Financial Consulting

Financial Consulting is an area that is of vital importance for the ongoing sustainability and growth of your business.  With the current volatility in the economy, we should all overhaul our finances on an individual basis and for our organizations.  This is not only for small-medium and large business but also for not-or-profit organizations.

Risk minimization is vital and encompasses not only increasing revenue and profits, but also reducing costs.  Cost reduction, budgeting, streamlining of office procedures, debt management, maximizing savings are a few strategies to consider.  For not-for-profit organizations it is best to ensure that monies are only available for a certain period of time are used most effectively during that time.  This could be by being held in interest bearing bank accounts during the life of the funding and ensuring that the funds have been t so not to have to return any residual monies at the end of the term and  thus affect future funding opportunities.  Thankfully in recent years there has been a tightening of accountability for both board members and management of all organisations.  Even voluntary committee members of not-for-profit organizations have responsibilities to ensure the ongoing financial viability of going concerns.  These will differ according to the country and perhaps even the state you live in.

Management is vastly different to  governance and this also is being highlighted more often and can reduce internal disputes in both profit and not-for-profit organisations.   Managers can be seen to be the ones responsible however at the end of the day they can resign and move on where it is the board members who have an ongoing responsibility even beyond their tenure.  This is of course, as long as the manager, did not act improperly or illegally!

Risk factors seem magnified for small business and organizations in the not-for-profit sector.  Many times the business has grown so fast or over a few years and no-one has had the skills, knowledge, experience or interest to develop the infrastructure.  Fortunately funding agencies have become more aware of this over recent years and so accountability is much higher and funding also partly relies on responsible administering of past funding.  For further information for either profit or not-for-profit go to the Resources page.