Most companies and brands have a good presence on social media. The challenge is to find out how to manage your company’s social media marketing best. Starting an account on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram is easy and costs nothing; the problem is how to get the best effect possible.
When I train in digital marketing, the most common problem is a lack of resources. It takes time to manage social media.
Common questions are how to get others to interact with social media posts, gain followers, and how often each channel should make posts.
Use Trendy Topic To Promote Your Business
Please take advantage of the trending words on social media and create a campaign around them. Look at Hashtagify for inspiration and to see what words you can use.
Avoid Spam
On Facebook, it is common for people to share, participate and compete. In addition to being against Facebook’s rules, it feels like spam. Follow the rules that exist – without spam.
Create Unique Posts For All Social Media
When creating individual posts for the social media you are part of, you should customize content, images, and hashtags according to current recommendations. If you have the right foot on several social media, you need to understand that all platforms work differently. Therefore, customize your posts for each forum.
Use Specific Apps
Some great apps are available tools that save you time. These tools can help you succeed better with competitions and promotions. You can also use other means to generate leads, marketing automation, and schedule your posts.
Encourage User-Generated Content (UGC)
Your followers frequently share typical user-generated photos, yet video content and reviews also receive positive engagement! It creates commitment! I encourage course participants to take pictures and share them on social media; I can then publish myself on my social media. It is often enough to comment on the original post, which means that the person gets higher visibility, but if you share the post, feel free to tag the creator in your post. Sometimes, a small price or gift may be in order.
Spread Your Brand
Social media is more than Facebook and Instagram. Find forums, groups, websites, and other places where your target audience is. Be where they are and get involved in discussions.
Be Transparent
My goal is to respond to all emails, messages, and tags. Sometimes, it takes time, but be honest – even if you have made a mistake.
Reviews
With the ability to submit reviews online, you must keep track of what others say about your brand and company. If you get a negative review, respond to it – factually. You do not want others to start talking wrong about your company in their networks. Instead, offer compensation, discounts, or something else that suits your business.
You can never win an online discussion, apologize quickly, and compensate the person.
Share Photos From Your Employees
It is trendy to publish pictures of your employees. In addition, people love seeing a business’s more personal side. We do business with people, not brands. So why not show pictures from the company’s everyday life or highlight this month’s employees?
Find Influencers
Businesses, brands, or services can be promoted by using influencers. You do not have to hire big, expensive influencers; find people relevant to your industry and talk to your target audience.
Create “Branded Content.”
Entertaining content gives good results. Several good videos have had an excellent effect. Here, too, it is about publishing content with value. What you get in return is people associate with the brand – creating commitment for a more extended period. Sure, it’s a bit bigger production, but think about what you can do based on your budget.
Publish Worth Reading Articles
Publishing articles worth reading for your target group builds credibility and generates traffic to the website. No matter your industry, you probably have a lot to write about.
If you sell cars – write about news, how to best wash the car, or how to get better paid for your vehicle.
If you sell shoes – write about trends, how to make the shoes last a long time, and why one is better.
Unique Content
Based on my tips above, think about how you can create a series of images containing these tips. You can then publish the pictures on several social media in the correct size.
Invite To Interaction
People like to be involved and helpful. The easiest way to start interactions is to ask questions. Dare to ask questions and do simple surveys and polls.
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.
The term risk management refers to identifying and evaluating risks and creating a plan to reduce and control them and reduce the effect they could have on the company. Risks can originate from various causes, such as legal liability, natural disasters, accidents, management errors, or cyber security threats. A chance involves possible loss or damage.
Enterprise Risk Management
Risk management strategies are the tactics used to deal with them and understand their possible consequences. You should include such strategies in a risk management plan, a documented process for how your company or team will identify and address risks.
Enterprise risk management is a critical part of your business strategy. It helps you avoid circumstances that could stop your business from this might prevent your company from accomplishing its goals.
Many industries must follow compliance standards for enterprise risk management. In addition, several institutions have established standards in this matter, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
For example, the financial services industry must deal with strict regulations and compliance requirements. Also, the risk is high when protecting customer data, making investment decisions, and determining credit risk.
The ISO31000 standards can be used as a risk management framework for enterprises, regardless of the sector. Risk management standards help companies to implement a consistent plan consistently.
IT Risk Management
In the case of IT, risks come from the possibility of loss or damage if a threat exploits a security vulnerability in your hardware or software systems. Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE), a publicly available list of security flaws, allow specialists in IT to inter-relate their efforts to prioritize and address these issues and improve the security of computer systems.
We develop, implement, integrate, and manage IT is changing dramatically. IT security must be part of the infrastructure and product lifecycle from the outset and built into the risk management strategy so your company can anticipate and react to events.
Using technologies like predictive analytics and automation to monitor your infrastructure is one method to reduce risk.
Operations teams can use predictive analytics to find and fix problems early before affecting their environment. Plus, because you can use it to look for unusual activity on a network and identify potential vulnerabilities, it helps you avoid security issues and unplanned downtime.
The automation ensures that the comments are rapid and effective, not to delay the product’s life cycle, and can be used to solve the problems identified.
Risk Management Process
Companies can’t avoid all risks. In addition, the consequences of these do not have to be negative. As a business, you will have to weigh potential risks against potential opportunities and establish an acceptable level of risk. You can use this knowledge to make decisions.
Risk management is prioritizing the most likely and could have the most significant impact and addressing them with risk reduction.
Risk Management Steps
Risk Identification: Identify and describe potential risks. Types of risks include financial, operational (such as supply chain), commercial, project, and market risk, among others. The identified risks must be documented in some way, for example, in a log.
Risk analysis: To determine the likelihood of their origin, analyze the risk factors, and document the possible consequences.
Risk Assessment and Assessment: Perform internal audits and risk analysis to determine the magnitude. In addition, you will need to decide what level of risk is acceptable and which ones you must address immediately.
Risk reduction: After determining the priority and importance of the risks, you can proceed with a response strategy to reduce or control them.
Risk monitoring: Risks should be constantly monitored to ensure that plans to reduce them are working or to see if anyone becomes a more significant threat.
Risk Management Approaches
The main risk management strategies include avoidance, reduction, sharing, and conservation.
Risk avoidance: Consists of stopping and avoiding any activity that may involve risk.
Risk reduction: Focuses on measures that will reduce the probability of risk or its impact.
Risk exchange is generated when a company transfers part of the risk to another company or shares it with it. An example is outsourcing production or customer service functions to a third party.
Risk preservation: This occurs when the company accepts the potential risk after assessing it. Although no action is taken to reduce risk, you could implement a contingency plan.
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.
Facing any risk, we must protect ourselves and understand that we cannot walk around with armor or inside a bubble. We should anticipate and prevent unforeseen events that would prove difficult and stress our economic future and stability.
Daily, we encounter events that put at risk our resources, our health, and even the future of our family. Similarly, there are unexpected issues we face or have a fear of happening. When these events become a reality, they first attack our financial status. That is why people prefer to have insurance benefits coverage so any unforeseen expenses will not disturb personal cash flow.
Below are different insurance coverages to research and purchase to protect your assets, yourself, and your family when facing unforeseen circumstances or damages.
Car Insurance
Typically, when we start working, we first want to buy a car for which we save or incur debt. It is also the first important asset we appreciate because of its service and the effort put forth to acquire it. However, we expose ourselves to possible theft or damage through daily use.
If theft or damage occurs, would the financial strain to replace or fix the car be insignificant, manageable, or disastrous? It is possible that if we do not have insurance to protect the car, which took so much effort to acquire, it will force us to replace or repair the vehicle using resources we do not readily have available. It is best to have car insurance in place at acquisition to avoid unnecessary expenses in the event of an emergency or loss.
Homeowner’s Insurance
Here is another example of insurance coverage. Shortly after buying our car and as we grow, the next significant purchase that we all want to make is a house. It causes us to work even harder, save more, incur more debt, or invest any income surplus. But, much like our car, our house is not exempt from a flood, fire, earthquake, or robbery.
If one of these terrible events happens, will we be upset that our capital, home, and family security disappeared without taking preventative steps? The most straightforward answer for this case will also be having a homeowner’s insurance policy that protects our property, home structure, and contents.
Disability and Life Insurance
In addition to car insurance and homeowner’s insurance, it is important to detail and discuss disability and life insurance. After a time, most people desire to start a family, so our new goal is to work hard and give them all possible comforts, meet their needs, and build a future together. Income plays an important role in the family, but what happens if future circumstances prevent you from working and earning an income?
If an accident disables you, disability insurance can financially assist you and protect your income. For example, disability insurance is vital for a medical professional who relies on his hands to work. If he is injured, this disability insurance coverage will help offset his expenses when his income is in jeopardy.
Similarly, life insurance will guarantee an insured value your family will receive if they are listed as a beneficiary if death occurs. This value could serve as an additional income or money to invest and can still guarantee future dreams and the stability of the family.
Conclusion
The cases mentioned above are only examples, but there are risks in every personal and professional activity. Fortunately, insurance is available to mitigate these risks and become a true solution to meet needs. Insurance is a factor worth the redundancy because it helps ensure our future financial stability, protects us, and gives us the peace of mind to continue living.
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.
Insurance purchase tips that save money and provide better coverage start with understanding three fundamental principles: comprehensive needs assessment, strategic comparison shopping, and smart policy customization. The most effective approach combines thorough market research with careful evaluation of your specific risks and financial capacity, creating an insurance portfolio that protects what matters without overpaying for unnecessary coverage.
As the founder of Complete Controller, I’ve spent over two decades working alongside business owners navigating complex financial decisions, including insurance strategies that can make or break their financial security. The insurance industry has grown from $969 billion in 2013 to $1.05 trillion in 2024, yet most consumers still struggle to make informed purchasing decisions. This guide provides the strategic framework you need to transform insurance buying from a confusing obligation into a powerful financial tool, potentially saving thousands while securing superior protection.
What are essential tips for smarter insurance purchases?
Smart insurance purchasing requires systematic needs assessment, comprehensive comparison shopping, and strategic coverage optimization across all policy types
Effective insurance buying involves understanding the relationship between deductibles, premiums, and total cost of ownership rather than focusing solely on monthly payments
Successful insurance strategy includes coordinating multiple policies, timing purchases strategically, and regularly reviewing coverage for continued optimization
Professional guidance through independent agents often provides superior value compared to direct purchase approaches, despite perceived cost differences
Smart consumers leverage bundling opportunities, available discounts, and policy customization options to optimize both coverage and cost-effectiveness
Understanding Your Insurance Needs Assessment Framework
A comprehensive needs assessment forms the foundation of smart insurance purchasing by identifying your actual coverage requirements before comparing policies or prices. This process evaluates current assets, income replacement needs, liability exposure, and future obligations to create a complete risk profile that guides all insurance decisions.
Most consumers approach insurance reactively, purchasing coverage only when required by lenders or after experiencing losses. This reactive approach creates coverage gaps and redundancies that waste money while leaving critical risks unprotected. Strategic assessment begins with cataloging all assets requiring protection, calculating potential liability exposure, and determining your financial capacity to absorb losses at various levels.
Risk tolerance and financial capacity analysis
Your risk tolerance directly impacts optimal insurance structure, particularly regarding deductible selection and coverage limits. Higher-net-worth individuals with substantial emergency reserves can choose higher deductibles to reduce premiums significantly, while those with limited savings need lower deductibles despite higher monthly costs.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, raising your homeowners insurance deductible from $500 to $1,000 can lower premiums by up to 25%. For higher-value homes, increasing deductibles to $10,000-$50,000 can generate even greater savings, with about half of wealthy customers choosing these higher deductibles to optimize their insurance costs.
Life stage insurance strategy planning
Insurance needs evolve dramatically across different life stages, requiring periodic strategy adjustments to maintain appropriate coverage. Young professionals typically need substantial life insurance to protect future earning capacity while maintaining minimal property coverage. Growing families require increased life insurance along with comprehensive health and disability protection.
Business owners face particularly complex insurance needs spanning personal and professional coverage requirements. The integration of business and personal insurance strategies often provides opportunities for improved coverage and cost savings through strategic policy coordination. Understanding how different coverage types interact becomes crucial for optimizing overall protection while controlling expenses.
Strategic Comparison Shopping and Market Navigation
The percentage of consumers actively shopping for insurance has reached a record high of 57% in the past year, according to J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Insurance Shopping Study, representing the highest shopping rate recorded in the study’s 19-year history. This increased shopping activity reflects growing consumer awareness that regular comparison shopping can yield substantial savings.
Effective comparison shopping extends beyond premium comparison to include coverage analysis, insurer financial strength evaluation, and claims handling reputation assessment. The timing of insurance shopping significantly impacts available options and pricing, as insurance markets fluctuate based on claim experience, regulatory changes, and competitive dynamics.
Independent agent versus direct purchase decision matrix
Digital channels now account for 47% of all insurance policy purchases compared to just 35% who buy through insurance agents, representing a dramatic shift from 32% five years ago. This trend reflects changing consumer preferences but doesn’t necessarily indicate which approach provides better value for individual situations.
Independent agents provide access to multiple insurers and comprehensive market analysis, particularly valuable for complex coverage needs or multi-policy coordination. Their expertise helps navigate policy language, identify coverage gaps, and optimize protection across multiple carriers. Direct purchase eliminates agent commissions and may offer lower prices for standardized coverage, but requires consumers to conduct their own research and policy analysis.
The optimal choice depends on coverage complexity, available time for research, comfort with insurance terminology, and ongoing service requirements. Business owners and high-net-worth individuals typically benefit from professional guidance, while consumers with straightforward needs may find direct purchase adequate.
Insurer’s financial strength and reputation evaluation
Insurer selection requires evaluating financial strength ratings from agencies like A.M. Best, Moody’s, and Standard & Poor’s alongside customer service reputation and claims handling track records. Strong financial ratings indicate reliable claim payment ability, while complaint ratios and settlement timeframes reveal actual customer experience quality.
Claims handling reputation often matters more than initial premium savings when losses occur. State insurance departments maintain complaint databases providing insight into insurer performance, helping consumers avoid companies with poor service records despite attractive pricing.
Coverage Optimization and Policy Customization Strategies
Modern insurance policies offer extensive customization options allowing consumers to tailor coverage while optimizing costs through strategic selection of limits, deductibles, and optional coverages. Understanding available options enables coverage design that provides optimal protection at reasonable costs rather than accepting standard packages.
Deductible strategy represents one of the most impactful customization decisions. The optimal deductible balances premium savings against out-of-pocket exposure based on individual financial capacity and loss frequency expectations. Higher deductibles generate substantial premium savings but require adequate emergency reserves to handle potential claims comfortably.
Policy bundling and multi-line optimization
Insurance bundling can generate significant savings while simplifying policy management and improving coverage coordination. However, bundling benefits vary dramatically among insurers, requiring careful comparison of bundled pricing against separate policy costs to verify actual savings rather than assuming bundled options provide better value.
Enhanced coverage options often available with bundled policies
Timing bundling during renewal periods maximizes flexibility
Regular comparison shopping verifies continued bundling value
Effective bundling strategy considers coverage coordination benefits alongside cost savings. Multiple policies with single insurers provide streamlined claims handling when losses affect multiple coverage types, such as storm damage impacting both home and auto coverage simultaneously.
Understanding policy terms and coverage limitations
Policy language interpretation skills prevent coverage gaps resulting from misunderstood terms rather than inadequate limits. Key policy sections including definitions, covered perils, exclusions, and conditions require careful review to understand actual protection provided versus assumed coverage.
The relationship between different coverage types creates complexity requiring systematic analysis. Liability coverage, property coverage, and additional living expense coverage interact in ways that can create either comprehensive protection or dangerous gaps depending on limit selection and coordination strategies.
Advanced Insurance Strategy Implementation
A hospitality group operating seven franchised fast food locations recently worked with insurance advisors to conduct a comprehensive coverage review. The analysis revealed multiple improvement opportunities including inappropriately low deductibles, insufficient business interruption coverage, and missing cyber insurance elements. The strategic adjustments strengthened coverage while managing costs, demonstrating how professional review uncovers both savings opportunities and coverage gaps simultaneously.
Implementation of comprehensive insurance strategies requires systematic coordination across multiple policies while maintaining flexibility for future adjustments. Establishing baseline coverage addressing immediate needs creates framework for strategic timing of coverage additions based on life changes and market opportunities.
Risk management integration and proactive measures
Smart insurance purchasing integrates risk management measures that reduce both premium costs and loss exposure through safety improvements, security enhancements, and lifestyle modifications qualifying for discounts while providing intrinsic risk reduction benefits.
Technology integration offers expanding opportunities through usage-based insurance programs, smart home devices, and telematics systems. These programs require privacy consideration but can provide substantial savings for consumers willing to share data with insurers in exchange for customized pricing based on actual risk profiles.
Regular review and optimization procedures
Insurance needs change continuously due to life events, asset changes, and market evolution, requiring annual reviews evaluating coverage adequacy, premium competitiveness, and discount opportunities. Major life events trigger immediate review needs regardless of scheduled timing.
The review process includes a comprehensive market analysis verifying the continued competitiveness of current arrangements. Insurance markets change constantly, and carriers providing optimal value at initial purchase may no longer offer competitive options, making regular shopping essential for maintaining the best available coverage at reasonable costs.
Final Thoughts
Smart insurance purchasing transforms necessary protection into a strategic financial investment through systematic needs assessment, comprehensive comparison shopping, and continuous optimization. The strategies outlined provide framework for making informed decisions that protect financial security while controlling costs effectively.
Throughout my experience guiding thousands of business owners through complex financial decisions, I’ve consistently observed that informed consumers approaching insurance strategically achieve superior outcomes compared to reactive purchasers. The insurance market rewards knowledgeable consumers who understand navigation strategies with better coverage at lower costs. For personalized guidance on implementing these strategies for your specific situation, contact the experts at Complete Controller to optimize your insurance portfolio with professional support.
Frequently Asked Questions About Insurance Purchase Tips
What is the most important factor when buying insurance?
Conducting a thorough needs assessment to understand actual coverage requirements before comparing policies ensures you’re evaluating appropriate coverage levels rather than just comparing prices without context.
How often should I shop for insurance?
Conduct annual reviews of your insurance portfolio and shop competitively every 2-3 years, or immediately following major life changes such as marriage, home purchase, or significant business changes affecting risk profiles.
Is it better to buy insurance online or through an agent?
The optimal approach depends on coverage complexity and service needs—independent agents typically provide better value for complex situations requiring customization, while direct purchase may suffice for simple, standardized coverage needs.
What’s the biggest mistake people make when buying insurance?
Focusing solely on premium costs rather than evaluating total value, including coverage adequacy, insurer financial strength, claims handling reputation, and actual protection provided, creates a false economy that can potentially cost thousands when claims occur.
How much can I save by bundling insurance policies?
Bundling discounts typically range from 5-25% depending on insurers and combined policies, though bundling isn’t always cheaper—comparison shopping remains essential to verify actual savings versus assumed bundling benefits.
Sources
America Saves. (2024, November 9). “How to Save Money on Rising Auto Insurance Premiums.” americasaves.org/resource-center/insights/how-to-save-money-on-rising-auto-insurance-premiums/
Carrier Management. (2025, May 19). “What Consumers Think—and Who’s Shopping for Insurance.” CarrierManagement.com
Consumer Reports. (2025, August 5). “Save on Car Insurance Even If You’re a Safe Driver.” www.consumerreports.org/money/car-insurance/how-to-save-big-on-your-car-insurance-a5155263103/
Insurance Information Institute. (2025). “Understanding Insurance Deductibles.” iii.org
Insurance Journal. (2025, March 25). “A Look Back at 2024: The Year in Insurance.” InsuranceJournal.com
Maine Bureau of Insurance. (2024). “10 Things You Should Know Before Purchasing Life Insurance.” www.maine.gov/pfr/insurance/themes/insurance/pdf/consumer-guides/pdf/10thingsaboutbuyinglife_insurance.pdf
MNP. (2025, June 18). “Case study: Franchise insurance coverage review and optimization.” MNP.ca
National Association of Insurance Commissioners. (2025). “Consumer Insurance Guide.” www.naic.org
Strock Insurance. (2025, August 20). “Buying Insurance Direct vs. Indirect: Which Is Better?” www.strockinsurance.com/blog/buying-insurance-direct-vs-through-agent/
Travelers. (2022, November 14). “How to Choose Car Insurance in 4 Steps.” www.travelers.com/resources/auto/insuring/how-to-choose-car-insurance-in-4-steps
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 BrazerFounder/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.
Brittany McMillen is a seasoned Marketing Manager with a sharp eye for strategy and storytelling. With a background in digital marketing, brand development, and customer engagement, she brings a results-driven mindset to every project. Brittany specializes in crafting compelling content and optimizing user experiences that convert. When she’s not reviewing content, she’s exploring the latest marketing trends or championing small business success.
If you are considering buying a house, you are likely interested in knowing what financial institutions offer different types of mortgages. It is essential to be aware of the main characteristics of each product so you can sign a mortgage according to your needs. Signing a mortgage is perhaps one of the most critical decisions in your life, so you should be well-informed.
Below are the most critical features of mortgage products banks currently offer and information regarding repayment versus interest-only mortgages.
Repayment Mortgages vs. Interest-Only Mortgages
Often, mortgages are arranged based on repayment, called a Capital and Interest mortgage. You will be required to repay borrowed capital and the portion of the interest you accrue. At the end of the term, when all payments have been made, you have paid the actual borrowed amount and interest to purchase your house outright. Fortunately, there are mortgage term options you can select, whether you prefer it to be shorter or longer, and are dependent on your capacity for monthly payment.
People arrange some mortgages based on an interest-only basis. You must repay your monthly interest rather than the capital you have borrowed. However, you will be required to pay off the borrowed amount at the end of the mortgage term. Interest-only mortgages can be helpful because monthly payments will be lower than the amount you pay in a repayment mortgage.
Mortgages Based on Interest Rate
Mortgages at a fixed rate: The fixed-rate mortgages are those in which the interest rate does not change, and therefore, the same monthly payment is paid throughout the life of the loan. This type of mortgage is an exciting alternative that is gaining market traction. In the long term, fixed-rate mortgages may be more expensive than variable-rate mortgages. However, loans with a fixed interest rate do not have long terms, generally 20 years. Conversely, variable-rate mortgages tend to extend to 30-40 years.
Variable-rate mortgages: In a variable-rate mortgage, the monthly installments vary depending on the type of mortgage reference. One of the official reference types of the mortgage market and most used in the United States is the Euribor. In the United States, 93.6% of mortgage loans have a variable rate compared to around 7% of fixed-rate mortgages.
Mixed-rate mortgages: Mixed-rate mortgages combine variable and fixed interest rates. In these cases, a percentage of interest may vary depending on a benchmark such as Euribor, and the other would be a fixed interest rate agreed upon with the bank.
Additional Mortgage Types
Mortgages with fixed or constant rates: This type of mortgage is highly demanded and is composed of a part of the interest and another part of the requested capital. During the first years of the mortgage, the portion of interest to be paid is high, and the amortization of capital is low, reversing this situation over the years.
Mortgages with armored installments: The monthly payment in an armored installment mortgage is always the same regardless of what happens with the interest rate. The only thing that changes is the number of terms depending on whether the interest rate increases or decreases.
Mortgages with final installment: In this case, a part of the requested capital is paid in the last installment, which is usually around 30%. If this type of mortgage is taken, bear in mind that money must be saved to cover the payment of this last installment.
Mortgages with increasing share: In this mortgage class, the quota grows a certain percentage every year, to which the variations must be added to the interest rate.
Mortgages “only interests”: this type of product is not as popular in the US, although people from abroad widely use it. In the monthly installments, no capital is amortized; only interest is paid. Once the installment period ends, the homeowner must pay the full amount of the requested capital or sell the house to cancel the debt.
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.
One of the biggest dreams of many people is getting out of the rent and buying their own home. However, this requires a lot of planning, savings, and personal budget control. It is possible to count on some applications for mobile that allow managing the revenues and the expenses of the family.
Here, we list the top spending control applications that help with monthly budget planning. Keep following the reading and find out what they are right now!
Travel guide
It is an application for iOS and Android and is also available for browsers. To use it, the user only needs to create his profile and enter the Internet banking data to synchronize all the transactions made automatically. It is worth mentioning that it is possible to register different bank accounts for the same user.
The classification of expenses by group – purchases, markets, bars, and restaurants, among others – is done automatically by the app. In addition, it allows you to create a monthly budget as a goal and track the progress of the plan drawn. You can also view a chart that tells you which categories of money spend is more significant and how much you have in the month, taking all your revenue and expenses into account. In addition to helping you control spending, this app enables you to make financial planning based on your monthly budget.
Moni
This spending-control application has a simple and intuitive interface, making it easy to use. However, it is only available for iOS.
The Moni has one of the most agile ways of recording income and expenses. However, it requires manual registration of the groups. The main screen displays a red button with a negative symbol (for expense information) and a green button with a positive sign (for revenue data). In addition, the user can add information to the postings, which helps differentiate expenses.
Finance
Finance is available for both iOS and Android. It allows the user to control expenses and revenues simply because of its intuitive interface. It displays various expense categories using icons that help illustrate the cost group to do the record more quickly. To use the app, click on the icons and register each post manually.
It even allows the visualization of a chart that points out all the revenues and expenses every month, which helps create and better control financial planning.
Finance plus
The Finance Plus was developed exclusively for users using the Windows Phone platform and is free. It allows the user to post all the postings that are credited or debited from their account. In addition, it will enable you to view a monthly summary and back up your releases to OneDrive. It works from version 7.5 of Windows Phone.
Wally +
Available for iOS and Android, Wally + is an expense control application that lets users know which categories their money is going to most. To use it, you first must register and inform the salary and date of payment.
Once this step is complete, you can begin to plan budgets – daily and monthly – and the application informs you of the evolution of spending over the weeks. In addition, it allows you to scan purchase receipts, which gives the user a digital version and does not need to accumulate paper to control each purchase.
Organize
Organize can be used on the iOS and Android platforms. The great advantage of this application is that it allows access to finance even if the device has no connection to the internet. The interface is simple and very intuitive, which makes it very easy to use.
All postings are manual. However, any user changes to the application will update with the version available to the browser.
My savings
The My Savings has versions for both iOS and Android platforms and the web. To get started with this app, you must create a profile and set up your account. It is possible to consult the balance of the bank accounts registered and register new revenues, expenses, transfers, and installments. In addition, you can make notes in the app and still make online transactions.
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.
We will discuss how to use data on the organizational level so more people can get help from data analysis.
The data hunger is excellent; nobody says no to extra information. The only issue is that organizations often don’t know how to transform data into actionable insights once they start collecting data. During our last Innovation Thursday webinar, we discovered what it takes. Get started to realize your data’s potential, which is strategically important in a data-driven world.
Not knowing the best method to read, understand, and turn data into intelligent actions can cost a business dearly. Lost opportunities, lower efficiency, productivity, quality problems, etc., make no one happy. Yet about 60% to 73% of all data within a company would go unused (Forrester).
It is a shame that the stars have never been so good for Smart Data. A recent report by McKinsey shows that 58% of organizations are exploring the possibilities of Smart Data in almost all sectors. Underlying trends such as the Internet of Things, cheap data storage, and the immense cloud computing power ensure that companies can fully utilize the added value.
When surveying those organizations about what they want to use intelligent data for, we see many different applications. Frontrunners improve current products and services, optimize business processes, and automate tasks to give employees more creative space. Businesses can create new value in almost all areas of an organization with the proper management and use of data. Value creation is not the only advantage; companies also see their revenues increase and their costs decrease simultaneously by using data better.
Where to Start? Discover the Data-Driven Platform
How do you start turning data into actionable insights? First and foremost, it is required to understand how such a process works and what it takes. We speak of a data-driven platform if all these steps are combined. During the webinar, it became clear that about 60% of the attendees were still looking for this.
In short, it is about a platform that receives data, which processes, reworks, combines, and enriches it to generate results/output ultimately. The network and its components create a picture of the significant steps your data can (but not always have to) go through. If we zoom in further, we distinguish from left to right the different ‘silos’ through which data moves. It is important to note that these are not actual silos; they often overlap or even partially overlap.
For example, we first look at data capture. From where does data come? Which existing data sources are available? Is data delivered live? Is there batch processing? What about unreliable data sources if a sensor fails, for example? In short, which qualitative data is valid?
Afterward, or simultaneously (remember: no silos), you look at the storage options. Is it about data that already contains a lot of structure (for example, users can transfer this to relational databases), or just not? Is it textual data? Video? Audio? Scannable documents? All these kinds of questions will impact how you construct your data platform. Usually, there is no wrong answer, and different data stores are combined.
The data is stored correctly and securely. And what now? Now, you can get started effectively. Many people see this as the black box of the process; it is a more than necessary step, but it remains very technical and, therefore, less susceptible. Data engineers are working with machine learning and data mining models. They pour specific business logic into formulas and models; in this way, they build an intelligent layer on top of the existing data.
The final interpretation occurs through dashboards (real-time or not) and visualizations using Microsoft Power BI reporting. Think, for example, of reports with analyses of the sales figures or cluster analyses of the customer base. You can also feed systems with these insights and automatically act based on those results.
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.
Voice search is a technology that allows users to search by voice instead of typing keywords into search engines. The best-known and most-used voice search technology is Google Voice Search, which uses the principles of Natural Language Processing (NLP) to simulate human hearing and reasoning. Also present in intelligent artificial assistants like Siri (Apple) and Cortana (Microsoft), audio technology uses human speech recognition to precisely understand what you’re saying. That is, you say what you want to search, and Google gives you an answer. Lovely, isn’t it?
Voice search further proves that the user experience (UX) should be valued. The more customers use this technology, the more adaptations you must make to digital marketing strategies to meet their demands. Before we understand how voice search impacts your communication with the user and your business results, let’s know why people prefer to search by voice.
What Are The Impacts Of Voice Search On SEO Strategies?
When thinking about voice search, we must remember that this technology changes three main factors in users’ behavior: how they search, where they search, and what they search. The keywords used in voice search have been much longer than in typing search. That’s because they bring a tone more like a real conversation. In other words, it’s a more human language and less a computer language.
Naturally, you answered the first sentence because that’s how you would say it if you were looking for information online.
Note that we bring here the verb to speak as the central point of the question. And why do we emphasize this verb in the context of internet search? Because we are facing a solid trend in the digital world, which directly impacts SEO strategies. We are talking about voice search, or voice search, as it is known internationally.
Let’s go back to the example we brought up above. It shows that users are increasingly looking for humanization in their relationship with technology (content humanization is one of the 2019 trends for digital marketing). A person is much more likely to say, “What are the 2019 trends for digital marketing?” than “2019 digital marketing trends”.
This way, research becomes complete and is not limited to head or short tails. The more you explore the semantic field in content writing, the more value your content. It includes using words from the same family or interest group and answering questions using long tails. You can rank a single page for different voice searches by doing this. A Google report says people generally look for information and nearby establishments. In a worldwide context, searches with the expression “near me now” grew around 150%. Think that if a person is on the street and wants to eat when using the voice search, he will say, “Which restaurant is closest to me?” and click on the first results that appear. Or, if a customer searches for “Where is the furniture store closest to me?” they will find results that answer their question. If you own a business establishment, it is much more efficient to be ranked by Google when working the keywords “close to me” and “close to me” in your content.
How To Improve Keyword Usage From Voice Search?
Develop keywords with more natural language, just as a person would speak. Remember that the searchers are human beings and not robots.
Since the idea is to simulate a conversation, develop longer keywords in spoken sentence format, with about five words or more.
Invest in keywords in the form of questions. If a person doubts something, it is more common for him to do a voice search with questions than to state something. At this point, consider that the words “who,” “where,” “what,” “when,” and “how” are used a lot. So, insert these words into your content essay.
What Are SEO Strategies To Optimize Content For Voice Search?
Produce content with a more human and natural voice and always clear language. If your content needs to be more detailed or technical, break it into smaller chunks so anyone quickly understands it. For your website to rank up on the Google page, in the snippet feature, produce a concise paragraph, with up to 29 words, with information on your main content. Google quickly reads site sections containing hashtags, lists, and topics. Also, be sure to include long-tail keywords in the snippet feature.
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.
The Asset Liability Management (ALM) process helps a company manage its assets and liabilities in such a way as to avoid loss due to defaulting in the repayment of liability. It allows management to monitor assets and cash flows to provide the best advantage to the company and increases the chances of the company securing future loans.
Asset Liability Management not only helps businesses with risks related to currency and liquidity but also helps maximize profit on assets, creating a surplus. Therefore, it is also called surplus management. Asset Liability Management makes its decisions by reviewing past and recent performance through financial statements using indicators to make a financial decision accordingly and in the business’s or the bank’s best interest. The funding strategy is also concerned with countering liquidity issues and increasing the rate of return.
Uses of Asset Liability Management
Gap Management: A change in the interest rate causes a gap between the assets and liability. This gap ends up creating Sensitive Rate Assets and Rate Sensitive Liabilities. You can reduce such gaps by making time bands, checking, and matching assets and liabilities after completing each time band, optimizing the earnings of the current economic cycle.
Meeting the Liquidity Needs: The primary purpose of Asset Liability Management is to make the assets available whenever needed. This method maximizes profit by allocating the assets to the department that needs it the most and where its utilization will be the most cost-effective.
Alteration: The method of alteration by the asset management tool helps the business reduce the risk imposed on the company through the balance sheet. It does not eliminate the risk but allows the company to manage and reduce it.
Banks
A banking institution deals with a massive number of transactions regularly. Such an enormous number of transactions increases its chances of having risks on the balance sheet. Therefore, banks try to find a balance to prevent themselves from risk in case of a sudden change in the interest rates. A bank must fix the interest rate on its funding; otherwise, banks will incur a significant loss if the interest rates increase higher than the charged rates. Moreover, banks are exposed to the risks related to foreign exchange rate fluctuation and currency depreciation. Therefore, banks make use of Assets Liability Management to manage such risks because they cannot be prevented but can only managed. ALM helps banks manage liquidity, risk analysis, future projection, and capital planning while mitigating risks.
Business Use
Asset Liability Management tools help the company find the best funding structure using an analysis of the company’s dynamics. Every company has a core product in which it uses some material, causing the material to be its essential material. A management tool like ALM helps the company forecast the fluctuation in the prices of the core material and make decisions accordingly. Moreover, it helps businesses make decisions by reviewing past and recent performance through financial statements, performance indicators, and consideration of company goals and interests.
Seven factors revolve around the asset liability management cycle and are necessary for smooth operational activities. They are data collection, cash flow evaluation, portfolio architecture, result monitoring, decision making, risk/revenue evaluation, and strategy development. Asset liability management refers to capital development and transformation, including gap financing, cash flow, and interest rate analysis.
Asset Liability Management and Market Environment
ALM and other modules offer a certain way to help you manage the environment market:
Instruments costs and dividends
Indexes, yield curves, and credit spread curves
Foreign exchange trading rates
Stock indexes
Interactive broker rates
Implied volatility
Bond baskets for future
Table of life for insurance instruments
Eligibility for providers
Multiple market application
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.
Financial statements, also known as annual accounts, are documents or reports that show a company’s economic and financial information in a structured manner. This information includes assets and debts, financial results obtained, income, and cash outflows.
Financial statements are essential because they present economic and financial information in a structured way, allow you to interpret and analyze this information, and make decisions that benefit the company based on that analysis.
These documents are required and used by the company’s owners, shareholders, and executives to determine assets and liabilities management, profits generation, losses suffered, and cash flow management.
Also, financial statements are required and used by people or entities external to the company, such as:
Investors: to know the profitability of the company and determine investment participation
Government entities: to know the results the company obtained and calculate taxes that must be paid
Banks and financial institutions: to determine if the company will be able to repay the loan you and decide an approval
Suppliers: to know the creditworthiness of the company and establish a working relationship or credit relationship
Balance Sheet
The balance sheet shows a company’s assets, liabilities, and equity at a given time.
The balance sheet allows you to analyze the assets and liabilities within a company, including how much was invested, where funds were invested, liabilities management, and earnings.
Statement of Income
The income statement, or profit and loss statement, income statement, or profit and loss account, shows the income, expenses, and results a company has experienced during a specific period, generally one year.
The income statement is helpful because it allows you to review income and expenses, and so you can determine income generation, growth potential, or unnecessary expenses.
Cash Flow
The cash flow statement shows the cash inflows and outflows you experienced within a given period. It allows you to examine how your company has obtained and spent income and what amount is available at the end of that period. This information lets you determine whether to buy additional merchandise or apply for credit.
Other Financial Statements
The balance sheet, the income statement, and the cash flow are the main financial statements; however, there are others that are beneficial to compile and review:
Statement of changes in equity: The statement of changes in equity, or surplus statement, shows changes in equity within a given period. These changes include variations in contributions made by the partners or shareholders of the company and changes in the use or distribution of the profits.
Statement of changes in the financial situation: The statement of changes in the financial situation, also known as the statement of movements of funds, shows the origin of funds and movement during a determined period.
Memory: Memory, or notes of financial statements, presents information that helps expand the information in the other financial statements. Memory additionally explains relevant information that could be difficult to interpret or analyze.
Types of Financial Statements
Financial statements are usually classified according to their functionality:
Projected financial statements: These are financial statements that show projected figures, that is, figures that have been predicted for a date or period in the future. They are used to project the results achieved in the future and determine if the company will be profitable.
Audited financial statements: These are financial statements whose information has been reviewed and verified by independent auditors or public accountants. They are required when a company is listed on the stock exchange.
Consolidated financial statements: These are financial statements presented by different companies or independent bodies as if they were a single entity. They are used to analyze a multinational company financially.
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.
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.
