Waypoints: Ideas and Insights to Navigate Enterprise Complexity

Planned growth starts with forming a vision and identifying the steps necessary to achieve it. But the business environment will undoubtedly change as time passes and you implement your plan. Growth plans have to be balanced against the need to maintain profitability as well as the certainty of the unexpected emergency. Once you have a solid vision for your business, you need to get key decision makers on board with managing short-term budget effects in order to realize the long-term value of solid growth. It almost sounds easy when we say it in a blog like this, but it can be the hardest part of getting a business to break through to the next level.

Few things can match the excitement of the first day of business. For many people, it’s the realization of a career-long dream to be their own boss. Even for the serial entrepreneur who has been through the process multiple times, there’s still an adrenaline rush when the website goes live and/or the doors unlock and all of the planning and preparation comes together.

Just about every business that creates a business plan will project some growth. While it’s important to set an intention around growth at the start of the year, it takes more than just a number in a forecast to successfully grow throughout the year. In many cases, it will take new money to make new money. Does your business plan account for the funding necessary to support your growth projections?

Many of us rely on lists and step-by-step instructions to get us through some of the simplest tasks in life, like grocery shopping. And yet, when it comes to something as complex as the sale or acquisition of a business, many entrepreneurs and executives are willing to “wander the aisles” aimlessly trying to figure a transaction out instead of doing the basic planning that they use to make a trip to the supermarket successful. If your business plan calls for a merger or acquisition, here’s a suggested checklist to keep your transaction on track.

I don’t know if it hit everybody this way, but when I flipped my calendar over to June and realized that the next time I turned a page half of 2017 would be gone, I was a little shocked. We’re heading into a key time of the calendar year, when executives look at the 6-month numbers and start to get a clearer picture about the forecast for the end of the year. It’s time to ask some important questions about your first-half results and your second-half projections:

The Research & Development (R&D) Credit may be one of the most misunderstood and underused incentives in the federal tax code. There are a lot of myths about the credit that cause businesses to think that it doesn’t apply to them or that, if it does apply, the value is so limited that it doesn’t deliver a significant benefit. Here’s a look at a few of the misconceptions that have cost businesses millions in missed tax credits over the years.

Raise your hand if you’re looking forward to your annual budget process this year. Obviously, I can’t see who has their hand up and who doesn’t. But I’m willing to bet that very few, if any, of you read that first line and thought, “Oh yeah, I can’t wait!” The yearly process of asking for the moon and getting back a lump of green cheese eats up a significant amount of a business’ productive time and can often have a negative impact on morale in many departments. Nevertheless, it’s unreasonable to think that any business can function effectively without an accurate forecast of the revenue and expenses expected in the months and years ahead. Many companies have turned to a more flexible and less onerous approach, the rolling forecast.

Mid-size companies today face significant challenges when it comes to finding, retaining and training qualified employees. The talent gap isn’t unique to mid-size companies, but it can have a more significant impact on businesses at this stage of growth because they must compete with larger companies to attract and keep talented employees. The talent gap can affect businesses in a number of ways, from decreased quality and customer service to lower job satisfaction among executives who find themselves buried in mundane tasks out of necessity.

Like most businesses, we’re constantly seeking to improve our services. The biggest change we’re anticipating and planning for is automation of audit and internal audit services. There is a lot of discussion about how this development will impact the profession. But we’ve noticed that very little has been written about the impact of these changes to our clients. As we develop and deploy new technology for our audit projects, how will our services and delivery to you change?

When I talked with folks here at HORNE about the topic for this post, FAQs on the new revenue recognition standards, I asked them what questions they were getting about the implementation process for the new rules. After a few conversations, it became clear that we were much more likely to come across revenue recognition issues in the course of other discussions with clients. We really haven’t been asked much about the new standard from private companies. Currently, most questions relate to infrequent transactions or the impact of new sales contracts.

Last week, President Trump released an outline of his tax plan. Many of you have probably seen or heard a few different snippets from it. While it was written very broadly, it is instructive on the administration’s thinking. It follows the House Republican “Better Way” plan in some respects but also has some major differences. 

The Institute of Internal Auditors annual Gaming & Hospitality Conference was held last week in Las Vegas, Nevada. My first trip to Vegas and first time attending the conference left me with one major impression—the casino industry is changing as quickly as a game of blackjack can go south.

In today’s business environment, market disruptions are a persistent topic of strategic planning discussions. Automation, artificial intelligence and increased connectivity will continue to drive our growth strategies, but it is crucial that organizations consider cybersecurity evolution in the strategic plans. Below are 4 evolving areas that will drive your organization’s success or peril over the next 3-5 years.