Investors calculate the acid test ratio, also known as the quick ratio or the pounce ratio. This ratio excludes inventory and prepaid expenses, which the current ratio includes, and it limits assets to cash and items that the business can quickly convert to cash. This limited category of assets is known as quick or liquid assets. The acid-text ratio is calculated by dividing the liquid assets by the total current liabilities.

This ratio is also known as the pounce ratio to emphasize that you’re calculating for a worst-case scenario, where the business’s creditors could pounce on the business and demand quick payment of the business’s liabilities. Short term creditors do not have the right to demand immediate payment, except in unusual circumstances. This ratio is a conservative way to look at a business’s capability to pay its short-term liabilities.

One factor that affects the bottom-line profitability of a business is whether it uses debt to its advantage. A business may realize a financial leverage gain, meaning it earns more profit on the money it has borrowed than the interest paid for the use of the borrowed money. A good part of a business’s net income for the year may be due to financial leverage. The ROA ratio is determined by dividing the earnings before interest and income tax (EBIT) by the net operating assets.

An investor compares the ROA with the interest rate at which the corporation borrowed money. If a business’s ROA is 14 percent and the interest rate on its debt is 8 percent, the business’s net gain on its capital is 6 percent more than what it’s paying in interest.

ROA is a useful ratio for interpreting profit performance, aside from determining financial gain or loss. ROA is called a capital utilization test that measures how profit before interest and income tax was earned on the total capital employed by the business.

To find out more about the Acid and ROA ratios in your businesses accounting, financial audits and audit procedures, particularly in respect to working with the Oracle | NetSuite ERP cloud-based software suite, please contact the Seibert Consulting Group at 760-205-5251 or email the SCG team at hello@seibertconsulting.com.

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When people think of accountants, government accountants are not the first type of accountants that come to mind. However, government accountants play an important role in the accounting industry. Government accountants have many duties and functions that serve different purposes. These different functions of government accountants not only help the government, but also protect the public at the same time. Government accountants work hard to make sure that businesses operate honestly and ethically. Government accountants also make sure that the citizens within that government are fulfilling their tax obligations. Here is a overview regarding how government accountants operate.

With businesses, government accountants make sure that a businesses stays completely honest to its investors and to the public. Government accountants do this in more then one way. The first way government accountants oversee businesses, is to cross reference their records to make sure that all of the businesses accountants have reported the businesses finances accurately. This is important, especially for publicly traded companies, because these records can be viewed by the public or by private investors. If the information is not recorded accurately, or if a government accountant sees something that is not right with the business records, then government accountants can report it and take action. Government accountants also make sure that businesses pay their taxes on time and do not cheat the government with tax evasion. This role of the government accountants keeps businesses honest with their records and also ensures that the businesses are paying their taxes to the federal government as they should be.

Government accountants also play important roles with the public. This role not only includes that the citizens of that government pays their taxes on time, but also prohibits illegal methods for obtaining money. This is a very important aspect of government accountants, because like a business, they have the ability to check your financial records to make sure that you are also fulfilling your obligation to paying your taxes as well as making your money legally. This helps the government fight against illegal income methods and encourages its citizens to provide a income from a acceptable way in that society. Because of government accountants constantly monitoring the public, government accountants can identify suspicious activities form individuals and report it. This helps fight against criminal activities. This service from government accountants also helps the government obtain as much money as possible from its citizens with such things as taxes, which helps the government function.

Government accountants play a very important role with businesses, the government and the public alike. Without government accountants in place, there would be no financial monitors for the government, resulting in governments facing many problems. Government accountants also play a vital role to ensure the protection of the the governments and public’s best interest. There is no dispute that without government accountants, there would only be disastrous results. Government accountants help ensure the financial balance and honest financial reporting within a government. This is why a governments accountants role is so important and why it holds a great deal of value to the government.

To find out more about government accountants, financial audits and audit procedures for government agencies and working with U.S. Government specifications for financial management and accountancy standards, particularly in respect to working with the Oracle | NetSuite ERP cloud-based software suite, please contact the Seibert Consulting Group at 760-205-5251 or email the SCG team at hello@seibertconsulting.com.

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But first, let’s assess the reasons why this financial close is not an exciting task anymore.

If your company uses NetSuite products, then the accounting process will be much easier and faster. However, there is only a limited number of things that NetSuite can handle. The rest, such as recording and tracking of the workflow, are beyond the reach of NetSuite. To make matters worse, communication between your company and NetSuite is broken only, resulting in the lack of openness and uglier process of recording of information.

Your company may most certainly not notice this problem because it lingers and becomes a regular occurrence. The outcome is that information available at the end of the month is scanty.

Another reason why financial close is less impressive is that the sharing of files over the local drive has been disorderly. Also, no procedure is recorded. Further, the fast-paced environment of the workplace has led to no one minding about the information.

The result has been a change of perception of the accountants. For them, the close refers to long hours of working to put everything in order. Most report that the closing process brings them more stress, with a third of this population saying that it also impacts their intimate relationships.

So what can your company do to alleviate the stress of its financial management employees, corporate controllers, and CFOs?

What to Do To Alleviate Stress

The monthly closing has had some bad effects on the employees, which most certainly calls for eliminating the process and adopting these five month-end closing hacks on NetSuite:

1. Your Collaborative Financial Close Checklist

The Financial Close Checklist monitors the roles and performances of employees, making them aware of the impact of their position on the company’s overall goal. For example, each individual will be aware of what they need to do. On the other side, leaders will have an idea of the possible limitations to goals set for employees.

At first, you may think your company could have gotten all the above from NetSuite’s End Close Checklist, but it is a misbelief, and any NetSuite Admin or IT guy needs to do some digging. For example, think of the NetSuite OOTB Checklist as a 30,000-foot view allowing you to select a box next to AP. It is obvious to most accountants because checking the box means that every other task has to be completed.

Excel and Google Docs could easily track sign-offs and tasks, but this process would be challenging for a new team.  Noteworthy, Seibert Consulting Group has NetSuite capabilities that could easily service the other accounting teams in the mid-market.

For example, Stack Overflow saw the potential in the checklist. The training and networking company used the structure of this collaborative checklist to create a better close list considering they previously used a soft-close system that was quite skeletal. Their new close list had timelines, controls, clearly defined processes that smoothed the closing process, cutting the monthly by twelve days. Previously, they closed after 22 days, now with only ten days.

2. Create more standard folder structures and reconciliation templates

Having a standard template allows you to make the review, training, reconciliation, and auditing processes sleek. All you need to do is to paste work on a template automatically, avoiding any repetitions. Further, it is easy to access and file because your company has now developed a more organized folder design.

Therefore, your accounts department needs to pay a closer look at NetSuite’s Fixed Assets and Bank Reconciliation Module for any huge transactions that require clearance. By automation this process of reconciliation, you can reduce by half time spent on the reconciliation of large accounts.

By the way, you just read this and started asking questions such as how we automate Sub Ledgers, clear Account Matches, and other items with robust transactions, then you may find FloQast tools more helpful.

3. Examine the mix of your talent again.

Tech is taking over accounting and finance processes. Therefore, you need to shift to people that can make the most use of technology, first, by employing someone who is technology-adept. Also, watch out for employees with NetSuite or Cloud ERP and with a belief of the impact of tech in providing efficiency.

4. Adopt cloud accounting technology

Cloud platforms adoption can turn around the way your company stores data. Access to data will be more comfortable and quicker. Moreover, you don’t need to worry about the state of documents, considering they are already online and more transparent.

You can start cloud accounting technology by having a Microsoft checklist on Microsoft’s OneDrive or SharePoint. The use of a close management software solution for monitoring review notes, reconciliations, and check the listing of items like RevLocal.

There is no doubt in what NetSuite ERP can do to transform your company’s month-end close processes. It can do Accounts Payable and Receivables, bank reconciliations, and revenue recognition. However, your accounting team has to do things like tracking workflow and documentation.

There is a lot your company could benefit from a streamlined month-end close process on NetSuite ERP. For instance, if your company uses cloud accounting tech, the close process will reduce by about three days. The result is a happier corporate finance team and quicker closing of the books.

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So what is Accounts Receivable Financing? It is the selling of your accounts receivable invoices for cash versus waiting 30-60 or 90 days to be paid by your customer. Accounts Receivable Financing is also know as Factoring.

Securing the services of an Accounts Receivable Financing Company will allow a small company to bid on almost any contract within reason. A small company would know in advance that the funds needed to produce goods or provide services are available once they win the contract. In fact, some A/R Companies will advise you on which companies they will Factor Invoices from and which to avoid! (Federal Government contracts are considered “gold” however not all Factoring companies can handle Government Receivables)

One of the major concerns for most small business owners is how much does Accounts Receivable Financing cost? Between 1 to 5% generally speaking. Since Accounts Receivable Financing rates depend on the credit-worthiness of your customers, your average invoice, average payment cycle, and factoring volume, its hard to predetermine the exact cost of the money. However, you should remember, whatever the cost is: Its TAX DEDUCTIBLE and this is important. This means that the cost to factor is offset by IRS.

Not all Factoring companies are created equally (you can’t tell that by looking at their web pages). A Cash Flow Consultant or an Accounts Receivable Broker can stir you in the right direction. There are issues such as: process to acquire funding, will the Accounts Receivable Financial company (factoring) company handle your collections, will they provide the funds through a credit card or will they wire the monies into your business checking account, will the Accounts Receivable Financial company factor with recourse or without recourse? (Meaning will they take responsibility for the debt or will you the client take ultimate responsibility? The rates are different)

Sometimes an A/R Broker has a choice, but not all the time. For instances, there are not that many companies that provide Accounts Receivable Financing for health care or construction. It all depends on what type of business you have and what your needs are.

Want to learn more about Account Receivable Financing? Drop us a line and let’s talk!

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