent of businesses. Almost half of all small businesses experience some kind of accounting theft at their company, which costs them an average of about $114,000 per occurrence.
The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners puts out a report annually that is a giant eye-opener for how much fraud and theft is out there. The numbers are staggering–and it’s was one of the factors that led CEO Matt Garret to found TGG Accounting. Small business accounting can help mitigate these threats.
In an interview with Stay Wealthy San Diego, Garrett shares the story behind TGG and how it’s turning traditional accounting on its head.
Plan B – Preparing for the unexpected
Contingency planning for the 1 in 100 situations that can arise may seem like catastrophic thinking, a waste of time, or farfetched, until a widespread virus disrupts supply chains the world over. Having a Plan B can be the difference between dying intestate and losing all you and a partner had worked for and having the time and space to deal with unexpected crises knowing the business is taken care of.
Guide: Is Outsourcing Right for Your Nonprofit?
Nonprofit executives must wear many hats. Not only are they responsible for fundraising to advance their organizational mission, but they may also be responsible for strategic planning, board communications, human resources, and recruiting, among other things.
More so than ever before, nonprofit leaders are under pressure to fundraise, manage operations, comply with state and federal regulatory requirements, and leverage resources cost-effectively.
The challenge of hiring and retaining talent is intensifying as the US workforce shrinks and wages increase. Most nonprofits do not have the resources to achieve all of this this in-house.
Selling Your Business? What You Need to Know Before You Start
Selling your business can be a cumbersome task. Where do you even start?
Most business owners are experienced at running a business, often very successfully. However, selling a business is usually not something most business owners have a great deal of experience with, especially if this is their first sale.
Most business owners know about valuation and exit scenarios and have heard stories from others about their experiences selling their business – both positive and negative. But there are so many terms, details, possible scenarios, and implications involved in any merger and acquisition (M&A) transaction that it’s next to impossible for most business owners to be experts in this area.
Rather than getting caught up in all sorts of lingo and potential details, it’s best to understand that any sort of M&A transaction is a nebulous process – the value of the deal is as acceptable as whatever both parties involved agree it is. Instead focus on a couple of key areas that you, as the business owner, can control.
Small Business Taxes and the Trap you Need to Avoid
There’s a small business tax trap that many owners fall prey to. The IRS requires you to make quarterly estimated payments of your tax liability. Most of us small business owners either underpay the tax rate or not even pay at all. The worst part is that, unfortunately, a lot of CPAs aren’t paying attention to this either.
So how do we plan for taxes appropriately? We need to make sure we’re not falling into this tax trap, where we get stuck and end up paying a huge chunk of our revenue at the end of the year to pay for taxes we didn’t expect.
Remember, the number one cause of business failure in this country is a lack of cash. To combat this small business tax trap what you’ve got to do is make sure you have enough cash on hand to pay your taxes. After all, they’re your number one creditor every single year.