Every year The Siress Group selects a good cause to either donate their time or money. From rebuilding Silicon Valley, to handing out food at The Harvest Food Bank giving back is part of the core values of The Siress Group. This year, Jena Siress-McCelleis is donating her time as the VP of Finance on the Board of Directors of San Jose Parents Participating Nursery School (SJPPNS). Jena is used to managing the finances of companies so this is a perfect fit for her skill set and the needs of the school.

For more information about The Siress Group, our team and our services, visit our website at www.TheSiressGroup.com

Policies and Procedures are a significant piece of the financial infrastructure of any company. There are three areas of focus for this post that are common to small business:

1) Credit policy - If your company has problems with cash flow, has write offs for uncollectible accounts, or has a significant amount of accounts receivable over 45 days, you should consider implementing a credit policy and procedure. This process will provide information necessary for you to make an educated decision on extending credit to a prospective client/customer.

2) Revenue Recognition - If your company is not on the cash basis of accounting and you are recording revenue prematurely, you may be paying too much tax. Implementing a revenue recognition policy will ensure your revenue is recorded when it should be resulting in the correct Net Income and related tax liabilities.

3) Inventory - If your company has inventory a complete physical inventory should be conducted at year end. This policy ensures an accurate record of the inventory is used as the basis for a cost of goods sold calculation. An incorrect cost of good sold calculation can result in over or under reporting income, which will also result in over or under paying tax.

For further information on implementing policies and procedures for your company, contact The Siress Group, Inc.

What do we do after April 15th?
We take this time to reflect on how we did, what we could do differently, how we can save our clients money and how we might be able to better serve them.
Ideas we have come up with are
*budgeting with clients during this changing economy,
*recommending clients dispose of assets no longer in service to reduce property taxes
*work with clients in calculating minimum revenue requirements to sustain existing expenses, and
*compiling and paying quarterly tax to reduce penalties

It’s time to briefly look at the past in order to make plans for the future. The Siress Group over the next few months will be performing this task for all clients, individuals, corporation, partnerships, etc…

For businesses we help reconcile the balance sheet to ensure your financial statements are accurate. The process includes posting adjustments and tracing amounts to year end balances. We also perform a comparative analysis of clients income statements to review and research potential large variances.

For individuals we look at your tax documents and the current law changes to ensure we maximize on the benefits. We look at their withholdings, and potential tax payments, and with their help we project for 2009.