Business has been good but the sunny beaches in Mexico are beckoning you and your spouse to start considering retirement.  Your business has provided your family a good living and with the help of your accountant you have made sure to take advantage of all the tax breaks.  So, as a business owner, what do you need to know to get your business ready for your retirement?  First and foremost, you should allow yourself enough time to prepare—generally two years is the rule of thumb to get your business ready.  Here are some of the fundamental rules you should follow:

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When business owners first receive their financial reports, they will naturally look at the bottom line.  Profitability is a crucial part of a business, but without expert advice and timely information, an owner could be missing vital information that could help their business. The passage of time usually diminishes the usefulness of that information to the point that after three or four months some of the information is of little value.
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Do you find that you are profitable yet have no cash in the bank?  Are your suppliers calling you for payment?  Is your accounts receivable aging at over 30 days?
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Isn’t comptroller or controller or Chief Financial Officer just another name for an accountant?  My bookkeeper keeps track of my income and expenses, then my accountant prepares my financial statements and tax returns – why would I need a controller too?
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Do you want to retire when you are 55 or have sales of $ 10 million in the next ten years?  Generally speaking most entrepreneurs have some vague ideas of what they hope to accomplish in their business–some even document those goals into Business Plans including marketing plans and forecasts.  But very few reach their dreams because of a critical step that is missing and that is development of a financial reporting system that will monitor their progress toward the end game –whatever that may be. 
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Most business owners end up being at the bottom of the list when it comes to receiving money from their company.  How often have accountants seen business owners stressed, burnt out and often selling their businesses far too early because they get discouraged due to a lack of seeing any measurable rewards for being in business.  If your intention is to gain control of your business finances you must remember that YOU, as the business owner, are the most important asset of your company.  If you are getting under paid, over worked or simply stressed out by personal finances then you need to take a good look at how your company is operating.
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Roles and responsibilities of a finance department.

The activities expected from a finance department cover a wide range from basic bookkeeping  to providing information to assisting managers in making strategic decisions.  What to expect from your finance department will depend largely on factors such as how much involvement the owner/manager has in the organization.

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Gain Control of Your Business Finances  through Cash Flow Management

Do you find that you are profitable yet have no cash in the bank?  Are your suppliers calling you for payment?  Is your accounts receivable aging at over 30 days?
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Why am I talking about corporate financial management?  You are not a big corporation, you are one of hundreds of thousands of businesses in Canada that is caught under the label—Small Business Enterprises—SME that is measured different ways by everyone, but generally a business with less than 50 employees and under 10 million in sales.
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