INTERNAL CONTROLS

Develop and implement common sense approaches to provide “checks and balances” within the company’s system to allow reasonable control over its assets; perform management audits.  Process improvement.

MANAGEMENT AUDIT

An accounting or “fiscal” audit examines your accounting records and procedures; the emphasis is on the accuracy of your records.  A management audit examines the procedures you use in managing and operating your business; the emphasis is on the completeness of your business operating process.

Small businesses often fail because owners are unaware of the many elements that can prevent the business from growing and being successful.  Often, small businesses are organized around the manager’s specific area of expertise, such as marketing, accounting or production.  This specialized expertise often prevents the business owner from recognizing problems that may arise in others parts of the business.

In a successful business, all important parts of running the business are covered adequately, if not necessarily brilliantly.  No major area can be left unattended.  A management audit helps you gauge the quality of your management, spot areas where improvement is needed, and make sure that there are no glaring omissions to trip you up.

Your aim is to establish the right balance for your business.  Your business is an assembly of systems, each of which has to work well for the whole business to be profitable.  A management audit helps make sure that your business has all its necessary parts, that they are all working together towards the same goals, and that the goals are suitable for the resources of your business.

            Areas to be examined include:

• Basic planning
• Business operations
• Administrative management
• Personnel
• Production
• Sales & marketing
• Advertising & promotion
• General bookkeeping & accounting practices
• Financial planning & loan proposals