While a clean set of books is a key objective for every accountant, it’s also important to match the accounting records with the monthly bank statements. Our bank reconciliation services ensure that every deposit and withdrawal aligns with entries into your accounting records. This assessment enables us to identify lost deposits, lost checks, unauthorized transactions, and inappropriate bank fees. It triggers investigation into any fraudulent activity (identity theft, forgery, embezzlement, etc.), and expedites restitution. And it gives you a clearer picture of your cash position for addressing planned outlays and investments.

We can prepare a complete set of financial statements to help you assess the health of your business. This package includes:

• A Balance Sheet that gives you a snapshot of your overall financial condition at month, quarter, and/or year end

• An Income Statement (a.k.a. Profit and Loss Statement) that summarizes revenues, expenses, and net profits so you can assess the operating performance of your business

• A Comparison of Actual Performance to Budget so you can identify trouble spots in your revenue stream or spending patterns

• A Cash Flow Statement that shows how changes in your Balance Sheet and Income Statement affect your available cash

• Estimated tax liabilities

Our analysis of your financial statements helps you frame strategic initiatives (e.g., business expansion, acquisition) as well as tactical plans (e.g., accounts receivable and accounts payable management). Professionally prepared financial statements are also an essential resource when dealing with creditors (e.g., vendors, banks) and investors.

When you use our professional accounting services, you get more than a collection of records and reports. You get the benefit of our skills, experience, and expertise. We’re happy to invest the time to make sure that you understand and utilize all of the information we provide. Call us whenever you have a question or concern.

Although Rand.cpa does not provide payroll services directly, we can help you find a company that specializes in this very complex accounting function.

There are 5 good reasons for outsourcing this function:

• You will save money by letting the experts attend to the task efficiency and accurately.

• You will avoid penalties associated with payroll tax calculation errors or missed filing deadlines.

• They will handle employee questions and concerns, and research any issues they uncover.

• You will receive comprehensive reporting to help manage your business and attend to any special requirements.

• You will gain valuable time to focus on running your business.

At a minimum, the company you use for payroll should provide all of these services:

• Vacation, sick, and personal day accruals and tracking

• IRS and State tax reporting plus Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) deposits

• Monthly, quarterly, and annual payroll tax reports

• New hire file creation and reporting

• W-2 and W-3 preparation

Rand.cpa does provide services to generate, distribute and file 1099s.

Your Virtual CFO has the ability to provide oversight of all aspects of your company’s financial affairs. This includes:

• Establishing strong internal controls to ensure accurate transaction processing while minimizing exposure to fraud and theft

• Training and managing the accounting and payroll staff – whether in-house, through our firm, or via a third party service

• Providing financial reports and performance benchmarks within a few business days of month end closing

• Identifying sources to meet capital and operating requirements and taking the lead to negotiate favorable terms

• Building a cash reserve appropriate to your business model, anticipated growth, and market outlook

• Maximizing the return on invested funds by identifying appropriate investment opportunities and managing relationships within the investment community

• Reviewing and approve all tax filings with federal, state, and local agencies

Your Virtual CFO can be responsible for understanding and mitigating key elements of your company’s risk profile. In addition to developing internal controls, this function includes, but is not limited to:

• Ensuring the company complies with all legal and regulatory requirements
• Establishing recordkeeping policies and procedures that meet the requirements of financial institutions, auditors, and government agencies
• Maintaining appropriate insurance coverage
• Monitoring open legal issues affecting the company
• Managing relations with external auditors and investigating their findings and recommendations

We provide objective assessments of businesses by helping identify and analyze the relevant factors that drive value. We examine:

• The strength and stability of the customer base and the associated revenue stream

• Prospects for growth given the available market and competitive positioning

• The overall financial health of the business

• Valuations for comparable entities

The results inform your decision making as you buy or sell business interests, forge partnerships, negotiate with third parties for debt or equity financing, navigate marital separation, or settle estates. Rand.cpa can serve as advisors during due diligence and provide expert testimony in legal proceedings.

We help you establish appropriate internal controls to ensure proper handling of resources and guard against employee theft. Some best practices include:

• Segregating duties across multiple individuals to minimize exposure to error and inappropriate behavior

• Establishing lines of authority and the associated processes for transaction approval

• Assigning responsibility for periodic review and reconciliation of financial records by someone who was not involved in executing transactions or preparing statements

• Scheduling periodic manual counts of equipment, inventory, and other tangible property to ensure alignment with the accounting records

• Documenting policies and procedures as guideposts for your employees’ day-to-day activities

• Training employees on their respective job duties and establishing appropriate levels of ongoing supervision

• Reviewing operations to ascertain whether results are consistent with established goals, objectives, and protocols

While rand.cpa does not perform these types of engagements directly, we can guide you in securing one the three formal U.S. levels of “assurance” of your financial statements based on your company’s needs:

• An audit is the highest level of assurance that we can provide. It entails a systematic examination of the financial statements, internal controls, and selected transactions for purposes of expressing a professional opinion on the fairness of the information provided.

• A review is a more limited investigation to provide some level of assurance that material modifications to the financial statements need not be applied. Testing primarily consists of high level examination, year-over-year comparison, inquiry, and analysis. It does not examine back-up data to substantiate the financial data. A review may suffice for selected outside interests.

• A compilation presents client-supplied data in financial statement format. No assurance is provided by the accountant as no testing, inquiry, or analytical procedures are performed. This service typically serves an internal audience.

Contact us to discuss your needs for financial statement assessment. We can help you assess what you need and help you find a CPA firm who provides these services.