Last year $2.47B was donated to US nonprofit organizations on GivingTuesday, a whopping 19% increase over the previous year. Only time will tell if this year surpasses last year’s record-breaking numbers. But what we know for sure is that on this GivingTuesday both individuals and companies nationwide will give to their favorite nonprofit charities.

As a business owner, you need to be aware of how these charitable contributions will be accounted for on your books not just on GivingTuesday, but year-round.

What kind of accounting controls do you have in place right now?

If you are not sure, or are too embarrassed to answer, chances are you have some work to do.
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Internal controls protect your business from not only fraud but also the kinds of financial errors and reporting mistakes that can negatively affect cash flow management, dissuade investors, and hinder long-term business growth. 

Business leaders asking themselves the question “Do I need a CFO or Controller?” are typically in a good position – one where growth has necessitated that they bring in financial leadership.

At this stage, companies are feeling the limitations of their existing accounting personnel and are evaluating what their next move should be to keep the company moving forward. But knowing whether to hire a Controller or a CFO is a big decision, because, contrary to popular opinion, the roles are distinctly different.

​The last decade has ushered in a digital revolution across all business areas. However, many businesses are still dragging their feet when it comes to automating their accounting and finance activities. In fact, 58% of finance teams surveyed indicated that they do not feel their finance back office is “sufficiently automated.”

​Despite a plethora of tools and platforms available to help streamline these critical business areas, it seems many businesses are stuck in the past, relying on manual processes for their daily accounting functions. But organizations can use automation to drive profitability if they understand its benefits and can identify areas where AI will help them the most. 

​This summer, the IRS began urging tax professionals to increase their security measures amid a storm of increased cyber-attacks. Through the first half of 2021, cyber-attacks against tax professionals had already outpaced the annual numbers for 2020 and 2019. And tax pros are not alone.
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Cyber security has become a hot topic among all financial professionals over the last year as security attacks against businesses and individuals soared during the pandemic. Michael Cohn explains the recent rise in security threats when he says, 

So, how do you keep your financial data secure? 

Are you paying for compliance accounting or advisory accounting? Do you know?

Compliance accounting is straightforward – it deals with day-to-day accounting, reporting, and tax preparation. But what about advisory accounting?
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The Intuit Tax Council defines accounting advisory services as, “Taking client challenges and applying strategies to create opportunities in service to their growth.” Accounting advisory interweaves technology, relationships, communication, and strategy to provide companies the fuel needed for profitable growth. 

When you think of teams that help build and sustain company culture, which teams come to mind? Human Resources? Marketing? Sales? Customer service maybe? These areas of the company are typically entrusted with developing and propagating a culture that encourages employees to do their best work, helps the organization achieve its objectives, and looks good to customers and key stakeholders.

But what about accounting and finance? These departments tend to be overlooked when a company is building its workplace culture. To understand why accounting and finance professionals get passed over when looking for a group to adopt and maintain the culture, it is important to understand what company culture is, why it is important, and how an accounting team is in a unique position to help support it.

As an accounting recruiting firm and financial services provider, we work with businesses everyday who ask, “Should we hire or outsource our accounting needs?”

This question is especially important for companies in the startup phase because they likely have significant cash flow concerns to consider. However, startups may also have other unique characteristics that make this question more challenging to answer, such as:

• Interest from outside investors
• Financing considerations
• New market development
• High growth market demands
• Scalability challenges
• Patenting needs
• Family ownership

​While every business will have their own unique needs and challenges, it is generally best for a startup to outsource their accounting activities initially and then hire internally as their needs change. Where does that shift happen? 

Whether your accounting team is employed in-house or outsourced to a third party, the question of whether it will return to the office or continue to work remotely is likely at the top of your mind. Nationwide many companies have returned the office, at least as part of a hybrid work model, but those changes have been the source of stress at various levels. With some workers wanting to go back, others desiring to stay home, and management tasked with keeping everyone happy and productive, this topic is causing friction across the board. But increasing employee satisfaction is not the only factor being considered.

More serious issues like financial integrity and risk management are also in jeopardy. Just like the concerns that arose when employees began working from home suddenly at the start of the pandemic, this transition to a permanent remote work pattern has many experts analyzing the implications for financial controls.

To understand how these internal controls can become compromised with remote workers, let’s examine the most important accounting controls in your business right now and discuss how you can strengthen them amid a remote work environment: 

The summer months are typically a less busy time for accountants, which means this is the perfect time to do the planning and cleanup work that tends to get pushed to the backburner during the year-end close rush and spring tax season. Use this time to embrace a culture of continuous improvement – looking for places where you can overhaul whatever is broken and streamline areas that are not working optimally.

So, how do you identify where your accounting department needs to improve?

Ask your accounting team and any staff that deals directly with them where their pain points are and what they would prioritize fixing. By including both the team’s feedback and the rest of the organization’s perspective, you will get more balanced input on what kinds of changes should be prioritized.
Focus on operations, processes, and policies with the potential to have a big impact on either efficiency or accuracy. Possible areas to focus on include: