The Exuberant Accountant - Scott Heintzelman

Supply Chain Management: Invest in Your Suppliers

Lean manufacturing is a term that has gained great exposure during the last 10 years. If you know about Lean, you’ve probably heard about reducing waste of all kinds on factory floors through improved processing efficiencies. What you may not know is that Lean philosophy can be applied to other parts of your operations as well as Supply Chain Management.

A Supply Chain review is a great opportunity to dispose of waste and make processes more efficient. Even if you have a “Leaned Out” factory floor, the Supply Chain provides numerous opportunities for improvement.

Summer Reading List: Do Something to Change Your Life

Most people that know me know how much I love to read.  I think reading can change your life.  Charlie “Tremendous” Jones had a great quote that I have shared on this blog before.  He often said, “You are today what you will be five years from now, except for the people you meet and the books you read.”  There is a direct correlation between the books you read and the success you achieve. The more you learn, the more opportunities you will have to earn. 

One of the most frequent questions that I get is, “What are you reading?”  I happen to love that question and really enjoy sharing those books that are impacting me.  I try to keep my Shelfari website up to date and you can check it out any time.  But if you want my one book to read this summer that will impact your life, I suggest you read The Go-Giver.

Dale High: CEO of High Industries

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with Dale High, chairman of Lancaster County's High Companies and founder of the S. Dale High Center for Family Business at Elizabethtown College. As we talked, I was amazed at what Dale has done within both the business world and the community. I am honored to highlight him as part of my continuing series of Servant Leaders.

The High Companies offer a broad range of exceptional manufacturing, real estate, construction, and business services and products to companies and is widely recognized for its reputation in customer service, quality products and services, personal and corporate integrity, and beauty in projects affecting the environment.

Manufacturing Sales by Creating Uncontested Market Space

In the second McKonomics Podcast, I interview John Lloyd, President and CEO of MANTEC who discusses why the manufacturing sector plays such a big part in our economy and get some tips on what best practices manufacturers can implement to improve performance.  Click here to learn more about Manufacturing Sales by Creating Uncontested Market Space.

The McKonomics Podcast Series will continue in coming weeks with an in-depth look at the Construction industry. Stay tuned as I plan to interview other experts in the fields that impact our economy the most.

Cash for Clunkers

Last week the Senate passed a bill called “Cash for Clunkers.”  If you have not yet heard of this bill and wonder “could it really mean the government giving cash to people to turn in their clunker car?”  You are correct.

The program is designed to offer $3,500 or $4,500 cash rebates to NEW car buyers who turn in older, less fuel-efficient models.  The idea being that this will jump-start the car market.  The proposed program is limited to $1 billion and expires in October or November.

Entrepreneur Magazine Highlights The Exuberant Accountant Blog

Entrepreneur Magazine recently highlighted four “Accounting Blogs” that “can help you gain a better understanding of your business finances,” and this blog made that very short list.  When I told my wife about getting a little recognition from Entrepreneur, she of course was excited.  Then indicated that she would tell her Mom.  This made me laugh as I thought of the wonderful quote, “That behind every great man…is a surprised mother-in-law.”

In all seriousness, my wife, family, and my partners have been very supportive of this blog and the extra time I spend to produce the content.  Any accolades are the result of this team effort and I want to thank them.  Also, thanks to many of you who correspond with me in support of the topics I have written about or to suggest other ideas you would like me to discuss.

The mission of this blog is to educate business leaders and if you know of others, who would benefit from this content, encourage them to subscribe to this complimentary blog and never miss an update.

SBA and the ARC (America’s Recovery Capital) Loan Program

I recently wrote about the Stimulus Funds and the USDA loan programs.  That post created a large amount of feedback and questions, so I thought I would follow up with some changes happening to the SBA (Small Business Administration) program.

In May, the SBA announced a new program called America’s Recovery Capital (ARC) Loan. This interest free loan program is for “Viable Small Businesses” with an “Immediate Financial Hardship.”  These loans are funded by banks and are guaranteed by the SBA.  The purpose of this loan is to help businesses make periodic principal and interest payments for a 6-month term on outstanding debt that is not past due.  The terms include a maximum loan amount of $35,000, 0% interest, a 12-month payment deferment, and a 5-year amortization.  

ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan): An Excellent Business Succession Strategy

Due to a lack of succession planning, many businesses dissolve when the founder retires, becomes disabled, or dies.  Traditional succession plans include going public, selling to management, or selling to a strategic investor (i.e., one who believes that acquiring the target company will enhance the value of its own business).  But going public is not realistic for most closely held or family businesses; managers rarely have the capital to buy the business and strategic investors may not be willing to offer a fair price or payment terms and will often change or eliminate the target company's identity.  Another method of business succession planning is creating an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) to buy all or part of the business.

Pennsylvania Considering Tax Hike?

Like most states, Pennsylvania is looking at a huge deficit as it prepares its budget for the new fiscal year.  Most estimates put this number around $3 billion.  That is not a small amount of money to make up and to date many proposed solutions are floating around.

The Senate Republicans have put forth a budget that includes no tax increases but does include a large decrease in spending.  The House Democrats have proposed a tax increase to make up the shortfall.  What appears to be a compromise that is gaining momentum and supported by Governor Ed Rendell is a temporary 10% increase to the personal income tax rate to 3.37% for three years.  There is precedent for this type of one-time increase, as we did a very similar increase in 1983 and 1991.

LIFO Inventory: At Risk to be Repealed

I work with numerous manufacturing and distribution companies and several of them use LIFO (last in first out) to value inventory.  President Obama's 2010 Budget lists the repeal of LIFO starting in 2012 as a possible source of funding to finance his proposed universal health care legislation.

Recently the LIFO Coalition members met with members of the Senate Finance Committee and/or their aides and they have expressed the possibility of the repeal of LIFO to be very real.