Blogs

You’ve invested countless long, hard hours in building a stable, profitable business with a bright future. But negative economic forces can strike at any time, destabilizing your finances and possibly even endangering the survival of your business. This is one of the main reasons it’s so important to build and maintain healthy cash reserves. Cash reserves serve many important purposes including helping business owners meet unexpected expenses while also stabilizing cash flow and easing overall financial stress. This guide to cash reserves explains why it’s so important for a business to have...

Commonly known as the Beige Book, this report is published eight times per year. Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District through reports from Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts and other sources. The Beige Book summarizes this information by District and sector. An overall summary of the twelve district reports is prepared by a designated Federal Reserve Bank on a rotating basis. Overall Economic Activity Retail sales, including autos, remained mixed; sales of...

Between costs like rent, inventory, and payroll, it can be hard for businesses to cover expenses. Even if you have enough cash on hand to fulfill your obligations, an unexpected cost could derail your operation. Could a business credit card help? High interest rates might make you hesitant to open up a credit card for your business; however, obtaining a business card can be advantageous in certain circumstances. But before determining if this financial tool is right for your business, you first need to know its ins and outs. Why Should a Small Business Have a Credit Card? The idea of charging...

Wondering what your aging accounts receivable report can reveal? Uncover five pivotal insights to gain a deeper understanding of your financial landscape. Before we dive into how you can use your aging AR report, let’s establish what it is and what it can tell you about your company. An aging accounts receivable report is a business report that shows customer payment status against current invoices. As a management tool, it’ll tell you when specific customers become credit risks and if your company should continue the relationship. The typical AR report has columns broken into 30-day segments...

Streamlining payments involves refining the management of money flowing in and out of your business. It could include reassessing your payment strategy or even upgrading your treasury management solutions. When done effectively, optimizing your payment processes may improve customer experiences, enhance security, optimize cash flow, and reduce costs. This guide walks you through how to optimize your payment processes, beginning with assessing your current system. We also look at ways you can spot financial inefficiencies in your operations. Finally, we provide an overview of how you can...