Most business owners don’t have a “numbers problem.” They have a timing problem. When your close takes 20–30 days, you are making February decisions based on January’s fog. When auditors show up, that fog turns into a fire drill. A strong close is not about prettier financials. It’s about control: faster decisions, fewer surprises, and …
Most owners treat cash like a scoreboard. They glance at the bank balance. If it’s up, they relax. If it’s down, they tense up. Then they return to running their business. The problem is that cash is not a scoreboard. It’s a system. And when that system is missing, the business can feel reactive even …
As the year winds down, most owners fall into one of two camps. Some coast. They assume December is already lost, push decisions to January, and hope momentum magically appears. Others treat the final weeks as both a finish line and a starting line, cleaning up numbers, tightening cash, and entering January with clarity instead of chaos. …
Year-End Finish Line Finance: Close Strong and Hit January Running Read More »
At Verbeck Associates, we work with small and mid-sized businesses all the time—most with lean finance teams and owners wearing multiple hats. Sometimes, we need to think like a turnaround. Mission-critical survival. When cash is tight or operational chaos hits, we may have to make hard calls—cut off a leg to save the body. I’ve …
From Surviving to Scaling: Profit Levers for Growing SMBs Read More »
Lately, I’ve been thinking again about what really causes businesses to struggle—or worse, fail. You’ll hear the usual list: cash flow issues, declining sales, or lack of capital. And while those are valid pain points—(hey, I talk about cash flow all the time and am a strong advocate of the 13-week cash flow tool)—these are often …
Execution Over Excuses: The Real Reason Businesses Struggle Read More »
I’ve been using financial ratios for years, and they’ve never failed me. I remember when I was leaving KPMG and pitched my value to a few companies. I had developed a forecast model on Excel that worked beautifully. I took the target company’s financials and highlighted the primary cash flow ratios (DSO, DIO, and DPO). …
The Value of Ratios: How Smart Financial Metrics Drive Business Performance Read More »
We’ve hit the halfway mark of 2025. Before the second half sprints ahead, now’s your chance to pause the hustle, zoom out, and make sure you’re on the right track. Summer is here with its slower pace, family getaways, and a well-deserved breather. But it’s also a golden opportunity to hit pause with purpose. Mid-year is …
Forecasting should give you clarity—but too often, it just gives you a false sense of security. A spreadsheet with perfect rows, tidy formulas—and zero connection to reality. I’ve made the same mistake—Excel can produce whatever numbers you want. It’s not really a forecast. It’s a budget remix with new dates. The Problem: Forecasts Become Fiction …
Let’s face it—most business owners and staff don’t look forward to monthly financial reviews. They either dread them, delay them, or delegate them. Why? Because too often, the meeting feels like a confusing spreadsheet parade or a guilt trip over missed targets. But it shouldn’t be that way. A monthly financial review is one of …
How to Run a Monthly Financial Review without Putting People to sleep Read More »
Imagine a pilot only checking the plane’s instruments once a month. Sounds insane, right? Yet that’s exactly how many business owners operate—waiting for monthly financials to tell them what already happened. Successful leaders don’t fly blind. Visionary CEOs and sharp CFOs rely on weekly dashboards to monitor the business in real time, course-correct quickly, and …
Run Your Business Like a Pilot: The Power of a Weekly Financial Dashboard Read More »