Larry Cheng’s Post

Finding the balance between difficult but achievable goals is key.

The trap is having to deliver on priorities with fewer resources — even when business is good. As the traditional “budget season” begins, finance leaders should consider these tips. 

On a performance basis, BottomLine Advantage increases both cash flow and profits by eliminating profit leaks hidden within the operating budgets of companies with $100+ million of annual revenue. The 19 reasons there are profit leaks hidden in your operating budget: During initial conversations with companies, they would ask us how and why hidden profit leaks form in their operating budget. After answering that question numerous times, it became clear it was not a quick and simple answer. The answer has multiple reasons (turns out there are 19) and the list is too long to memorize during a conversation. So, I outlined the 19 reasons in a white paper and will share them, one at a time, over the next few months. Here’s the first reason: Your Company Has Been Growing Rapidly – From our experience working with companies that are growing rapidly, their main focus is expanding their customer base while enhancing their core competency product or service. Operating budgets are being squeezed by demands in all areas of their business. Capital is leveraged as efficiently as possible to accomplish the goal of adding customers while simultaneously building the necessary infrastructure to support growth. Typically, there are few or no resources available to manage infrastructure and attention is focused on “holding everything together” while hitting revenue and customer acquisition targets. The thought is, “Someday we’ll have time to go back and analyze what’s been set up to get us to this point.” Some companies do get around to reviewing their infrastructure or indirect costs once they’re able to adjust to their growth. Many, however, never do. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” is the mantra as resources continue to be focused on customer acquisition and/or company acquisition. The infrastructure that’s been built serves its function, yet rarely is it as cost effective as it can be. To accomplish those metrics, careful analysis by experienced spend/expense category experts is needed to spot and repair operating inefficiencies. As we go down the list, we’ll be reviewing 18 additional indicators that your organization has 6 to 7 figures of lost profit recapture potential.

The recent Budget had big implications for business owners, particularly for those looking to sell in the near future. We unpack some of the key decisions business owners may want to consider in light of these changes—whether you're contemplating an exit or looking to double down on growth 👇 https://lnkd.in/ehZSwsMf #BusinessPlanning #Budget

As we think through the 2025 TA Budget. Do so through the eyes of the CFO. They control the purse strings and it has rarely been this critical to get the forecasts and budgets right. https://lnkd.in/ewAez5cN

The recent Budget introduces pivotal opportunities for business owners, especially those planning to sell in the near future. Our expert insights uncover the key strategies you need to know to navigate these changes—whether you're preparing for a successful exit or positioning your business for accelerated growth: https://lnkd.in/exJGS2cN #BusinessPlanning #Budget #businessowners

Follow these 5 tips to create a strong budget:

I have this beautiful budget, but does it actually tell me when I'm going to run out of cash? If not, what is it worth? 😡 While the budget is your plan for sales and profits, cash flow is a very important derivative. More sales can result in more cash. But it can also result in less cash. It all depends on your business. But threading the needle and planning for the both the gross revenue and its timing will help you anticipate when you should be getting cash in the door. Same for the cost of goods. Are you buying materials and paying when it ships, having a clear handle on when your revenue will materialize will tell you both when you need the good and when you'll have to pay for them. Have a question about how your cash ties into your budget or forecast? DM us. -- Imperial Advisory CFOs is a team of veteran CFOs with 30+ years of experience. We help CEOs and CFOs get back to what they want to be doing.

Are you still giving your team and yourself a license to spend or are you using a forecast to build a roadmap to making money? We breakdown forecasts vs. budgets in our newest blog.

The recent Budget had major implications for business owners looking to exit in the near future, but it’s not all bad news, and it could be the ideal time to focus on growth. Read more here: #BusinessOwner #Budget #BusinessGrowth