Jennifer Brazer | Complete Controller

5 Reasons to Invest in Real Estate

Posted on June 30, 2021July 4, 2021 by Jennifer Brazer

When it comes to investing, there are so many options in which you can invest. When people think of investing, they think of the stock market, your company’s 401K, mutual funds, and other investment options. However, real estate investing is generally one of the safer investments, depending on how you use the investment.

Whatever reasons you decide you want to try your hand at investing, real estate should be in the mix of consideration. Here are five reasons you should invest in real estate.

Property Appreciation

Property appreciation isn’t that you appreciate that you own the property. This use of the word means the increase in the value of a property. Many purchases of property depreciate as soon as you purchase them, such as a car. A car depreciates the second you drive it off the lot because it immediately has factors attached to it that decrease the value, such as mileage and previous ownership.

Real estate is not like that. Real estate property values increase (or decrease) according to the real estate market. While it is true that there have been severe downturns in the real estate market over the years, for the most part, if you can ride these downturns out with the property you own while possibly obtaining more properties for spare change on the dollar, you can make out well during those few and far between times.

If you are investing in a property you intend to flip and sell, then a slower or bottom market would not be ideal since you might get the property for a steal but may not be able to resell it. However, buying a property to use for passive rental income, buying low, and investing enough to fix any issues, then renting it out will be ideal. You can then wait for the market to heat back up and resell it (once the lease is up) for a nice profit. Or you may choose to keep it as a rental property collecting that sweet passive income.

Cash Flow Income

Speaking of passive income and rental properties. Cash flow income is, as mentioned before, using your purchased property or even buying already established rental properties for the sole purpose of renting out space(s) for continuous passive income.

The cash flow income can be more resilient if the real estate market takes a hit or crashes. These passive income properties can even sustain you through overall economic downturns or personal financial difficulties.

Real Estate Related Income

You may be thinking we have been talking about real estate-related income this whole time, and we have. Still, this particular use of the phrase refers to revenue generated from a real estate job-related source.

Real estate-related jobs could be a real estate agent or real estate broker, which gains their income from real estate sales commissions. Another real estate-related job is property management. This job entails running a property such as a building with offices, an apartment complex, or a hotel for an owner who wants to remain hands-off and have someone else manage their investments.

While this may not seem like an investment in real estate, if you do not own the properties yourself, these real estate-related jobs are an investment in your career and future financial stability.

Ancillary Real Estate Investment Income

When most people hear real estate investing, they likely conjure up the idea of owning real estate property and either reselling for a profit or using it as a rental property as a passive income. Ancillary real estate investing is ownership of investments that generate income, such as vending machines, paid laundry facilities, ATMs, and other smaller businesses operated within more significant real estate investments.

Because these types of machines are in places that make them convenient, they can create a decent income due to the customers’ semi-captive nature. These types of real estate investments could be a great starting point for someone without a lot of capital to invest or without a lot of experience in real estate investing.

Your First Property Investments

If you have the capital for a down payment and the credit score to do it, you may want to consider purchasing your first real estate property through a mortgage loan. You can then use this property a few ways to get returns on your investment. You can make sure the mortgage loan includes money for upgrades and fix it and flip it for a profit, which will pay off the mortgage and give you a profit. Or you can use it as a rental property setting the rent to cover the monthly mortgage and yearly dues and property taxes along with padding for profit.

If you don’t have much-starting capital to invest in a property independently, there are crowdfunded investment groups. Each person in the group will invest a minimum amount, and the group will invest in a property and split the profits made through rentals or resale.

You can also look into the option of ancillary real estate options as they are often reasonably inexpensive to invest in and can gain you immediate profits from day one of placement.

Conclusion

There are many reasons you should become an investor. Using these five explanations, you should consider making one of your investment choices real estate. Though no investment guarantees, real estate can provide either a large lump sum or a stream of income through rental properties.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

5 Ways to Ensure a Small Business Loan

Posted on June 30, 2021July 4, 2021 by Jennifer Brazer

A small business start-up will seldom have all the money needed to start, operate, and sustain the business through the tough first year of business. Most small business owners will be seeking money.

While recent times have seen some other sources for raising money, such as crowdfunding, peer-to-peer funding, and instant online loans, business financial institution lending is still the most sought-after choice for small business start-ups or those small businesses who require money to grow. And lending by the Small Business Administration (SBA) is at the highest levels.

While it is recommended that small business owners use every available resource to raise funds needed to start or grow their business, they should also know what top business financial institution lenders expect to see when considering a loan to a new or growing business. Here are the five ways to ensure a small business loan.

You Must Become Credit Worthy

Before you step foot into a business financial establishment looking for a loan to start a small business, you need to take care of any adverse or inaccurate credit score problems on your credit report. You also need to solve tax issues or previous business matters that could label you a lending risk.

Anything such as tax or credit liens, garnishments, damaging financial institution transactions, or owing back taxes can all be risk red flags for a possible lender, so you must have all of these issues solved, or looking for a loan will be a waste of everyone’s time. There are many ways to overhaul negative financial issues you have gotten into, and you must use them before you secure a loan for your small business.

You Must Create a Strong Business Plan

The top business financial lenders say that a well-written and accurate business plan is vital to a positive answer to your loan request. Your business plan is a representation of your genuine understanding of how your business will function. Still, it shows you have thought out what you are getting yourself into and how to handle all the aspects required to run a successful business.

Your business plan should incorporate financial projections, marketing strategies, business administration, and processes. The business plan lets the lender see your plan for repayment through these examined and well-thought-out parts of the plan. The business plan gives the lender assurance that you can repay the loan. Without this assurance, no lender will grant you a business loan.

You Must Plan for Every Case Scenario

In the financial forecasts, lenders expect to see an explanation of at least twelve months broken down by month, including the best through worst-case scenarios. The likely lender needs to see that you will financially endure and make loan payments even if your business has a month that sees a 10, 20, or even 30% drop. Showing this amount of monthly detail will let a lender know that you have a plan to survive the inevitable downturns businesses experience.

You should do this as a monthly breakdown because knowing the good and bad times of year for your business shows you understand your business and finances. Some businesses will boom in the summer and die in the winter, and others are solid during the holidays and possibly make their year in a two or three-month period. Having this deep knowledge of your business and its financial projections month to month will give a lender great confidence and get you a positive result.

You Must Have Business History or the Equivalent Cash Equity

If you are obtaining a loan to help your business expand, you will have some business accounts. Many lenders will require two years of history in these cases. However, a lender may require the owner to have cash equity to inject into the business if you are a new business. The lender may need supplemental income to reduce the loan total, dropping the risk of non-repayment.

You Must be an Involved Owner

A lender is more likely to grant a loan to an owner with practical plans to amass accounts receivables and ensure that revenue is not tied up in bad debt expenditures. You should also show that all your cash liquidity isn’t going to be tied up in inventory but readily available to use for unforeseen business needs or to cover payments.

You should also show that you have a strong and direct marketing plan that will be carried through even when business is slow. Lenders understand that marketing is crucial to the accomplishment of a business. It has its own prominent section in every good business plan, showing that it is essential to generate customers and revenue.

Creating an Emergency Fund

Posted on June 29, 2021May 27, 2024 by Jennifer Brazer

There are many types of savings every financially responsible adult should consider. The emergency fund is perhaps the most important, even above saving for retirement. Having an emergency fund will protect you against many financial hardships. These hardships include:

Job Loss
Large, Immediate Purchases
Home and Vehicle Repairs
Emergency Travel

Here are three helpful tips when saving an emergency fund.

Use a Financial Advisor

While hiring a professional financial advisor is expensive, it is a financially wise thing to do, especially if you are not good with your finances. Many intelligent and savvy adults who are good at their jobs and have talents in other areas are not good with money. Commonly, most working adults carry a little to a far more significant amount of debt brought about by the mishandling of their money.

The cost of hiring a financial advisor will easily be defrayed by the amount of savings having a professional help you straighten out your finances will gain you. These financial experts know how to help you identify where you can make changes and create savings accounts for your future and emergencies.

Most people hesitate to use a financial advisor because of the cost but because they are embarrassed by their financial situation, and laying it open in front of a virtual stranger can be challenging. If you can put these concerns aside and understand these professionals have seen it all and know how to get you on the right financial path, you will not regret your decision.

Not only will they help you quickly establish a much-needed emergency fund, but they can also help you with every aspect of your finances, leading you to financial freedom.

The Amount of Your Emergency Fund

Most people ask how much an emergency fund should contain when contemplating one. If you are a novice at saving, the answer is that you should start small and save $1,000 as quickly as possible. These savings will easily cover minor issues such as car or home repairs or other similar problems.

Once you have the $1,000 emergency nest egg, it is time to build that savings to cover more significant issues such as job loss or medical problems that could cause longer-term income loss. Most experts will recommend this amount be equal to at least six months of your income. Doing this will ensure you are covered if there are hindrances to employment for a prolonged period.

Once you have six months of your income saved, it is suggested that you continue to build towards a year. Keep in mind that these savings are never to be touched for anything other than an emergency or financial hardship. It would be best to have additional protection to include those for specific large purchases or vacations and those specifically towards your retirement funds. But before you contribute to any of those other savings accounts, you should use all your savings efforts to build your emergency fund.

Where to Keep Your Emergency Fund

You could keep your emergency fund in several places, but you should follow some definite rules to ensure it is held in the right place(s).

Before deciding where to keep the funds that work best for you, there is one rule to follow, no matter where you choose to keep this fund. Ensure it is accessible without penalties or days of red tape to obtain. After all, it has an emergency right in the name, implying you will need it right away. However, please don’t make it so accessible that you will be tempted to use it for non-emergency purchases. Restrain yourself from “borrowing” from this fund for the non-emergency desires of your heart.

One of the safest places to keep your emergency funds while also fitting the previously described rule of thumb is in an online bank. Banks that are entirely housed and operated online make electronic transactions easy while also being an account not attached to your traditional bank account, making accessing it more tempting.

Another excellent account that will not be attached to your traditional bank account is a money market account. This type of account is not only a standalone account, but it can gain your interest while your money is sitting in reserve, waiting for an emergency. Savings accounts that earn interest are never wrong, especially when you try to build this emergency account to equal a year’s income.

Conclusion

Having an emergency fund equals peace of mind. Many people find themselves struggling in times of immediate financial need. Using these three tips, you should be able to establish a healthy and helpful emergency fund. Whether it is $1,000 or more, which is suggested, having emergency funds saved will help in times of financial need, and that peace of mind is priceless.

How to Protect Your Small Business Against Recession

Posted on June 29, 2021July 4, 2021 by Jennifer Brazer

When there are difficulties in the national economy, it can result in a recession. There are indications that the nation is about to face a major recession. Therefore, your small business must prepare to endure it.

When the country goes into recession, small businesses endure the most difficulties. While it may seem you will have to take radical measures to endure a recession, you can make small adjustments that will greatly impact making your business recession-proof.

Many small businesses will not survive a recession. However, if you take some steps to protect your business, you will ride out the recession with no issues. Here are some ways you can take steps to protect your small business against a recession.

Protect Resources Before You Need Them

When you have a small business, it is best to secure and protect financial resources before a crisis or a recession. You should ensure your business is well-established and in good standing. Banks want to work with proven and well-established businesses when a recession is looming. Therefore, financial institutions will not lend to a business that is new or has financial issues.

While your business and the economy are solid, secure financing will help you now and in the unknown future. Ideally, you should ensure you have a constant source of financial coverage, whether from loans, investments, or other sources of financial coverage.

Financial resources should be put in accounts and sheltered investments to ensure that your small business will survive if a recession hits your small business. The focus for this step should be securing financing and ensuring those funds are protected.

Automate

Automation can ensure that the financial aspects of your company are protected and accurate. It can also eliminate the need to have an accountant, bookkeeper, or staff member, saving money. While automation does a lot to streamline your accounting and financial management, it is important that there still be human interaction with the business’s finances.

Automation can also ensure that its revenue is allotted to accounts that will protect it during a recession. The main goal of automation is accuracy and the reduction of staff. The secondary goal is to ensure finances are protected during a recession or other financial crisis.

Have a Business Plan

Having a business plan can serve many purposes for a business. Whether it is a startup or a well-established business, having an updated business plan every couple of years is essential. When it comes to a recession, a business plan can help with financing and projections.

While researching the business plan’s financial section, you should also plan for downturns in the business. Your projections must cover both feast and famine when it comes to the financial aspects of the business plan.

Having this possibility of a downturn built into your business plan will also allow you to develop strategies to advance any financial issues. Every aspect of a business needs planning, but the finances focus on preparations for downturns and recessions.

While there is no way to know exactly how your business will endure a recession or financial crisis if you have some strategies in place, the chances are that even unforeseen circumstances in the economy will survive.

Every aspect of the business plan plays a part in the company’s revenue, so all aspects need a recession or downturn strategy. Marketing, supplies, and production will all take a hit if there is a recession. Therefore, you have to have strategies in place for those aspects as well.

Conclusion

While recessions don’t occur often, other things can cause a financial crisis that affects your business. If you prepare ahead and have protection and strategies in place, there is no reason your business would not survive a recession or financial crisis.

Keys to Cybersecurity Everyone Should Know

Posted on June 29, 2021July 4, 2021 by Jennifer Brazer

Securing your servers and networks and protecting your privacy from online criminals has become a demanding task these days. Hackers and scammers have been inventing new ways and coming up with sneaky plots for breaking into the company’s accounts and system for the money.

Hacking has turned into a very profitable business, and people from all across the globe have been trying their luck in this illegal profession. From SMEs to big tech conglomerates, privacy has more or less become an increasingly rare commodity, and hackers are exploiting your personal and business information, including your family and business details, email address, social security number, phone number, vendor details, and much, much more.

There’s certainly no denying that cybersecurity has become a serious issue and companies want to prevent their vital information from getting stolen. According to a study, cybercriminals will exploit any opportunity at their disposal and manipulate both business and personal identities.

Most cybercriminals steal sensitive data for money that would be acquired either through taking ransom or selling the information on the dark web for money, which accounts for 77% of total online security breaches. You may be surprised to know that only 15% of cases were reported in 2016 against cybercriminals who went on stealing others’ information for personal reasons. Here are some keys to cybersecurity everyone should know.

Social Media Apps and Cybersecurity

The growing popularity of social media and tempting social apps such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, etc., where they have brought people together and provided a playground to interact seamlessly, have also created many troubles. The internet and social media, where are a blessing, are also a curse.

They have a dark side that can hurt people’s image and reputation and damage them emotionally and physically, which is why there should not be any compromises on one’s online security. Also, people have to realize that they need to prevent shady individuals, online con artists, and cybercriminals from entering their systems and networks.

The fact is the bad guys want to steal from you no matter how they will make that possible. Once, they had to hold on to your data only when they will be in a position to manipulate you for ransom or anything else.

Giving you a reality check, never fill out your social media profile with legit or accurate information as it can lead you to real trouble. It’s better to restrict your social media activity and limit your online presence as much as possible. Or else it can pose a threat to your online security.

One thing is clear, the more information you share online–it will become easier for someone to get their hands dirty and damage your reputation. So, never provide important personal information such as contact number, email address, complete bios, and date of birth on social media platforms.

What Else Can You Do?

Online security needs are not compromised no matter what. Besides restricting your online presence on social media apps, you need to keep your system and networks safe from cyber-attacks. For that, you need to come up with a well-thought-out plan and clear-cut prevention strategy for protecting your data, bookkeeping records, personal and business details from cybercriminals.

You can create your security policy or hire an IT professional to get things right for you. Setting up strong passwords would be troublesome for cybercriminals to break into your computer or network.

Moreover, you need to be careful with software installation and keep your software, browsers, and operating systems updated. Strong anti-virus software can help prevent cyber-attacks and keep cybercriminals away from infiltrating your system. A layer or layers of firewall can a stepping stone for a greater and more robust online security, so install that very carefully.

7 Current Marketing Strategies for a Successful Business

Posted on June 28, 2021July 4, 2021 by Jennifer Brazer

Finding out how to reach and connect to the target audience can be overwhelming, so it is also a great idea to seek out brands that have been successful and examine their best marketing practices. It would help if you found brands that match yours to see how they stay true to the brand through their marketing campaigns.

The pandemic has revolutionized how businesses work. Many companies turned more towards online marketing efforts since other marketing efforts were difficult with shutdowns. Marketing online is a competitive sense. Many companies and giants were already well-established through this marketing strategy.

Newcomers to online marketing may be less experienced, making the competition uneven. The online presence is a primary factor in a successful marketing campaign when you go digital. Because of online scammers using marketing tools, potential customers may be wary of any online marketing efforts you may attempt.

Truthfully, as with any other business practice, it is best to find tried and successful methods by your established competitors. This strategy would decrease the risk of failure while simultaneously increasing the chances of success. Businesses have been struggling, and it is better to use existing trends rather than going for radical innovation and trying to bring something entirely new. Here are seven current marketing strategies for successful businesses.

Social Media Marketing

Almost all of us have social media accounts for personal use to connect with friends and family or find new connections globally. But social media can do miracles in marketing too. Social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat allow you to publish marketing content and give you options to optimize it or use paid advertising to promote the content.

Search Engines

State Counter’s Research discovered that more than 92% of all the search engine traffic generation is through Google, surpassing its main competitors, Bing and Yahoo. Both Bing and Yahoo see a fraction of the share of search engine traffic that Google experiences.

A newer search engine called DuckDuckGo has seen massive growth in the last couple of years due to its no ad and privacy-driven search approach. It hit a significant share of searches, hitting one billion in January of 2019.

Structured Data SEO

Structured information is any well-prepared and organized data that makes categorizing and crawling easier for search engines. The content developer can do this in their backend code in tables with labeled rows and columns by managing data in a well-mannered way. When done appropriately, organizes data gives a significant SEO boost in one or another. You can rank in that wanted position of zero.

Email Marketing

Many people primarily use their smartphones over any other device to do anything online. Therefore, the whole email advertising business will change. The email design needs to be mobile-friendly and must have a call-to-action button at the bottom of the email to go forward in the purchasing process.

Email marketing won’t soon fade as a digital marketing tool as it brings in a large share of new business daily. It is still one of the top marketing options though many delete marketing-based emails.

Visual Marketing

All social network platforms are concentrating on video advertisements. Future marketing strategies will be coming into existence to shop the products from videos directly.

Follow traditional content and video marketing techniques by placing your promotional advertising on a platform like YouTube. You can also do visual marketing videos on Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and TikTok.

Branding

To develop trust, you have to create a solid brand. Branding is crucial because of Google’s E-A-T model. It stands for Expertise, Authority, and Trust. Google does more than rank good content; it provides a user experience by looking at the most well-researched, updated, reliable, authoritative content on any given topic, mainly formed by the industry’s experts.

Neuro-Marketing

Neuro-marketing is one of the newest marketing trends that is taking the marketing world by storm. It may sound like a science fiction film plot. However, this technology is growing fast and will soon become a more used tool for marketers.

Neuro-marketing is a method that examines a person’s neuro system and brainwave activity to assess the kind of content they find interesting. This type of marketing could be the way of the future.

5 Steps to Preparing You and Your Employees for a Crisis

Posted on June 28, 2021July 4, 2021 by Jennifer Brazer

Many businesses face a crisis of one kind or another. The pandemic was a shared crisis affecting the entire world and highlighted how you and your employees handle a crisis. Some businesses and employees are prepared, but many are not prepared to handle a crisis.

Owning and operating a business is not just about making the business a success. It is about ensuring that your business will thrive and survive during a crisis. Crisis management needs to be the focus of every business to survive when disaster strikes.

While some businesses are prepared, many businesses are not prepared for a crisis, whether internal or external, affecting everyone. Therefore, you need to understand how to manage your employees in a crisis and help them handle it. Here are five steps to preparing you and your employees for a crisis.

Set Your Employees Up for Success

If you are an effective leader, you will consistently be focused on the success of your employees. If you do so in other aspects of the business, when crisis strikes, your employees will be prepared to handle it with grace. It would be best if you focused on removing roadblocks that will hinder your employees from handling any situation that arises.

You should be setting your employees up for success during everyday operations. You should also be setting them up for success during a crisis.

Communicate Often

Open and transparent leaders are important to your employees. The expectation is that those in leadership will be open, honest, and transparent, which fosters trust. If you have open communication with your employees, they will handle a crisis easily.

Open communication is not something that comes easily to most people. Communication is important in every relationship, whether business or personal. Therefore, open communication is key during a crisis.

Continue Professional Development

While many people obtain a job to pay the bills, many others look to create a career with a job they accept. Therefore, you must ensure professional development is focused on every employee.

Professional development should remain a focus, even in times of crisis for the business. Advancement should not be abandoned because a crisis has hit the business or the economy. If you abandon development during challenging times, your employees will work for a business that remains focused on the advancement of their employees.

This investment will also pay off in the long term when you are trying to keep your business open during difficult times. Employees will stay loyal to your business because they feel cared for during a crisis.

Have Processes in Place

How a crisis is handled is different for every person. However, as a business, you should be focused on how to handle a crisis, should one arise. If you have plans or processes to handle possible issues, your employees will know what to do and their role when disaster strikes.

The entire staff should develop the process or plan in place. This participation will promote confidence and give every employee some power to handle a crisis.

Reward a Job Well Done

While you don’t need to pat every employee on the back for every accomplishment, you should let your employees know when they have done a great job. This acknowledgment will encourage your employees and raise morale. High morale can be helpful should disaster strike. Employees with confidence will handle any crisis with that same confidence.

Conclusion

The pandemic proved to be a shared crisis that was experienced by everyone worldwide. It highlighted how you and your business handle a crisis. Many businesses suffered because employees were not able to handle the crisis. If you focus on your employees and handle a crisis, the next one that arises will be handled well by you and your employees.

Strong Business Financial Control

Posted on June 28, 2021August 21, 2025 by Jennifer Brazer

Mastering Business Financial Control for Lasting Success

Business financial control is the systematic process of monitoring, managing, and optimizing your company’s financial resources through strategic planning, real-time oversight, and data-driven decision-making to ensure sustainable growth and profitability. This comprehensive approach encompasses cash flow management, expense tracking, budgeting, risk assessment, and compliance monitoring—creating a framework that protects your business while enabling strategic growth.

As founder and CEO of Complete Controller, I’ve spent over two decades guiding thousands of businesses through financial transformations. The impact of proper financial control is dramatic—businesses with robust systems are 67% more likely to survive economic downturns and achieve 43% higher year-over-year growth rates. In this guide, I’ll share the essential components of mastering business financial control, from fundamental frameworks to advanced optimization strategies that position your business for lasting success.

What is business financial control, and how do you master it?

Business financial control integrates financial planning, monitoring, and optimization systems to ensure sustainable business growth and risk mitigation
It requires establishing clear financial objectives, implementing robust tracking systems, and creating actionable oversight processes
Success comes from combining strategic budgeting with real-time financial monitoring and automated control mechanisms
The framework includes expense management, cash flow optimization, financial reporting, and compliance oversight working harmoniously
Long-term mastery depends on continuous monitoring, regular system updates, and adaptation to changing market dynamics

Building Your Financial Control Foundation

The cornerstone of effective business financial control lies in establishing a solid foundation that supports company growth while protecting against financial risks. This foundation must be built on accurate financial data, clear processes, and systematic approaches that create visibility into every aspect of your business’s financial health.

Modern businesses require integrated financial management systems that provide real-time insights and predictive capabilities. The foundation begins with separating business and personal finances, establishing clear chart of accounts, and creating standardized processes for all financial transactions. This systematic approach ensures every dollar flowing through your business is properly tracked, categorized, and analyzed.

Establishing clear financial objectives

Setting specific, measurable financial objectives aligns your control systems with business strategy. These objectives should encompass both operational targets and strategic goals:

Revenue growth targets (monthly, quarterly, annual)
Profit margin goals for products and services
Cash flow requirements for operations and growth
Expense management parameters by category
Return on investment thresholds for new initiatives

Key performance indicators serve as measuring sticks for control effectiveness. Essential metrics include revenue growth rate, gross profit margin, net profit margin, current ratio, and debt-to-equity ratio. These KPIs provide ongoing visibility into performance and identify areas requiring attention before they become critical.

Advanced Cash Flow Analysis and Management

Cash flow management represents the lifeblood of business financial control—with 82% of business failures attributed to poor cash flow management according to U.S. Bank studies. Advanced cash flow analysis involves understanding complex relationships between operating activities, investing decisions, and financing requirements.

Effective analysis examines historical patterns, identifies seasonal fluctuations, and forecasts future requirements under various scenarios. This includes trend analysis, ratio analysis, and sensitivity analysis to understand how business decisions impact cash flow dynamics. The goal is creating predictive models that enable proactive management rather than reactive responses.

Implementing predictive cash flow modeling

Predictive modeling transforms cash management from reactive to proactive by forecasting future positions under various scenarios. These models incorporate:

Historical data analysis and pattern recognition
Market trends and economic indicators
Business growth projections and scenarios
Seasonal variations and cyclical patterns
Risk factors and contingency planning

A food manufacturer with $8 million in sales transformed their business using predictive cash flow modeling. After losing $1.7 million annually with 49 days of inventory on hand, they implemented proper controls and achieved a 250% increase in cash reserves within two years—moving from near-bankruptcy to financial stability.

Strategic Budget Control and Expense Tracking

Strategic budget control creates dynamic financial planning systems that adapt to changing conditions while maintaining fiscal discipline. According to recent data, 39% of small businesses now carry over $100,000 in debt—up from 31% in 2019—making effective budgeting strategies more critical than ever.

Zero-Based Budgeting Implementation

Zero-based budgeting requires justifying every expense from zero rather than adjusting previous budgets. This methodology forces critical evaluation of all expenditures:

Analyze each cost center independently
Evaluate alternative approaches and vendors
Prioritize investments based on expected returns
Eliminate outdated or unnecessary expenses
Redirect savings to strategic growth initiatives

Unilever implemented zero-based budgeting and saved $1.1 billion between 2016-2018. They reduced advertisements by 30%, cut agency relationships from 3,000 to 1,500, and reinvested savings into strategic growth—proving this approach works for businesses of all sizes.

Comprehensive Financial Oversight and Risk Management

Financial oversight creates surveillance and control mechanisms protecting business assets while ensuring compliance. With 34% of firms reporting challenges with debt payments, comprehensive oversight has become essential for business financial planning for success.

Risk assessment frameworks provide systematic approaches to identifying, evaluating, and mitigating financial risks:

Market risks from competitive pressures
Credit risks from customer relationships
Operational risks from process failures
Regulatory risks from compliance requirements
Technology risks from system dependencies

Financial compliance systems

Compliance systems ensure adherence to regulatory requirements while maintaining internal control standards. Essential components include:

Approval workflows for financial transactions
Segregation of duties in critical processes
Regular compliance reviews and audits
Documentation and audit trail maintenance
Training programs for financial staff

Technology-Driven Financial Solutions

Technology revolutionizes small business financial control systems by automating processes, providing real-time insights, and enabling sophisticated analysis previously impossible for smaller businesses. Cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and mobile technology create integrated platforms that improve accuracy while reducing administrative overhead.

Modern solutions integrate multiple business systems for comprehensive visibility. This eliminates data silos, reduces manual entry, and provides real-time financial reporting best practices that enable faster decision-making. Key features include:

Automated transaction categorization
Real-time financial dashboards
Predictive analytics and forecasting
Mobile access for remote monitoring
Integration with banking and payment systems

Building Long-Term Financial Resilience

Creating sustainable financial management practices requires balancing growth opportunities with risk management while building organizational capabilities. With 59% of small businesses actively pursuing financing for expansion, proper financial control becomes the differentiator between success and failure.

Sustainable growth strategies

Sustainable strategies balance aggressive objectives with prudent risk management:

Model resource requirements for growth scenarios
Identify optimal growth rates maintaining liquidity
Build emergency reserves before expansion
Monitor key metrics throughout growth phases
Adjust strategies based on performance feedback

Developing organizational capabilities involves building skills, processes, and systems that maintain control as businesses evolve. This includes ongoing investment in professional development, system upgrades, and process improvements keeping capabilities aligned with requirements.

Final Thoughts

Mastering business financial control transforms your company from reactive to proactive, from vulnerable to resilient. Throughout my career helping businesses achieve financial excellence, I’ve witnessed how proper control systems create competitive advantages that compound over time. The framework outlined here provides your roadmap—but success requires commitment to continuous improvement and adaptation.

Start implementing these strategies today. Build the financial control systems that will support your success for years to come. For expert guidance tailored to your specific business needs, visit Complete Controller where our team helps entrepreneurs like you achieve financial mastery and sustainable growth.

Frequently Asked Questions About Business Financial Control

What’s the first step in implementing business financial control?

Start by separating business and personal finances completely, then establish a clear chart of accounts and implement basic expense tracking systems before moving to more advanced control mechanisms.

How much should a small business invest in financial control systems?

Investment should scale with business size—typically 3-5% of revenue for basic systems, increasing to 7-10% for comprehensive solutions including technology, training, and professional services.

When should a business upgrade from spreadsheets to automated financial systems?

Businesses should transition when manual processes consume more than 10 hours weekly, when errors become frequent, or when real-time financial visibility becomes critical for decision-making.

What are the warning signs of inadequate financial control?

Key indicators include frequent cash flow surprises, inability to produce timely financial reports, recurring expense overruns, compliance violations, and difficulty securing financing due to poor financial documentation.

How can businesses maintain financial control during rapid growth?

Implement scalable systems early, automate routine processes, establish clear approval hierarchies, conduct monthly control reviews, and invest in financial team development before growth accelerates.

Sources

Clarify Capital. “Small Business Money Management Strategies for 2025.” Clarify Capital Blog, 23 June 2025, clarifycapital.com/blog/small-business-money-management-20
Krieger Analytics. “Cash Burn and Cash Flow Management.” K-Analytics, 22 May 2024, k-analytics.com/cashburnmanagement/
Grow America. “Understanding Current Small Business Financing Challenges and Opportunities.” 6 Dec. 2024, growamerica.org/2024/12/06/understanding-current-small-business-financing-challenges-and-opportunities
FMS Advisors. “Case Studies.” 1 Jan. 2008, fmsadvisors.com/case-studies
Criterion Global. “3 Zero Based Budgeting Examples.” 21 Oct. 2024, criterionglobal.com/3-zero-based-budgeting-examples-that-define-success-and-failure/
Complete Controller. “Efficient Business Finance Management Systems.” completecontroller.com/efficient-business-finance-management/
Complete Controller. “Mastering the Cash Conversion Cycle.” completecontroller.com/mastering-the-cash-conversion-cycle/
Complete Controller. “Small Business Bookkeeping: 9 Tips and Tricks.” completecontroller.com/small-business-bookkeeping-9-tips-and-tricks/
Investopedia. “Cash Flow Analysis.” investopedia.com/terms/c/cashflowanalysis.asp
Wikipedia. “Budgeting.” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budgeting
Small Business Administration. “Manage Your Finances.” Business Guide, sba.gov/business-guide/manage-your-business/manage-your-finances

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

Jennifer Brazer Founder/CEO

Jennifer is the author of From Cubicle to Cloud and Founder/CEO of Complete Controller, a pioneering financial services firm that helps entrepreneurs break free of traditional constraints and scale their businesses to new heights.

See Full Bio

Reviewed By:

Performance Management Theories

Posted on June 27, 2021June 28, 2021 by Jennifer Brazer

Performance management is a crucial part of human resource management, as it enables the effective use of available resources. The core benefit of using performance management is that it enables the management to mold the employee’s performances following the strategies of an organization.

These aspects can be pivotal to increasing employee engagement to increase the organizational outputs to meet customer satisfaction and improve quality. Human resource management of organizations, to increase employee motivation, uses several theories.

Motivation theory

Frederick Herzberg has introduced a motivation theory based on two factors. Therefore, the theory is also referred to as the two-factor theory. These factors are based on Motivation and Hygiene; hygiene factors are considered extrinsic motivators, and motivation factors are considered intrinsic motivators. The hygiene factors include working conditions, salary and job status, company policy and benefits, and working relationships.

Unavailability of these extrinsic factors in the workplace tends to decrease the motivation level of employees, which can adversely affect their performance. The main reason behind this aspect is that these factors are considered the essential elements in any workplace and organization. However, where these elements are focused more, organizations can grow rapidly due to the enhanced motivational level of employees, which will ultimately result in an increased level of performance.

Although these factors cannot affect and increase employees’ dissatisfaction, they are responsible for affecting the performance level of employees within the workplace. However, motivation factors are intrinsic motivators, and these factors include recognition, achievements, the level of responsibility, and the need for personal growth.

These factors can be pivotal to increase the satisfaction level, and a decrease in these factors would increase the dissatisfaction in employees, which will ultimately affect and change the performance level of employees. However, these changes can be positive or negative as well. This aspect can be presumed by using the concepts of incentive programs used by the organizations, particularly by human resource management, to enhance the organization-wide performance.

Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning determines that several rewards and punishments can change employees’ behavior and help them learn new behaviors, meet and increase the performance level of employees.

The theory is based on two concepts of reinforcement and punishment, whereas both can be negative and positive. The management reinforces the positive behaviors of employees by using positive and negative reinforcement. In positive reinforcement, employees tend to provide incentives and rewards.

Rewards or incentive systems are used as a mechanism to control the activities, and this concept has gained widespread attention by the management to surge the employee’s performance level. The incentives provided by the organization can be based on increased salary, bonuses, share in company’s profit, Privilege Rewards, as well as upward promotion in an organization, which can also increase the benefits provided to the employees.

These benefits can attract the employees to increase their performance and efficiency and provide them with the desired behavior. Negative reinforcement tends to remove the unfavorable stimuli after the display of behavior. The management reinforces the behavior. Rewards are paid to employees to increase their performance, but management withdraws these rewards in several cases.

Furthermore, punishments are provided to the employees to omit their unsatisfactory behavior. Positive punishment is used when employees show certain undesirable behavior. These punishments can be used to enhance the daily-based performance level. Punishments are provided in terms of penalties to withdraw the negative behavior of employees.

Negative punishment is based on removing an element to reduce the chances of occurrence of certain undesired behavior. For example, downward promotion and withdrawal of certain rewards and benefits can negatively reinforce the behavior.

Furthermore, they can play an essential role in increasing the motivation level and increasing the employees’ performance level. However, some researchers suggest that using negative reinforcement techniques can negatively affect employee satisfaction and self-esteem.

Certain controversies surround the use of punishment and its role in increasing the effectiveness and controlling human behavior. The author considered this approach the traditional method, which was not accepted in today’s society, as a means of control.

This technique can be essential to achieve positive results only on a short-term basis. Human resource management can use this practice to form a competition-based motivation, which can play an essential role in compiling employees to increase their performance.

The performance level of employees can influence the output quality, as it is crucial to improving the performance. Management and administration use reinforcement techniques to enhance the efficiency of employees across various divisions and units in organizations. One of the most influential practices of Performance Management is training and development programs, which can be pivotal to increasing employees’ efficiency level.

Quality management and Performance Management

Along with incentive programs and proper performance management, employee motivation can be enhanced, but firms can also bring innovation in their operations. In addition, the satisfaction level of employees enhances their engagement and interest in their working activities, which can play an incremental role in increasing employee efficiency.

The efficiency level of employees can be pivotal to bringing innovation in employees’ activities, which can increase the innovation in organizational operations. Authors, to enhance the quality, have introduced several theories.

Deming theory is crucial to enhance the quality by using 14 points illustrated in theory. The theory suggests that organizations have used this system to evaluate the needs of quality improvements while keeping in mind certain quality standards.

Quality standards must comply with customer expectations related to quality, as it can increment the customer satisfaction level. However, gaps in quality standards and customer expectations related to can affect their satisfaction level adversely. This aspect can also affect the company’s profitability as well as productivity in the market.

Deming 14 points can play an incremental role in increasing customer satisfaction while exploring their quality needs. Furthermore, the theory also provides a process based on four principles to identify, maintain, and implement the quality needs within a continuous process.

The process is based on four principles, which include plan, do, act, and check. The process can play a pivotal role in planning and working on the quality needs and then consistently checking and improving the quality. Quality can be based on providing quality products and services, but high-level operational quality is also required to achieve a competitive advantage in the industry.

Keys to Deal with Financial Risk

Posted on June 27, 2021June 28, 2021 by Jennifer Brazer

All companies and entrepreneurs want to achieve success. They have dedicated hours of effort and work, their money, and their future with the goal of generating a profit. However, in many cases, entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs forget that profitability is linked to another term: risk.

Financial risk is defined as the uncertainty that accompanies any investment in which it may not be profitable. Unprofitability may result from the poor reception of the product or service by consumers, by a change in the sector, or by the instability of financial markets.

Risk is a constant analysis equation; what varies is the percentage. In stock markets, investors have an indicator, “β,” that measures the systematic risk that a company can experience based on elements, including the type of business or the industrial or financial sector.

Companies with high risks suffer very sudden movements in their prices. The low values correspond to companies that are already consolidated and whose stock market oscillations are weaker.

There are different types of risk within the stock market:

Systematic Risk or Market Risk: refers to the possibility of changes in rates, oil prices, new government regulations, or changes in currency values.

Specific Risk: is that which affects only one sector or one company. It can be caused by poor financial management of the company, due to the appearance of a technological advance that destroys the need of the previous product, or by the failed expansion of a business to a foreign country.

However, there are other types of risk:

Credit Risk: is present when one of the parties to a financial contract does not comply with established obligations. For example, a bankrupt distributor; a customer paying in installments does not meet the quotas. These are risks that every entrepreneur must account for and evaluate.

Liquidity Risk: occurs when one of the parties to a financial contract has assets but does not have sufficient liquidity to assume the agreed obligations.

Operational Risk: is associated with poor management and company operations.

Economic Risk: covers the loss of competitive advantage in a market.

Legal Risk: occurs when a contracting party breaks the agreement or violates intellectual property rights.

Once you understand what a risk is and its various forms, the question then become: how do I avoid it?

When a project, business, or investment is being developed, you must be mindful that the risk consists of three parts. If each of them is thoroughly analyzed in the context of your business, then risk can be reduced:

The cost and availability of investment capital: what capital do I have? What capital will I have during the realization process of the business or the investment, and how much backup capital is available?
Ability to satisfy cash needs: plan the fixed and variable costs that you face and consider possible eventualities. To meet any of these types of expenses, capital must be available.
The possibility of increasing capital: At what point in my process will my capital start to increase? Through what resources will I obtain income?

Having analyzed each of the parts that make up the financial risk reduces the chances of occurrence. However, there are additional factors to consider relating to risk:

Information: is another way to reduce risk is to evaluate profitability and future forecasts. The more information you have at your disposal, the less likely you will make decisions based on impulse.

Diversify: and invest in different projects with joint risk and those that offer safer future projections; both will be compensated.

The Savings or Plan B: is having extra capital for emergencies will reduce risk and allow you to act with greater freedom.

Derivative Contracts: are contracts whose value is subject to another principal asset known as the underlying asset. Underlying products typically include oil, metals, or financial assets.

Future Contracts: are purchase agreements in which the asset, the price, the quantity, and the date in which the transaction will be made are established. Both buyer and seller accept the obligations subject to market expectations that each one perceives. This type of contract generates stability since prices are pre-established and fixed despite movements in the stock market.

Risk is inevitable; however, the best strategy is to make decisions based on extensive research that informs us of our possibilities, costs, and benefits.