Source: Joe Dickerson, CEO, Financial Forensic Services In the 1960s and ’70s, as a detective sergeant in the Houston Police Department, I had to augment my income by working extra jobs off duty. Rather than working as a bouncer in a bar or dance hall or getting a construction job, I chose to do security […]
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Many small companies doing business in global markets face challenges in managing foreign currency exchange (“forex” or “FX”) and international trade can be tricky during ordinary times. Moreover, during periods of great FX market volatility this task can become extremely dangerous. Small company owner/CEOs with exposure to currency risk can suffer uncomfortable losses literally overnight
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Source: Scale Finance Professional Team The scale and scope of federal and state emergency relief programs during the global COVID-19 crisis is completely unprecedented, as is the crisis itself. Just for starters, $350 billion has been dedicated by the federal government to fund the programs. Note that the top 100 SBA 7a lenders last year
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Source: Julie Starr, Partner, Scale Finance LLC Small company owner/CEOs everywhere are sitting down to think through every possible option, idea, and initiative to work through the 2020 Covid-19 crisis on the best terms possible. This summary can serve as a thought-starter and template for each company’s action plan. It combines both balance sheet support
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Source: Walter Simson, Principal, Ventor Consulting I have met my share of lousy chief financial officers. Like the sportswear executive who didn’t know the various products’ margins–and then invested heavily in the losers. Or the manufacturing lady who spent a lot of time complaining about the bank’s interest rate, but couldn’t close the books on
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Source: Jeff Wright The Bank Says No When the bank says no, you don’t qualify for a loan, don’t be discouraged. There are many things you can do to improve your chances for approval. The first thing to do is ask why you were turned down so that you can address these reasons. The bank’s
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Source: Belinda Kitos, CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner) Medical businesses’ unique conditions double the vulnerability to accounting fraud. A typical medical practice operates with controlled chaos, generous trust of staff and two separate financial accounting software programs — all breeding circumstances for fraud. Here’s how to identify internal fraudsters’ schemes and apply remedies (even if you
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Source: Joe Wallin, Startup Law Blog Companies and service providers to companies frequently confront this question. Which is better: an Incentive Stock Option (aka a statutory stock option) (an “ISO”) or a Nonqualified Stock Option (aka a Nonstatutory Stock Option) (an “NQO”)? What are the differences between ISOs and NQOs? The table below summarizes the
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Source: Jeff Wright, Hitachi Business Finance When applying for any type of funding, it is essential that you are in tune with all aspects of your business. You need to have a deep understanding of exactly what you will be using the money for and how much is needed before you obtain it. Ask yourself these
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Source: Chris Mitchell, Hitachi Business Finance How is an asset-based loan structured? What are common asset based lending terms? The question can arise from business owners and lenders alike. Let’s take a look at common structure expectations. It is widely believed to expect 80-90% of accounts receivable (A/R) and 50% of inventory, but that could
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Graf Research™ unleashes innovation by developing ideas into disruptive technologies. The Graf mission aims to perform research, provide services, apply analytics, and create products that enable secure, high-performance, embedded, and adaptive computing solutions.
When the Director of Finance for Graf was leaving the company, Graf needed an experienced financial team to get them through the transition. Managing Director Gary Hayes was introduced to Graf and determined that CFO Rendy Richards and Controller John Schefke would be an ideal combination. These two were particularly important because Graf is a U.S. Government contractor, and both Richards and Schefke have strong backgrounds and deep skill sets in this industry.
The two Scale Finance professionals quickly responded to Graf’s time-sensitive need, logically split up the work, learned the DELTEK version used by Graf, introduced more efficient processes and techniques, and helped meet their financial reporting needs. Our professionals also determined that the Senior Staff Accountant was underutilized and helped her grow into a permanent, cost-effective Controller role.
FX HedgePool (FXHP)
FX HedgePool (FXHP) is a New York and London-based highly innovative fintech company. FXHP is an award-winning peer-to-peer matching platform that optimizes the FX swaps market. The Company eliminates market impact and minimizes the effects of volatility – significantly improving outcomes for all investors.
FXHP’s unique credit model separates liquidity from credit, creating a new source of safe and dependable liquidity for the swaps market. The Company exists for the community, guided by the community with a “win-win-win” commitment that helps members, underlying investors, and banks yield safer and better results.
Scale Finance began serving FXHP years ago, providing annual business valuations to support 409A compliance for the Company’s management incentive equity plan. During this period, Scale Finance Managing Director Dave Gilroy advised FXHP about potential strategic corporate transactions. In 2022, the Company decided to raise institutional venture capital. Scale Finance managed this process from end to end, resulting in a highly successful closing of an $8 million Series A equity financing led by Information Venture Partners with participation from Fidelity International Strategic Ventures and NAventures (National Bank of Canada’s corporate venture capital arm).
Scale Finance continues to provide periodic business valuation support.
Heritage Trust
As the first independent trust company in New Mexico, established in 1994, Heritage Trust (HT) uses innovation, experience, and flexibility to meet clients’ needs. HT provides a full range of trust services, e.g., acting as their client fiduciary for their Trust assets, being an executor or personal representative related to the distribution of estate assets, managing and growing financial assets, and preparing annual tax returns for trusted clients.
Co-Founder and Managing Director of Scale Finance Gary Hayes has been providing CFO and managing Controller support since February 2021. We have streamlined their monthly and year-end close process and established budget/forecast capability to support management. Their business has grown over 40% since Scale Finance has been involved with the company’s financial management. Gary has also participated in Board Meetings as and when needed.
Southland Transportation Company
Southland Transportation provides transport, supply chain, and campus management services on a local, regional, and nationwide basis. When Southland contacted Scale Finance, they had a strong accounting staff but no Controller or CFO. After an unsuccessful search for a full-time CFO, Southland engaged CFO and Partner Rendy Richards as their fractional CFO.
Over 18 months, Richards helped integrate a new acquisition, made improvements in accounting and finance processes, developed the company’s first-ever annual budget, helped with the onboarding of a new Controller, and provided business valuations in conjunction with Scale Finance’s Managing Director, Dave Gilroy.
For over six decades, Cooper Electrical has served a wide range of industrial, commercial, and municipal customers across the Southeast, providing best-in-class Electrical Design/Build, BIM, Prefabrication, Instrumentation & Controls, and Calibration services. Cooper’s expertise spans multiple major markets, including bio-pharmaceutical, chemical, water & wastewater, power generation, manufacturing, gas production & transmission, and food & beverage.
When Cooper’s CFO left the company for another opportunity, the owners engaged Rendy Richards as interim CFO while they searched for a full-time replacement. On a half-time basis over eight months, Richards kept the company’s financial organization humming, made improvements in several business processes, initiated a detailed financial forecast, and met with the owners to share his observations and recommendations on the most feasible way to staff their finance and accounting department cost-effectively.
SymmetryRX, LLC
SymmetryRX is a leading provider of eSampling services allowing Pharma Manufacturing companies to access physician practices for the ordering and distribution of drug samples across the US. The Company was acquired in November 2018 from Aptus Health, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merck. Since then, the company has expanded its robust suite of services that provides pharma manufacturing executives, brand managers, sales managers, product managers, and launch managers the ability to help more patients have greater access to samples, improving medication adherence and healthcare outcomes.
Co-Founder and Managing Director of Scale Finance Gary Hayes has been providing CFO Services to the Company since 2018 and was integral in the acquisition process, facilitated initial financing to support the company with a 7A SBA loan package of $600 thousand and an SBA-backed $300 thousand LOC. Since then, Gary has been actively providing CFO support across financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, cash planning, and strategic planning.
