Accounting & Finance
1. Initial Business Start-Up/Accounting Set-Up
1. Business Entity – We’ll recommend you establish a business entity (sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation) that makes sense based on your fact situation, including risk profile, owner base, finance structure, growth expectations and tax status, among others.
2. Jurisdiction Registration – We’ll ensure your business entity is registered (or incorporated) in the appropriate jurisdiction(s).
3. Business Name Selection – We'll recommend a name that propels your business forward.
4. Business Registrations – We’ll ensure your company is registered according to its operating needs (Business Number, GST, PST, Payroll, Import/Export, WCB, Business License, etc.).
5. Selection of Accounting Software – Your information, access, mobility and security needs will define the software best suited to your business.
6. Chart of Account Creation – We’ll save you time, money and headaches by doing it right the first time, taking into consideration your current and future plans.
7. Account Set-Up – We’ll make this process seamless.
Accounting & Finance
2. Financing
Strategic Plan
2. Financing
Adequate financing is a vital prerequisite for business success. To raise the required funds, we will work with you to:
1. Develop A Plan - A Business Plan for new businesses. A Strategic Plan for existing businesses;
2. Assess Finance Requirements – To determine how much financing is needed, the preparation of a multi-year financial forecast is the first step.
3. Select a Financial Institution – The selection of a financial institution is an important decision. We can save you time by helping you understand which lenders would be most interested in providing funds to finance your future growth plans.
We’ll walk you through the financing process from beginning through to completion or assist with any part you may need help with.
Business Plan
Strategic Plan
2. Financing
We will assist you by creating a solid, succinct, business plan that addresses all the important issues prospective lenders and shareholders need to understand before making a financial commitment.
Strategic Plan
Strategic Plan
Finance Requirements
The main differentiator between average and very successful businesses is the ability to adapt corporate strategy to face current and future circumstances. Strategic planning is foundational in building the company’s future. Is your business in need of a catalyst to assist in carving out strategic direction? Is your company dealing with recessionary conditions? Are you in need of restructuring or a new strategic plan? Does your business structure keep you tied to your office when you should be out meeting with prospective new customers or engaging with existing customers to understand their future requirements? Essential Business Consulting will help you build a strategic plan that provides the confidence of knowing you’re on the right path and the determination to achieve your goals.
Finance Requirements
Financial Institution
Finance Requirements
We’ll create a flexible forecast that will provide an understanding of the potential outcomes, dependent on a range of underlying assumptions. Realistic forecasting is the basis for setting your financing objectives and marketing your requirements to potential lenders and/or shareholders.
Financial Institution
Financial Institution
Financial Institution
Not all financial institutions are created equal. At times, one institution may be actively looking to expand the portfolio of companies in a certain area or industry. We’ll help you find the financial institution that best matches your needs.
Acounting & Finance
3. Refinancing
We pride ourselves on Beating Debt Costs. We negotiated well over $500K in immediate savings for a client debt refinancing and we look forward to seeing how much money we can save your company. If your lender is charging you excessive interest, indemnity or equity-kicker charges, it might be time to look elsewhere. Some lenders offer what appears, on the surface, to be very flexible repayment terms but a careful analysis of the terms of the debt financing agreement reveal a very expensive cost tied to the “generosity” of such flexibility. Have you ever been in a situation where you were quoted a cost but by the time the invoice arrived you were unpleasantly surprised to find that additional fees, taxes, duties, levies, service charges or mandatory tip have doubled the cost of what you thought was a good deal?
Flexible repayment terms can come at a huge cost to your company. Are the repayment terms really that flexible when the lender has the contractual right to force lump-sum repayments on an annual basis? When you’re in growth mode, you need to keep as much cash as possible reinvested in the business. A required loan repayment, in the amount of your cash flow over and above a certain threshold, doesn’t help your business grow. If the lender tells you that the lump-sum annual harvesting of your cash flow is optional, have a look at the wording in the finance agreement. You’ll probably find that it isn’t optional…or if it is, it’s only at the option of the lender. If the financing agreement reassures you that the additional cash flow won’t be removed to the extent that it puts you in breach of your financial ratio covenants, that’s good…but it may leave you in a very tight position from a financial ratio compliance perspective for the ensuing reporting period(s).
Always remember that if there is an inconsistency between the financing agreement and what you’re being verbally assured, there’s most likely a problem, either now, or waiting for you in the future. Verbal assurances are worthless when a written agreement is in place. Most written agreements state that the written agreement supersedes any verbal representations.
Low monthly repayments coupled with an annual cash flow repayment must be carefully factored into the forecast when comparing your debt alternatives. Essential Business Consulting will do “what if” financial modeling for all of the financing costs, including the back-end charges, to understand the total potential cost of financing when comparing alternatives offered by competing lenders. Some financial institutions (and factoring companies) make their agreements and charges so complicated that it is challenging to fully understand the total costs involved. As a rule-of-thumb, if the finance (or any other) agreement is confusing, complicated or keeps you up at night, you have legitimate reason to be concerned and should seek advice.
When you use a “lender of last resort”, you need to ask yourself, why are they called that? The unfortunate reality is that when you use a “lender of last resort”, you are almost guaranteed to pay a very high cost for financing. When you factor in all the back-end charges, you may be paying more than double what you expected, even before considering the added administrative burden. Perhaps you had few, if any, legitimate alternatives at the time you accepted the financing. Business conditions can change very quickly and there may be a way to refinance that debt and work with another lender who may offer much more favorable terms and reasonable fees. There may also be a way to minimize any early payment or exit fees from your existing finance deal. Now is the time to contact Essential Business Consulting. We will work on refinancing your debt to potentially save you a significant amount of money. If you’re paying exorbitant interest rates, or expect to pay substantial back-end interest, indemnities, bonus, equity-kicker charges or penalties upon maturity or termination, it’s time to call Essential Business Consulting.
Accounting & Finance
4. Financial Forecasts & Budgets
4. Financial Forecasts & Budgets
4. Financial Forecasts & Budgets
Essential Business Consulting has developed financial forecast templates to streamline the time it takes to prepare the financial projections that lenders require to assess your application for financing. Some companies lack the internal expertise to produce the forecasts in a format acceptable to financial institutions. Those that have the expertise are often too busy managing day-to-day operations and don’t have the bandwidth to get the forecasts prepared fast enough. Absences, illnesses and vacations add further challenges to meeting deadlines and getting the financing in place within a tight timeline. When it comes to financing, timing is everything. At Essential Business Consulting, we remove all the obstacles and prepare your financial forecast efficiently and professionally. We create your forecast based on information you provide and we minimize financial institution review time by including financial covenant ratio calculations in our forecast model. Essential Business Consulting's depth of experience working with clients to harvest assumptions produces multi-year financial forecasts that are:
1. timely prepared & submitted;
2. dynamic & flexible for changing assumptions and scenarios;
3. measurable against actual results & benchmarks;
4. in a format that financial institutions, lenders, and potential shareholders prefer, minimizing review time.
4. Financial Forecasts & Budgets
4. Financial Forecasts & Budgets
Further, advantages to Essential Business Consulting’s financial forecast preparation services are:
1. Minimal management disruption – CEO/CFO/Controller work schedule largely unchanged;
2. Minimal staff disruption – avoid costly delays of redeploying accounting staff to the forecast effort;
3. Faster completion – we’ve streamlined our interview approach to make the most efficient use of our clients’ time and complete the forecasts efficiently;
4. Faster access to financing – since we dedicate our concentrated focus on completing the forecast efficiently, we reduce the time required to obtain financing offers, select the most suitable credit facilities, complete legal documentation, close the financing and access funds;
5. Full-set Forecast Financial Statements, including the Balance Sheet, Statement of Operations & Statement of Cash Flows, all by month;
6. Covenant Compliance – We’ll proactively model the impact of your financing alternatives on financial ratio covenant compliance;
7. Shareholder Dilution – In exploring financing options, we’ll model the dilutive impact on current shareholders of raising equity capital.
Accounting & Finance
5. Cash Flow Management
5. Cash Flow Management
5. Cash Flow Management
Essential Business Consulting will show you how to manage your cash flow on a scale that matches your business needs (annually, quarterly, monthly, daily). During challenging times, of growth or recession, it is essential to stay on top of your cash flow requirements. How you manage one of your most important resources, your cash, will make a significant contribution to the success or failure of your company.
6. Dashboards
5. Cash Flow Management
5. Cash Flow Management
Essential Business Consulting creates customized Dashboards tailored to provide a summary snapshot of the health of your business at a glance.
7. Financial Modeling
5. Cash Flow Management
7. Financial Modeling
Essential Business Consulting creates financial models for any type of financial analysis, including, but not limited to:
1. the profitability of a unique product, a product line, division or entity;
2. cost-volume-profit and breakeven point analysis;
3. pricing analysis, including variable costs and contribution margin;
4. the dilutive effect of issuing convertible debt or new equity;
5. make vs buy decisions;
6. salaried vs hourly vs day-rate pay structures;
7. project profitability.
Accounting & Finance
8. Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
If you’re a SELLER, we can assist with:
If you’re a BUYER, we can assist with:
Essential Business Consulting can help your company with the M&A process.
If you’re a BUYER, we can assist with:
If you’re a SELLER, we can assist with:
If you’re a BUYER, we can assist with:
1. Identifying potential M&A candidates
2. Drafting the LOI & Confidentiality Agreements
3. Discussions with potential target(s)
4. Financial Modeling of Business Combination
5. Conducting Due Diligence
6. Drafting a deal outline
7. Negotiating/Drafting Employment Contracts for Key Personnel
8. Negotiating/Drafting the Offer to Purchase (assets or shares)
9. Reviewing the Share Purchase Agreement or Asset Purchase Agreement
10. Reviewing Closing documentation
If you’re a SELLER, we can assist with:
If you’re a SELLER, we can assist with:
If you’re a SELLER, we can assist with:
1. Preparing a Confidential Information Memorandum
2. Preparing Financial Forecasts
3. Estimating Enterprise Value & Market Value
4. Identifying potential buyers
5. Preparing a Confidential Electronic Data Room
6. Analyzing offers
7. Conducting Due Diligence on the prospective purchaser, if necessary
8. Financial Modeling of After-Tax Return On Investment
9. Negotiating the terms of the Offer to Purchase (assets or shares)
10. Preparing documentation required by the Seller to be included in the Share Purchase Agreement or Asset Purchase Agreement
11. Review Closing documentation
Accounting & Finance
9. Due Diligence
10. Audit Preparation (including Initial Audit Prep)
10. Audit Preparation (including Initial Audit Prep)
Essential Business Consulting’s Due Diligence focuses its effort on areas of significant risk and tailors its approach to be cost-effective. We will review basic risk areas but we’ll also take the time to understand what is important to you and make sure that our approach addresses your concerns. We’ll review our findings with you and assess the potential impact on your business.
10. Audit Preparation (including Initial Audit Prep)
10. Audit Preparation (including Initial Audit Prep)
10. Audit Preparation (including Initial Audit Prep)
Essential Business Consulting will help you decide which reputable audit firm to use and help you negotiate fees. We’ll draw on years of experience to get your company ready for the annual audit or review engagement. First year audits need not be costly and will go smoothly while saving audit fees.
11. Month-End Closing Process
10. Audit Preparation (including Initial Audit Prep)
11. Month-End Closing Process
Essential Business Consulting will implement efficient month-end closing processes that will empower your staff to produce on-time delivery of reliable monthly financial statements and any other required reports. We’ll tailor the process to ensure all your company, management & regulatory requirements are met.
Accounting & Finance
12. Accounting Processes
13. Part-Time or Temporary Controller or CFO
13. Part-Time or Temporary Controller or CFO
Essential Business Consulting will streamline your accounting processes to ensure that your accounting staff work efficiently, effectively and ultimately provide accounting information useful for business decision-making. Well thought-out, properly planned, reliable accounting information significantly reduces the likelihood of error, fraud, interest & penalties and surprises while facilitating intelligent decision-making.
13. Part-Time or Temporary Controller or CFO
13. Part-Time or Temporary Controller or CFO
13. Part-Time or Temporary Controller or CFO
Accidents, sickness and leaves of absence shouldn’t slow you down or derail your plans. Essential Business Consulting will draw on its resources to find a qualified Controller or CFO to assist you on a part-time or temporary basis to bridge the gap.
14. Personnel Selection & Hiring
13. Part-Time or Temporary Controller or CFO
14. Personnel Selection & Hiring
Essential Business Consulting understands the importance of hiring the right people for the job. We will help you with one or more of the following steps, in accordance with your needs:
1. Needs Assessment
2. Job Ad Creation
3. Candidate Evaluation
4. Narrowing the Field of Candidates
5. Conducting Interviews
6. Candidate Recommendation
7. Conduct Reference Checks
8. Offer Letter Preparation
Contracts & Negotiations
We have experience reviewing contracts to ensure that the deal you think you’ve agreed to is properly reflected in the contract wording. We’ve seen many poorly written contracts that were not properly scrutinized prior to signing. We’ve also discovered situations where corporate management believes a business agreement operates in a certain manner only to find that the text of the agreement reflects an entirely different scenario. We assess contractual risks and propose solutions to minimize or eliminate any concerns. We also have extensive experience successfully negotiating contracts that will put your company in the drivers’ seat. Occasionally, the other party doesn’t live up to their contractual obligations. We consider that possibility in advance so that you’re protected. If you have a difficult issue to work through, we will assist by providing coaching in the background, working together with you as a team or taking the position of lead negotiator. We tailor our approach to every unique situation.
Below are examples of the type of contracts we can assist you with:
1. Confidentiality Agreements
2. Non-Competition Agreements
3. Unanimous Shareholders Agreements
4. Share Purchase Agreements
5. Financing Agreements
6. Distribution Agreements
7. Employment Contracts
8. Joint Venture Agreements (including First Nations)
Strategy
The main differentiator between average and very successful businesses is the ability to adapt corporate strategy to face current and future circumstances. Strategic planning is foundational in building the company’s future. Is your business in need of a catalyst to assist in carving out strategic direction? Is your company dealing with recessionary conditions? Are you in need of restructuring or a new strategic plan? Does your business structure keep you tied to your office when you should be out meeting with prospective new customers or engaging with existing customers to understand their future requirements? Essential Business Consulting will help you build a strategic plan that provides the confidence of knowing you’re on the right path and the determination to achieve your goals.
Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
Essential Business Consulting can help your company with the M&A process.
Essential Business Consulting can help your company with the M&A process.
Essential Business Consulting can help your company with the M&A process.
If you’re a BUYER, we can assist with:
Essential Business Consulting can help your company with the M&A process.
Essential Business Consulting can help your company with the M&A process.
1. Identifying potential M&A candidates
2. Drafting the LOI & Confidentiality Agreements
3. Discussions with potential target(s)
4. Financial Modeling of Business Combination
5. Conducting Due Diligence
6. Drafting a deal outline
7. Negotiating/Drafting Employment Contracts for Key Personnel
8. Negotiating/Drafting the Offer to Purchase (assets or shares)
9. Reviewing the Share Purchase Agreement or Asset Purchase Agreement
10. Reviewing Closing documentation
If you’re a SELLER, we can assist with:
Essential Business Consulting can help your company with the M&A process.
If you’re a SELLER, we can assist with:
1. Preparing a Confidential Information Memorandum
2. Preparing Financial Forecasts
3. Estimating Enterprise Value & Market Value
4. Identifying potential buyers
5. Preparing a Confidential Electronic Data Room
6. Analyzing offers
7. Conducting Due Diligence on the prospective purchaser, if necessary
8. Financial Modeling of After-Tax Return On Investment
9. Negotiating the terms of the Offer to Purchase (assets or shares)
10. Preparing documentation required by the Seller to be included in the Share Purchase Agreement or Asset Purchase Agreement
11. Review Closing documentation