All business owners must ensure that their company is financially solid and stable, as they are responsible to identify any and all opportunities for improvement.
So what exactly is a financial assessment?
In its simplest terms, it is a tool to improve the health of your company. The assessment enables a thorough review of a company’s current financial situation to identify both areas of concern and key opportunities. Goals are then created to move your business to the next level, and importantly a plan to implement recommendations is developed and then moved into execution.
So how does a company most effectively accomplish this?
We recommend that you find a seasoned partner – one with a track record of success conducting financial assessments – to assist as you dive deep into a review of your current financial situation. Professionals who understand the different areas of your business will be able to help you ensure your business steps up its game and moves to the next level of financial health.
The questions that will be asked as part of this process are varied and will dive deep into your financial operations and health. If you work with a true strategic partner that conducts this assessment correctly, during the process you will look to:
- Determine if your team is growing with your business – and if not, what needs to change. Does your team have the right set of skills?
- Reveal if you truly are profitable and if you are maximizing profits – and if not, what you need to do differently.
- Get to the heart of cash flow issues.
- Uncover (and solve) bank issues.
- Identify – and fix – broken processes that span a range of areas.
- Help get your company’s revenue “unstuck” if this is indeed an issue.
- Find the best ways to manage inventory, both in the short- and longer-term.
- Align finance priorities with your business objectives.
- Identify the insights you most need to move your business forward – and ensure there is an action plan to ensure you are heading in the right direction.
Companies that tap into a financial assessment also identify the root cause of many issues and are better able to answer questions such as:
- Is our strategic plan working to guide our organization?
- Is our “Tech Stack” aligned with our team and organization?
- Does our data flow in a way that empowers better decision-making?
- Are there any opportunities our team is missing– and how do we best identify and prioritize opportunities going forward?
Would you like to learn more, or ask more questions about the steps of the Financial Assessment? The ECS team would love to discuss. Ann Doerries and Chris Lee are two members of our team who have extensive experience conducting very successful financial assessments for clients. Be sure to connect with them on LinkedIn, and reach out to Chris to learn more (clee@thinkempirical.com).
Download an overview of the ECS financial assessment here.
This is what one of our own clients shared after we took them through a financial assessment:
“We recognized that ECS would provide an independent and objective view of our company, which is exactly what we needed. Importantly, we were able to rely on ECS to help us move the findings and opportunities that were uncovered into an action plan to execute. Now, in the months after the ECS assessment was complete, we clearly see that we are making strides to improve the health of our company.”
