A CFO’s Contribution to Your Business

A recent article detailed the four most common things CFO’s address when they start at a new company. While many people believe that every owner and company are different, financial officers state that the needs are generally the same, regardless of size or industry.

To begin, a CFO always examines the financial statements for the business. Carefully studying these reports can help to identify material errors or inconsistencies. It can also show if any useful or needed financial statements are missing. Once the officer has gathered all the useful data, the company hires a third party to perform a trend analysis report. These ratios and statistics can be compared against industry standards as well as the closest competition. This comparison gives the company a solid way to measure its performance.

Second, the CFO will analyze the company’s accounts receivable. Using software, the financial officer can easily group accounts by customer, amount, … Read More

Student Loan Strategy

With the fall semester quickly approaching, more and more families are worrying about the financial crunch of college. Plenty of student aid is available, but it is often difficult to decide which type of loans to choose.

If your student is uncertain of what their employment or financial situation will be like at the end of college, it is usually wise to accept federal student loans. These loans are more flexible, allow you to modify your payments and have built in reductions for social workers and teachers. They can also refinanced by some private lenders.

The cheapest federal loans are the Stafford Subsidized Loan and the Perkins Loan. Both options do not accrue interest until after the student has graduated, provided the student stays enrolled full time. (They also cover 6-9 months of half-time enrollment). These loans are available to students who qualify for them based on the results of the … Read More

Minnesota Trust Laws Receive Needed Revisions

Minnesota finally has a new set of trust laws; 25 years after the laws were last updated. The new bill had to pass through both houses of state legislature before it was ratified by Governor Mark Dayton. It has been dubbed “The Uniform Trust Code”.

The Uniform Trust Code was drafted (in part) by the Uniform Law Commission. This group works on laws which are not federally mandated and attempts to make them uniform across states. However, nearly all states make modifications to the ULC proposed laws before enacting them. The resulting laws are similar, but not completely identical.

A MBSA (Minnesota State Bar Association) subcommittee has spent more than four years combining Minnesota’s current trust laws with the new Uniform Code. This work has resulted in laws that make it easier to modify trusts, correct errors, successfully plan tax objectives and more.

One of the most anticipated changes in the … Read More