What is a Trustee in Business?

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Trustee|What is a Trustee in Business?To understand what a trustee is within a business, one must have a conceptual understanding of what a trust is. A trust is a way of managing money on behalf of someone else. A trust usually has three people involved: A beneficiary, a settler, and the trustee. So basically, a trustee is a person who manages the trust for the beneficiary.

The settler is the person who puts the money in the trust. Once the settler sets aside the beneficiary’s money, they are also responsible for selecting a trustee to handle and administer the trust to the rightful beneficiaries. A trustee can be a person or a firm, and they are solely responsible for the money.

Trustees that are associated with charities differ in some ways. For starters, they have total control over the charity and are tasked with ensuring the charity does what it is intended to do. Being a trustee within a charity means that their decisions impact the lives of many people who depend on the charity organization.

Becoming A Trustee For A Charity

To become a trustee, you have to be at least 16 years of age. This applies if you are working for a charitable incorporated organization or a company. If it’s any other type of charity, you need to be at least 18 years old. You can also be disqualified as a trustee and prevented from trustee duties unless allowed for a number of reasons, including:

  • Being a registered sex offender
  • If you have an individual voluntary arrangement
  • Being bankrupt
  • Having a conviction record

Trustee for charities uses the expertise and skills to ensure the charity supports the right beneficiaries. Being a trustee for a charity is a great role, and it needs someone experienced, trustworthy, and credible. There are a number of rules and regulations that govern this position. You have to comply with them regardless of their difficulty or risk disqualification from trustee duties.

Trustees have a chance to act independently in regard to the trust, but they are allowed to consult with various advisers such as financial experts and lawyers. Sometimes, they may delegate the final decision to a third party, but the final decisions on matters concerning the trust are made by the trustee in most cases.

Duties Of Trustees

While executing their duties, trustees are not immune to errors. They must have a keen eye for detail lest they make an error resulting in money getting into the wrong hands. This is a loss for both the beneficiaries and the charity organization. Charity organizations are encouraged to get trustee indemnity insurance for charities to protect themselves from losses.

A trustee’s main duty is to the beneficiaries, and therefore they should act without a partial intention. They must exercise respect and consider all of the beneficiaries while making their decisions. They should also follow the wishes of the settler, as stated in terms of the trust while managing the trust for the beneficiaries.

Trustees must comply with the charity’s rules and regulations of operations from the governing document. As a trustee, one should make an effort to understand the legal and financial requirements, together with the guiding principles of the charity. They must also comply with the rules set by the Commission overseeing charitable organizations in terms of general conduct.

Tips To Help Save Money In Your Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Save Money In Business|Tips To Help Save Money In Your BusinessSaving money in your business is never really a bad thing. It’s good to always have a bit of extra cash lying around when you need it and for many businesses, an emergency fund is in existence for a rainy day. If you’re looking to save money for your business, then here are some helpful tips that you might find useful.

Control Department Spending

Departments are likely to have individual budgets that you’ve distributed out at the start of the financial year. However, that doesn’t mean you should simply let go of that responsibility or just let them spend as they please. It may be useful to have more than just the one person signing off on a bigger expenditure than normal to ensure that the money is being spent wisely. It’s also good for all departments and their staff to have good communication about what’s being spent and what can but cut down on.

There’s always going to be the odd spend here and there that can be avoided and so it’s good to monitor the departmental spending where possible. If there are opportunities to reduce or cut back when needed, then make sure you let the departments in question know beforehand. It’s critical that you’re not pulling the rug from under them, especially when they may need the money for something else. This can be particularly important for smaller businesses who may not have the sizable cash flow that bigger companies have.

Monitor Your Finances Overall

There’s no harm in monitoring your finances overall as a business. There are lots of expenditures that will be happening in your business and it’s good to look over them every once in a while. There’s also always the risk of falling victim to fraud and that could result in a lot of money coming out of your bank account. It might also be money that comes out in small amounts and is therefore not noticeable, especially if you’re not checking receipts against what’s being spent. It’s important to have someone do this regularly and if you can’t get it done in-house, then it’s worth outsourcing where possible.

Don’t allow your finances to become something you push to the bottom of the to-do list because they matter more than most things.

Ensure Your Finance Team Aren’t Overwhelmed

Looking after your staff is a must and the last thing you want to do is to make them feel overwhelmed. This might lead to a lack of productivity else and that’s only going to hinder your business directly. Look at your finance team and how much they’re taking on. It might be that the work processes involved in their day-to-day activities are too much and it’s something that you may want to streamline. Consider what can be streamlined and what needs to be outsourced.

All businesses outsource certain things that need doing and it might be that you need to do the same in your finance department. Make sure that your financial team have all the relevant training they need to, whether it’s a course to help learn more mathematics like how to calculate percentage or a course on dealing with taxes. There’s always learning to be done!

Spend Money That’ll Go Further

Spending money is important because it helps grow the business in different ways. If you’re trying to make your money go further, then it’s important to consider what you’re spending it on and where you might want to change when it comes to your tactics. For example, traditional advertising has worked for many businesses over the years but to an extent, has limited the amount of companies who can financially afford it. It has also proved to be quite inferior thanks to the birth of the online world. Digital advertising therefore has become a lot more popular, and a lot more affordable.

Not only has digital advertising become more popular there’s also more opportunity to expand your reach as a business. So, you might be thinking about spending your money through digital advertisements, rather than the traditional route to save money.

Try to be more smart with your money and how you spend it. There are lots of ways to spend your money that will only do so much. The best way of spending your money is to spend it in places that are going to double or triple the ROI. The more you can get out of it, the better. Start looking at where you could be saving money and where else to spend it to get more out of it.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Save Money In Business|Tips To Help Save Money In Your BusinessCollaborate With Other Businesses

Collaborating with businesses can be a great way to save money because you’re cutting down the costs. For example, if you wanted to create a new product and that product had the opportunity to be combined with an existing business, why not partner up? There’s something that can be gained by both of you financially but also there’s the potentially to cross-promote on each other’s channels, which opens up the potential for new customers on both sides. As much as you might not want to partner up with other businesses for fear of the competition, it can actually be more beneficial to you both, to collaborate where you can.

Be Wary Of Taking Financial Risks

All businesses can come with their risks and there are many occasions where some risks will be taken and others will be avoided. Any risk is usually financially driven and you should be wary about which ones you take. When considering a risk, ask yourself whether or not you can bounce back? If you don’t have the money to risk or you can’t afford to do the risk twice, then you may want to step away from the opportunity itself. There will be many more that come along but it’s important to spot those risks that might be financially detrimental to the business.

Saving money in business can be something that helps keep you going through the tough times, so try to be active in your methods of saving money.

How To Find The Perfect Business Accountant For You

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Business Accountant|How To Find The Perfect Business Accountant For YouWhen running a business, it can often seem like an impossible task to manage the daily operations as well as the financial stability of a business. Therefore, it is recommended that you use services such as accountants to benefit you in the long-term. In this article, we will be providing you with some of the ways that you can begin to find the perfect business accountant for your business.

Consider The Location Of The Accountant

When running a business, the location of your employees is just as important as the daily functions of your business. Therefore, taking time to consider the location of your chosen accountant will make sure that your chosen account can provide the best possible service for your business. Regardless of whether this is in-house or from their own offices, the location of your accountant will make it easier for them to visit with ease.

Look At The Level Of Experience That They Have

Another element to consider when choosing the right business accounting services is the level of expertise that they have. Whether it be the clientele that they have worked for before or the length of time that they have been operating in this field, this can all provide you with a great indication as to whether or not they will be able to provide your business with the financial help that you need to facilitate the growth of your business regardless of its size.

Choose A Certified Or A Chartered Accountant

The next element that you should look into when choosing an accountant is the certificates that they have. There are two different types of certifications that you can benefit from, one is a certified account and the other is a chartered accountant. To help you understand the difference between the two, we will be providing you with the certifications that are available to you:

  • A Member Of The Institute Of Financial Accountants
  • Chartered Accountant
  • Certified Public Accountant
  • A Member Of The Association Of International Accountants

Each of the accountants under this certification can provide you with the level of experience that is needed to ensure your business is successful.

Start To Use Social Media To Find Amazing Local talent

The final way that you can go about finding the right accountant for your business is using social media. With platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter allowing you to connect with others in the field, this is the perfect way of recruiting new and emerging talent for different job roles within your company. Whether you are looking for one role or you are looking for multiple, there are several ways that these tools can be used to find the perfect business account for the everyday needs of your business and daily reporting.

With this in mind, several benefits can come from this to enable you to make sure that you have everything you need to enter the new financial year with an added layer of financial stability at this uncertain time.

Closing the Year | How to Successfully Manage Your Finance Team

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Closing the Fiscal Year|Closing the Year | How to Successfully Manage Your Finance TeamIf the month-end close is like game day for the finance and accounting department, closing out the fiscal year is the World Series. There’s so much to do in a limited time and, in most companies, this is done with a smaller team than you’d like. There’s a lot of pressure and that can lead to a lot of stress.

A successful close isn’t just about managing the process but about managing your team and your time to make the best use of resources. Anything you can do to become more efficient will reduce the workload on your finance team, and make the close less stressful.

The Benefits of a Great Close

The perfect year-end close is a win/win for your organization. By wrapping up quickly and accurately, you’re able to move on to reporting and generate high-quality financial statements. This helps management plan and strategize and benefit stakeholders.

Closing efficiently also benefits your finance and accounting team, because they’ll avoid long, stressful days and get back to their day-to-day process sooner. A well-documented close also makes both internal and external audits easier and less disruptive.

Here are some steps you can take to successfully manage your team for a great close with less stress:

Automate As Much as Possible

Technology really is a beautiful thing. When it comes to closing the books, there are some powerful tech tools to help automate the process. The more manual entry work you’re doing, the longer the close will take and the higher the risk of mistakes.

Of course, not everything can be automated, but you can leverage technology to give you more time for key tasks. Automate as much of the close as possible so your team is fresh and focused on the strategic pieces that require them to be at their best. This can also greatly reduce the emotional toll of the close by allowing people to go home on time and shortening the total length of the close.

Front Load Your Workload

Reconciliations are an important part of the close, and they can also be a very time-consuming part. In keeping with our last tip, leverage technology to automate your reconciliations if possible.

Try to locate steps in the close that can be done early. You don’t have to be in full “close mode” ahead of time, but if one or two people on the team can get some steps out of the way, you’ll be able to cut time off the big project once you ramp up for the close.

Stop, Collaborate, and Listen

Teamwork is crucial during a challenge like the year-end close. And this year brings extra challenges to many teams who are working remotely due to the pandemic. This makes collaboration and communication more important than ever before.

Hopefully, you’re reading this while you still have a little time before the close. Take that time to stop, look at your current communications and collaboration tools and methods, and make sure they’re working for you. The middle of the year-end close is no time to find out that your team is out of sync.

Get feedback from your team and make sure everyone knows his or her role, who to reach out to for the inputs they need, and who is waiting and depending on their outputs to move forward. Smooth out any wrinkled now, before it’s too late.

While it’s very possible to spend too much time in meetings, make sure everyone on the team feels heard and has the chance to voice concerns or ask questions. You may want to take a few minutes for a virtual “stand up” each morning just to check in and ensure everyone on the team has a direction for the day and has the information they need to move the close forward.

Check the Checklist Off Your List

If you aren’t already working with a close checklist, now is the time to start. Put together a list that shows every step of the close process, which steps are dependent on others, and the order of the workflow.

Ideally, your team can view and edit the checklist in real-time so they’ll always know the progress of the close. Cloud-based close software can be a huge help here.

The close checklist isn’t just a way to track what’s been done, it’s also a powerful accountability tool. By signing off on the list, team members take ownership of each step in the close.

At first, accountability may not sound like a stress-reduction strategy, but it is. When each step in the close is owned by a specific person, you always know who to clarify with if there’s any confusion. This helps your team avoid wasted time and duplicated efforts, which can seriously reduce anxiety.

Practice Makes Perfect

Going back to our Superbowl analogy, the year-end close has a lot in common with the monthly close. That makes the month-end a great time to dial in your process, identify any bottlenecks, and prepare for a successful year-end close. By improving your monthly close, you’re also going into the end of the year with fewer surprises and fewer loose ends.

Conclusion

By following a plan, documenting your efforts, and improving your close process each and every period, you can help your finance team close successfully without unnecessary stress.

How to Make Your Money Grow in Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Growing Your Business|How to Make Your Money Grow in Business Making money as an entrepreneur has so much to do with your ability to identify opportunities and make the most of them. If you’ve started a business in the first place, then this means you’ve found a gap in the market that you can fill. In light of this, you should always be thinking about how you can grow beyond where you are and ultimately increase your reach and income further. There are several ways to achieve this, and all require you to get out of your comfort zone. If you consider that being uncomfortable is typically where all of the magic happens, then you’ll be more enthusiastic about exploring new territory. Below are practical ways to make your money grow in business.

Be Frugal

Just because you’re making money as a business, it doesn’t mean that you have to spend it at the same pace. It is crucial that you learn to manage your money and be frugal if you want to see your money experience steady growth financially. To be a frugal CEO, here are three approaches you could take.

Budget on Office Set Up: When setting up your office, it can be tempting to go all out. However, spending exorbitant amounts on furnishing isn’t necessarily going to give you the best return on your investment. Instead, look for ways to furnish on a budget such as by getting furniture that is slightly used or on clearance. The charity shop often also has fairly used or even new furniture that you can get at an affordable rate. Ask around to see how you can find affordable functional furniture so that you save space and money.

Control Legal Fees: Every business needs a lawyer but be careful not to spend too much on legal fees. These fees can eat out of your finances if they aren’t carefully managed. Focus on setting clear expectations with your lawyer before meetings, especially when their cost per hour is high. In some cases, you may even find that it’s better to pay on a per project instead of an hourly basis.

Monitor Cash Flow: As above use a fixed monthly fee accountant to keep your cash flow up to date on a monthly basis. 3 in 4 startups who do not monitor cash flow fail whilst 3 in 4 who do monitor their cash flow succeed. Be sure to shop around to find an accountant at the right cost.

DIY Marketing and PR: Aside from the mentioned, you should also make the most of the cost-effectiveness of digital marketing. Instead of hiring a PR firm in the early stages, try doing the pitching yourself to begin with. Doing this could also help build both trust and a good rapport which are tools that will get your business far. Social platforms are also ideal ways to get your brand out there without spending thousands on advertising too.

Consider Mixed Use Development

Mixed-use development is a way to grow your money as an entrepreneur. In case you’ve never heard about it before, in summary, it refers to buildings that have multiple units that are used for different purposes which are usually residential as well as commercial. You may be wondering how exactly this could benefit you as an entrepreneur. How it would work is that you could buy one or more mixed-use buildings and run your business in the commercial area while you live in, lease out or sell the other units. This could serve as a great business opportunity so read more here to find out how you could go about doing it.

Offer New Products and Services

Another straightforward way to make your money grow when running a business is to offer new products and services. Learn from the performance of your current range meaning you should do more of what’s working and improve on what isn’t. If, for instance, your customers seem to love a certain product, take the feedback and see how you can create something even better. Here are a few tips to consider when you want to launch a new product or service.

Ensure it Solves a Problem

Whether you’re launching your second or tenth product or service, you want to be certain that it solves a problem. If you look at some of the most successful ones you know, you’ll notice that they make people’s lives easier in one way or another. Creating a product that sells is about making something that’s simple, interesting, meaningful, entertaining, and long-lasting. The more value that it adds, the more likely it will do well in the market.

Build Buzz

Before launching a new product, it’s so essential that you first take the time out to build buzz. This is key as you want to build excitement and get people to anticipate this product and the value it could add to their lives. By doing this, you’re more likely to get the kind of response you want form customers and prospects.

Devise a Strong Strategy

A product launch strategy will help you map out how to launch your product from start to finish. Start by doing this as it will work as a guiding force to help you execute your plan. When you have an effective strategy in place, you’re less likely to miss out on important elements of a product launch and also more likely to prevent major mistakes. With that being said, there are several templates you can use online to help you flesh out your strategy.

Have a Growth Strategy

Earlier on, it was mentioned that you should have a strategy for launching a product, but you should note that you also need one if you want to grow. When you have a growth strategy in place, you’ve got a better idea of where you’re going as a business and how you’re going to get there. You may decide that you’re going to start with one product for the first year and then diversify your income as a business in the second year of operating, for instance. It’s essential that you think through what direction you want to grow in, so you put measures in place to ensure that you get there.

Every business has to steadily grow if they want to remain in business and expand on to do bigger and better things. However, in order to see the growth you want, you’ve got to commit to learning and trying new strategies.