Advocate Accounting & Bus

Description

A. Even if you or your staff has the time and skill to maintain your company’s books and other records, you still need an accountant to set up your Chart of Accounts, to provide analysis of your financial results, to assure your compliance with all tax requirements, and to provide an objective and knowledgeable overview over the work being performed internally. This outside perspective is also your best protection against theft, embezzlement, or any type of misappropriation of your funds. Your accountant can also help you gauge whether your volume of accounts receivable and payable, payroll, and other record-keeping and reporting can be handled in house by a part-time or full-time book-keeper or whether these activities can be more cost-effectively outsourced. If internal record-keeping and related services are indicated, it’s wise to involve your external accounting firm in the hiring, training, and support for your developing accounting department.

When you rely on Advocate for Accounts Receivable services, you’ll emerge with a more complete account history and documentation for both you and your customer than most businesses are able to develop on their own. And with Accounts Receivable typically amounting to anywhere from 21% to 34% of a company’s assets, it’s important to keep your customers current, maximize your cash flow, and be in a position to demonstrate professionalism, efficiency, and accurate documentation (especially in the case of disputes).

Jim Sherman, Advocate's Founder and CEO, has been a CPA for more than 20 years. Graduated with honors from Northern Illinois University, Jim began his accounting career at Centel Corporation, a Fortune 500 telecommunications organization. After eight years there in positions of increasing responsibility, he left for a $3.5 billion division of Sprint Corporation, first as assistant treasurer and then acting treasurer, becoming a leading contributor to a $50 million cost savings project. In 1996, the Chief Financial Officer position lured him to a $90 million independent national transportation and distribution company. By renegotiating corporate debt and slashing expenses, he not only helped save the company from bankruptcy, but turned a deficit of $4 million to a profit of $2 million in two years, positioning the company for sale. Then Jim spent six years at Mitsubishi Corporation, a $300 billion conglomerate, as Chief Financial Officer of a $250 million division, before taking the entrepreneurial leap of founding Advocate.

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