In today’s fast-paced and competitive market, companies must always be conscious of ways to increase their revenue and improve profit margins. With tighter budgets and rising costs, working efficiently and saving money is more important than ever. One powerful tool that helps businesses achieve these goals is Sage Intacct, a cloud-based financial management software.
Sage Intacct provides businesses with automation and integration capabilities. This can transform how companies handle their financial operations. Below, we’ll explore how using automation and integration with Sage Intacct can lead to real financial improvements, from boosting revenue to cutting costs.
The Impact of Automation and Integration on Revenue and Margin
Core Benefits
Automation and integration are key to improving financial performance, and Sage Intacct makes it easy for businesses to take advantage of these benefits. Here are a few ways it helps:
Reducing Operational Inefficiencies: With automation, many manual tasks can be streamlined or even eliminated. This saves time and reduces the risk of human error, allowing your team to focus on higher-value work.
Enhancing Data Accuracy and Accessibility: By integrating different systems into Sage Intacct, businesses can ensure all their financial data is up-to-date and accessible in one place. This means fewer mistakes, more reliable financial reports, and quicker decision-making.
Streamlining Financial Processes: Automation speeds up time-consuming processes like invoicing, payroll, and financial reporting. This leads to faster turnaround times, improving cash flow and boosting your bottom line.
Business Stability
In tough economic times, businesses that maintain strong revenues and healthy margins are more likely to stay afloat.
Automation and integration with Sage Intacct can help companies remain stable by cutting unnecessary costs, improving efficiency, and providing a clear picture of financial health. When your company can quickly adapt and respond to changing market conditions, it’s better prepared to handle unexpected challenges.
Forrester interviewed four companies that implemented Sage Intacct, combining their experiences into a composite organization—a North American tech services company with $30 million in annual revenue and 100 employees. The organizations described how, before Sage Intacct, their financial systems were fragmented. They relied on legacy systems like Oracle NetSuite and QuickBooks, along with manual processes that required extra labor to fill in data gaps.
After switching to Sage Intacct, these companies gained real-time financial visibility and accurate data. The platform’s automation allowed them to analyze their financials without adding staff, saving time and resources. Forrester calculated a three-year margin benefit of $598,500, with a present value of $496,127.
In their previous setups, the companies had to hire more personnel as they grew. But with Sage Intacct, they streamlined processes, improved integration, and avoided increasing headcount. One CFO noted that thanks to the platform, they didn’t expect to hire any more accounting staff soon, even with significant company growth. Automation also helped these companies meet GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) standards and improve reporting accuracy, reducing the need for costly external accounting services.
Forrester’s analysis assumes that a typical company using Sage Intacct has five key financial staff members and avoids hiring two more employees, saving $105,000 per year per employee. Adjusting for risks such as prior systems, growth rates, and salary variations, Forrester estimated a risk-adjusted present value of $496,127 over three years.
Quantifying the Financial Benefits
Automation and Billing Efficiency
Sage Intacct excels in improving billing accuracy and efficiency.
Many businesses struggle with time-consuming and error-prone manual billing processes. Sage Intacct helps you reduce the chance of mistakes (like overbilling or underbilling clients), which can lead to lost revenue or strained relationships with your customers.
Automating billing also speeds up the process. It can ensure invoices are sent on time, payments are collected faster, and cash flow is steady. These improvements lead to healthier profit margins when businesses can save time, reduce errors, and get paid sooner.
Labor Cost Savings
One of the most immediate financial benefits of automation with Sage Intacct is the reduction in labor costs. Automating routine tasks like data entry, reporting, and reconciliations eliminates the need to hire or maintain more staff to handle these tasks.
For example, a business might save the equivalent of one full-time employee’s salary, potentially around $50,000 a year, by automating a few key financial operations. Over time, these savings can add up. They allow businesses to redirect resources toward their more strategic initiatives.
Increased Financial Accuracy
Sage Intacct’s automation tools ensure compliance with GAAP standards. They help businesses avoid costly mistakes and ensure accurate and compliant financial reports.
Accurate financial reporting is essential for decision-making and investor relations. By reducing errors and providing up-to-date, reliable information, your business can make informed choices that protects its bottom line and ensures long-term financial stability.
Leveraging Sage Intacct for Strategic Growth
Supporting High Growth
One of the challenges for growing businesses is managing an increasing level of financial complexity without expanding their finance teams.
Sage Intacct lets businesses scale without hiring more staff, as automation takes care of many manual processes. With efficient workflows, you can handle more transactions, manage more data, and produce detailed financial reports with the same size team.
Investor Confidence
Investors need to trust the financial health of the companies they invest in, and Sage Intacct provides the reporting accuracy and compliance features that build this confidence.
With Sage Intacct’s robust financial reporting tools, businesses can easily provide investors with clear, accurate, and timely reports that reflect their true financial position. This transparency can influence your ability to attract and retain investors, especially during periods of rapid growth.
Optimizing Cash Flow Management
Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business. Sage Intacct’s automation in areas like Accounts Payable (AP), Accounts Receivable (AR), and reconciliations allows businesses to stay on top of their cash flow.
By automating these processes, businesses can speed up collections, avoid late payments, and ensure accurate financial records. This improved cash flow management helps businesses make better investment decisions. It also ensures businesses have the funds available to take advantage of opportunities that arise.
Flexible and Configurable Financial Management
Customizable Workflows
Every business is unique, and Sage Intacct recognizes this by offering customizable workflows that fit each organization’s specific needs. Whether it’s automating approval processes, customizing reports, or integrating with other software systems, Sage Intacct’s platform can be tailored to meet your business’s needs, no matter what size you are or industry you’re in. This flexibility ensures that the software works for your business, not the other way around.
Adapting to Business Evolution
As businesses grow and evolve, their financial management needs change. Sage Intacct is designed to scale with your business, offering the ability to add features, modules, or integrations as needed.
This adaptability is crucial for businesses looking to stay agile and responsive in a changing marketplace. With Sage Intacct, businesses can rest assured that their financial system will support their growth and evolve alongside them.
Conclusion
In today’s competitive business landscape, efficiency and accuracy are essential for profitability. Sage Intacct accounting software offers powerful automation and integration tools that enable businesses to reduce costs, improve accuracy, and scale effectively.
From streamlining billing processes to instilling investor confidence through comprehensive reporting, this platform empowers businesses to improve their bottom line and support growth. By leveraging automation, your team can focus more on strategic decision-making and less on manual tasks, setting the stage for long-term success.
If you’re ready to implement Sage Intacct, Lavoie CPA can guide you. As a direct implementer, we’ll help you unlock the full potential of Sage Intacct, tailoring it to fit your specific business needs. Contact us to learn how we can optimize your financial management processes.
HealthTech is one of the most dynamic and rapidly evolving industries. Financial planning plays a crucial role in helping companies not only survive but thrive in this complex landscape.
Because HealthTech companies face a wide range of challenges and opportunities, they require customized financial strategies to manage their growth, comply with regulations, and sustain innovation.
Understanding the HealthTech Landscape
HealthTech is experiencing unprecedented growth for several reasons: technological advances, an increased demand for personalized care, and a greater focus on preventive health.
Meanwhile, trends like telemedicine, wearable devices, and AI-powered diagnostics are creating new opportunities—and challenges—for companies. HealthTech companies can remain competitive and innovative by staying on top of current trends.
Regulatory Considerations
Healthcare regulations are constantly changing, and between HIPAA, international standards, and FDA approval requirements, keeping on top of these regulations is more than a full-time job.
HealthTech companies must be proactive. Understanding regulatory requirements and staying on top of changes will help companies design products and services that are legally compliant from the outset, reducing the risk of delays and cost overruns.
Funding Environment
The landscape for HealthTech financing is robust. These companies often receive investments from venture capitalists, angel investors, and strategic partners who want to be on the ground floor of the next smartwatch EKG or AI diagnostic tool.
But securing funding isn’t always easy. It requires a solid business plan, a demonstrable value proposition, and clear pathways to profitability. Understanding each investor’s preferences and criteria can help you tailor pitches and improve your chances of securing funding.
Key Components of Strategic Financial Planning
Budgeting and Forecasting
It’s essential for any business to accurately budget and forecast—but the stakes are far higher in competitive industries like HealthTech. Companies must account for regulatory costs, R&D expenses, and market expansion.
This means you need dynamic forecasting models that adjust to both outside market conditions and your internal company performance. This helps leaders make time-sensitive strategic decisions while enabling your company to adapt to whatever the future has in store.
Lavoie CPA can help with your HealthTech financial planning needs. We’re a direct implementer of Sage Intacct, a leading cloud-based financial management software. Our outsourced accounting services let you seamlessly integrate Sage Intacct into your management software. You’re able to see nearly limitless perspectives of your company’s finances with just a few clicks.
Cash Flow Management
Effective cash flow management is the lifeblood of HealthTech companies. It ensures these companies can meet their financial obligations while also investing in growth opportunities.
This means meticulously tracking revenues and expenses and doing what you can to reduce operational costs. You’ll also need to maintain enough liquidity to weather any unexpected financial challenges. Two essential practices to avoid running into liquidity crises are (1) implementing cash flow forecasts and (2) setting up emergency funds.
Capital Allocation
Strategic decisions on a company’s capital allocation will determine its long-term success. HealthTech companies need to prioritize their investments in high-impact areas like R&D, technology infrastructure, and market expansion. These sectors are the most likely ones to drive sustainable growth.
Companies should also regularly review their capital allocation decisions to ensure resources are directed toward the most promising opportunities. These decisions should be regularly reviewed and adjusted as the company’s strategy evolves.
Risk Assessment and Mitigation
Identifying and mitigating financial risks is crucial. HealthTech companies face unique risks from frequent regulatory changes, technological obsolescence, and market competition.
Developing robust risk management frameworks can help mitigate these risks and safeguard a company’s financial stability. This framework includes conducting regular risk assessments, implementing internal controls, and developing and testing contingency plans.
Funding Strategies for HealthTech Companies
HealthTech companies can acquire funding from a variety of sources. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach here—from venture capital to government grants, the right approach for your business will depend on your needs and goals.
Venture Capital
One of the main sources of funding for HealthTech startups is venture capital (VC). And not only do VCs provide capital, but they can also lend their industry expertise and help companies make valuable connections.
But securing VC funding requires a compelling business model and clear growth trajectory. Company leaders should continually work on building strong relationships with venture capitalists and understanding their expectations. By knowing your target audience, you’ll be able to adjust your pitch and enhance the chances of securing an investment.
Angel Investors
Angel investors can provide early-stage funding and mentorship to HealthTech startups.
Building these relationships, especially with angel investors who have HealthTech experience, can help your company gain early traction and navigate initial market challenges. Angel investors often offer more flexible terms than VCs. They can also be crucial for bridging the gap between the seed stage and larger funding rounds.
Government Grants and Incentives
Many federal and state governments offer grants and incentives to support HealthTech innovation.
It’s important for companies to explore opportunities for non-dilutive funding, which can reduce financial pressure and support critical R&D activities. Keeping track of the grants available and understanding the application processes can help you boost your company’s balance sheet without diluting ownership.
Strategic Partnerships
Companies that form strategic partnerships with established healthcare organizations can gain access to capital, industry knowledge, and market channels. These partnerships can accelerate a new company’s growth and enhance its credibility in the market. Strategic partnerships and collaborations can also lead to shared resources, co-development opportunities, and access to new customer bases.
Financial Metrics and KPIs for HealthTech
Being able to calculate key performance indicators can give you an instant snapshot of your company’s health. Some of the measures you can track using Sage Intacct include:
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
As the name implies, CAC measures the cost of acquiring a new customer. The lower a company’s CAC, the better—and of course, keeping current customers is generally cheaper than acquiring new ones.
By optimizing marketing and sales strategies, HealthTech companies can lower their CAC and improve their profitability. Using platforms like Sage Intacct can help you analyze the effectiveness of different acquisition channels. This will let you allocate your company’s marketing budgets as efficiently as possible.
Lifetime Value (LTV)
LTV estimates the total revenue generated from a customer over their engagement period. A company’s long-term success relies on maximizing LTV through excellent customer service and continuous innovation. Implementing customer retention strategies and offering value-added services can also increase LTV.
Burn Rate
Burn rate measures the rate at which a company spends its capital. HealthTech companies must monitor their burn rate closely to secure enough runway to achieve key milestones and get additional funding.
Understanding your company’s burn rate to cash reserve ratio can prevent you from running into any unexpected financial crises. It will also ensure sustainable growth.
Regulatory Compliance Costs
Complying with healthcare regulations is necessary but expensive.
And because non-compliance can land you in legal hot water and rack up hefty fines, it’s essential to track these expenses closely. You can mitigate your risk of non-compliance by allocating enough resources for all necessary compliance activities and staying updated with regulatory changes.
Balancing Innovation and Financial Stability
There’s never enough funding to do everything; a company’s innovations and investments must be balanced with their need for financial stability.
R&D Investment Strategies
Companies should prioritize projects that have the highest potential for market impact and return on investment. Developing a structured R&D process and regularly reviewing your project portfolio can help you make informed investment decisions.
Scaling Operations Efficiently
Companies must optimize their operational processes to ensure their infrastructure can support growth without compromising quality. Always strive to optimize by implementing lean management practices and regularly reviewing and improving your processes.
Managing Intellectual Property
Protecting intellectual property (IP) is another crucial task. HealthTech companies must invest in robust IP management strategies to safeguard their innovations and stay competitive. This includes securing patents, trademarks, and copyrights and tracking potential infringements.
Exit Strategies and Long-Term Planning
Once your company has begun to enjoy some success, it’s time to make an exit plan. Even if you’d like to stick with this company for a while, it’s always good to have options at your disposal.
An initial public offering (IPO) can give HealthTech companies both capital and visibility. Preparing for an IPO involves rigorous financial planning, regulatory compliance, and strategic positioning. Companies must ensure their financial statements are audit-ready and their governance structures are robust enough to meet the market’s expectations.
Meanwhile, long-term sustainability requires a focus on continuous innovation, financial prudence, and market adaptation. Regularly reviewing and updating your company’s strategic plan will ensure it remains agile and can adapt to changing market conditions.
In Closing
Effective financial planning is the cornerstone of success in HealthTech, and having an expert by your side is one of the best ways to keep track of your financial metrics. At Lavoie CPA, we understand the unique challenges and opportunities in HealthTech, making us a go-to financial partner for companies at all stages of growth.
As this sector continues to evolve, companies that prioritize robust financial planning will be well-positioned to capitalize on emerging opportunities and drive industry innovation. Give Lavoie CPA a call or contact us to start the conversation.
We are excited to share with you a transcript from a recent podcast episode in which our founder, Sharai Lavoie, was interviewed by Julie Bee on her show “They Don’t Teach This in Business School.” In this insightful and inspiring conversation, Sharai shares her experiences in powering through burnout, the transformation in how she defines success, and the importance of her team at Lavoie CPA PLLC. We believe you will find valuable insights and advice from Sharai’s journey as a business owner, visionary, and community leader. Visit this link to listen.
In this podcast episode, we talked about:
Powering through burnout
Transformation in defining success
Importance of a strong team
Monetizing passions and interests
Community involvement and charitable efforts
Balancing visionary work with daily operations
The value of key employees
Resilience and dedication of the team
Managing workload and personal growth
Coping with burnout through spirituality and determination
Transcript
[00:00:00] Julie Bee – Host: On today’s episode, I talk with Sharai Lavoie about powering through burnout, the transformation, and how she defined it. And the importance of her team. I’m Julie B, and they don’t teach this in business school.[00:00:16] Midroll Spot: Every week, Julie sends out big ideas and easy actions that help elevate your business. She also shares some awesomeness happening in the business community.
Make sure to subscribe to the Be Awesome brief@bjulieb.com.
[00:00:34] Julie Bee – Host: Hey there, I’m Julie B, and this is, They Don’t Teach This In Business School. On this podcast, we discussed the behind-the-scenes of being a business owner. Today I’m really excited to interview Sharai Lavoie, the CEO of Lavoie, CPA. And I’m really looking forward to this because I know we’re gonna have some really fun conversations and also learn a lot about being a business owner.
So Sharai, thanks for being here. And yeah, [00:01:00] why don’t you just, let’s start off with telling me about your business and your role in the business.
[00:01:04] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: So we’ve been around for over 13 years now, going on 14 years. And we are a financial operations management firm. We don’t do taxes, and we don’t do an audit. We do partner with different firms on that side of things, depending on the size of the company or client that we’re working with.
So it’s a lot going on, but it all intertwines into each other. I thoroughly enjoy it. So I’m responsible for the direction, the [00:02:00] business development, the pivots that happen all the time. Mm-hmm. , staffing, and everything, and I have an absolutely fabulous team. That helps.
[00:02:10] Julie Bee – Host: So That’s awesome. So what is your favorite part about being a business owner?[00:02:16] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: You know what, it’s because my favorite part of being a business owner is that I get to monetize what I love to do. I love to help people. I love to clean stuff up. I love to see things get going, and I love to see reimagine life. What could be, what’s the, what’s the next level, what could be, and I love all that stuff.
And being a business owner and what we do allows me to do that in multiple places and with multiple people. And apply lessons learned. So that part of it I love. And I also love being able to use our organization for community [00:03:00] good and charitable purposes too, because I, that’s a big part of me in this.
I think having that extension of the business is really good too.
[00:03:09] Julie Bee – Host: So I wanna ask you a question about the work that you described. I, I would put into the class the visionary elements of being a business owner. How do you make sure that you have the time, the space, and the capacity to actually do that work?
Because I know for a lot of business owners, that’s so often the stuff that gets put aside or put on the back burner, even though it’s probably the most important work we can do. How do you make sure that you have the capacity to do those things?
[00:03:38] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: If we’re talking about for me. Mm-hmm. Yeah, for the company, that’s an ongoing thing.
Sometimes that happens on Saturdays, but honestly, it happens all the time. And so I’ve tried to get into a habit of writing those things down instead of thinking that I have to have focus time because those visionary things are [00:04:00] things I get to do with my clients. Mm-hmm. But when it comes to it, it’s kinda like the carpenter’s house, right?
Mm-hmm. , when it comes to your own, You kind of ignore it sometimes, but it always comes back when you step on that nail, and you’re like, I gotta get that done. Mm-hmm. So for that, I think about it all the time. I doubt if there’s a time that I’m not thinking about it. Mm-hmm. , because I always tell the staff, like, I’m already over there.
I’m just trying to get things done so that you guys can get over there with me, and so I’m usually always thinking about those things. They’re always in the back of my mind. It’s just that I don’t necessarily say I’m gonna block two hours to. Think about this today, which I probably should, but I don’t.
[00:04:46] Julie Bee – Host: Whatever works as long as we’re getting to it. I think that that’s the main thing. I think, you know, there’s a lot of systems and processes out there, and don’t get me wrong, I love a good system and a good process, but I think you have to find, you know, you find pieces and parts of what’s offered out [00:05:00] there and make it work for you, and you kind of create your own process along the way.
So I think as long as you’re doing the work you love to do and getting to be that visionary, that’s what really.
[00:05:09] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: Yeah, I would agree with that.[00:05:11] Julie Bee – Host: Totally. You’ve mentioned your team several times, and would you talk a little bit about how important your key employees are to you and maybe also some moments that you’re particularly proud of that they’ve, that they’ve done over the past year or so?[00:05:27] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: I take my team very seriously. I guess I could say they’re extremely important cause there’s no way you. The firm would be where it is right now. I would be where I am right, right now without them. Mm-hmm. , and you know, we do have some very key employees, but everybody plays a part. I always try to make sure everybody understands that no matter what you’re doing, you’re playing a huge part in a much bigger picture.
And so to take that as seriously as you possibly can [00:06:00] is what we should do. And I would have to say that, you know, Matt Dewal has been instrumental. Mm-hmm. in a lot of that too. And he has just really, we play off each other very well. Be it, him being part of the team has just made a huge difference and allowed us to do some really good springboarding on that side. And we always have these aha moments where we’re texting each other back and forth about the next thing to do. So they have been, they’re kind of everything, and I, I let them know that I really do care about them and I care about their development and. Being at OI isn’t what’s the best thing for them.
I wanna see what’s best for them. And so I don’t take that part personally because I actually care about the individual, and I want what’s best for the individual.
[00:06:55] Julie Bee – Host: Is there anything that you can think of off the top of your head that you’re particularly proud of [00:07:00] your team?[00:07:01] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: They’re resilient.
I would say I am so proud of their resilience and, actually, their service. If there’s anything community-wise, or client-wise, it doesn’t matter what it is; they are willing to jump in. And help out in any way. And it’s like 800 times outside of the scope of our work, but they will still jump in to help.
And that is, I think that says a lot about them, but they’re extremely proud of that.
[00:07:36] Midroll Spot: Julie has spoken to countless organizations for 13 years on topics including leadership, management, employee engagement, and. Workplace culture, small business ownership, and entrepreneurship. If you’d like it, an engaging, relatable, and inspiring speaker for your next event.
Book Julie to speak to your group for more details@thejulieb.com. [00:08:00][00:08:00] Julie Bee – Host: Hey, this is Julie Bee, and you’re listening to They Don’t Teach This and Business School. I’m here today with Sharai Lavoie. Hopefully, I said that right. This time I’m getting closer. , we were laughing. Yes. Before we were laughing before. Because I, I’ve known you for many years, and I’ve been mispronouncing your name, and it’s, I feel bad, but you know, you, you, you live and learn.
But anyways, I wanted to ask you, you know, we’ve talked about it.
[00:08:24] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: That doesn’t mean I love you any less. Julie.[00:08:26] Julie Bee – Host: I love you too, and I’m so glad I finally asked you to pronounce your name for me. You know, I think we, we, I can’t remember exactly where we met. I think we met through a networking event, and then we did 10 K s B.
You know, we’ve both gone through the 10k, the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, and we’ve talked several times, but I’ve never asked you to say your name for me. I always just knew your name, and so I would come in thinking, I, thinking I knew how to say your name. So anyway, it’s just these funny little things in business.
After 14 years, you think, I know, think you would have it figured out. [00:09:00] Sharai, I wanted to ask you, you know, we talked about some of the fun stuff about being a business owner, but I wanted to make sure to ask you if you have any, any experience with going through burnout as a business owner, and if you’d be willing to share any of those stories.
I’d
[00:09:13] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: I probably go through a regular cycle of burnout, but burnout is what then pushes me to the next level of things because one thing that I did determine When I get to burnout and I don’t address it, I will probably be in therapy every two seconds along that side. So I finally decided that you know what?
I have got to put my big girl panties on and get through this on that side. I am a spiritual person, believe it or not, and so I’m like, you know what, guys got me this far. He’s gonna get me through the rest. I can have me. Pity party if that’s what I wanna do because that’s the selfishness of what I wanna do.
But at the same [00:10:00] time, I should always have a plan A, B, and C. Mm-hmm. And so if A doesn’t work, I go to B. If B doesn’t work, I go to C. And if C doesn’t work, I go back. I. Always stay in prayer, but I go to prayer. Mm-hmm. , and then, you know, a comes back up again. So burnout is something I think, as a business owner, you will always experience just because of all the things that are on your shoulders.
Right. I’ve just come to the conclusion that I have to; I can sit in it for a minute, but that’s all I have is a minute. I don’t have any longer than that because I don’t want it to paralyze me. Mm-hmm. Personally and mentally, I don’t want it to paralyze the business, so I have to figure out a way to get out of that.
Mm-hmm. And for me, it’s more on a spiritual level because it’s more of, you have to get this. If the quickest way to get me to do something is to tell me, I can’t. And so [00:11:00] motivation. Yep. Great. Yeah. If you tell me, no, that’s not suited for you, or no, you can’t mm-hmm. , I will put it in your face every time. So that is the quickest way to get me to do something.
But, so because that drives me, and that sense of things is my own internal overachievement wanting to accomplish. Burnout becomes something that I know is gonna happen. Mm-hmm. , but I also have started conditioning myself as to how to push through it. And I hope that answers your question.
[00:11:34] Julie Bee – Host: I have a couple of follow-up questions, but that is pretty much the summary of what I hope business owners see after they read the book that I’ve written about burnout when it comes out next year.
But it sounds like you have accepted that burnout is going to be part of your life. Usually, on the other side of getting through burnout, you might have a breakthrough in the business of some sort. Is that fair? Are those fair statements? That is very
[00:11:58] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: fair. Yeah. [00:12:00] Very fair.[00:12:00] Julie Bee – Host: How do you recognize that you’re in burnout?
Like, what, what is going on in your, you know, in your, just in your mind or in your, in your body or whatever? Like how do you know you’re
[00:12:09] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: in burnout? I know I’m in burnout when everything is irritating. I am very much a person who, if you can’t have fun doing it, you shouldn’t be doing it. Mm-hmm. At all. I mean, nothing should feel like work.
It shouldn’t feel like work. And if it feels like work, you probably need to do something else. And when it starts feeling like work and things are irritating me. I know I’m getting to that place of burnout because I’m not already iterating on the next thing so that it doesn’t irritate me. Mm-hmm. And so that’s how I know that I’m getting there.
Mm-hmm. And I know, okay, I need to take a moment. And get this together, even if that’s staying here at the office after everyone is left so I can have my little pity cry [00:13:00] party and then go home to my family whole mm-hmm. , then that’s what I need to do. But that’s, those are the triggers that. I know that when it’s coming.
I know it’s coming.
[00:13:11] Julie Bee – Host: You know, you also said something really important there, Sherry, about if you know it’s coming, but you might stay at the office and work late. And I think the reason I wanna highlight that very particular point is I’ve had a burnout that’s put me into that I, that I went to the emergency room for because I thought I had a heart attack.
Ha. It was a panic attack. And the cardiologist I saw basically said, do less. You know, take a vacation, take a break, take it, take it a little easier. Which is not bad advice, right? It’s not bad advice. And telling a business owner that is like just. Pouring gasoline on a fire. It’s so important to recognize that in yourself that if you know, working through whatever the problem [00:14:00] is, or spending a little bit more time at work might be the way that you actually get on the other side of burnout is so.
Crucial. I just wanted to the point that out because I think that’s very important. I
[00:14:10] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: I agree with you because I love what you said about it; it’s like pouring gasoline on the fire. Mm-hmm. Because if you tell me if I know I’m at that point and you’re like, okay, you just need to disconnect. Well, when I disconnect and go on vacation, guess what I’m thinking about the whole time?
Every single. The thing that I know is gonna be there when I get back. And if I can just carve out 15 minutes, I can get this part done. I can address this. Whereas if you just come up with a plan to get yourself to a good point and then go on vacation, then you can breathe. Mm-hmm. And when people tell you to disconnect and do all these things, it’s easy to say it.
It. A hundred percent harder to do when you know that you’ve left strings loose. And also [00:15:00] when you know that. Your team isn’t at their peak where they, you know, it’s covered like when you get back. It’s not gonna be if you disconnect; I find it very hard to completely disconnect. But if you do disconnect when you come back, that it’s not gonna be a tsunami, right.
Of things that are coming at you. Because, for me, that creates anxiety. Like that part. So for me, just powering through it, getting to a good point, and then I can not let that be a worry in my mind and lose sleep over it. And then
[00:15:33] Julie Bee – Host: you could actually start recovering from burnout,[00:15:35] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: basically. Exactly. Yeah.
Yeah.
[00:15:37] Midroll Spot: Each and every week, Julie sends out big ideas and easy actions that help elevate yours. She’ll also share some awesomeness happening in the business community. Don’t miss out. Subscribe to the B awesome breed@djulieb.com.[00:15:55] Julie Bee – Host: You’re listening to They Don’t Teach This in Business School, and I’m the host, Julie Bee, I [00:16:00] wanted to ask you, so we just talked about some deep stuff about burnout, and I wanted to ask you something that, that hopefully is a little bit lighter.
How do you define it?
[00:16:13] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: It is an ongoing conversation.[00:16:16] Julie Bee – Host: I asked the deep questions here. That’s what I do.[00:16:18] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: You do? That is like an ongoing conversation. You know what? I’m here, and I’m still standing, and that should be successful enough, really, honestly. But I will admit, honestly, for me, it’s not mm-hmm. , but it should be.
Mm-hmm. and that is something that I have to. Keep grounded in that, my level of success and my picture of success. Who I know I am and who I wanna be may not be someone else’s. Mm-hmm. , um, just because of who I am. Honestly, I reiterate success all the time because I think it’s its levels to it.
Mm-hmm. And. When you’re at [00:17:00] different points in your life, success looks different. Mm-hmm. for you? In my thirties, it looked different. I’m still in my thirties. Mm-hmm.
That’s awesome. I just perpetually stay in my thirties. Yeah, that’s right. That’s how you do it. But it just looks, it looks different all the time for me. I don’t hang my hat anymore on. A revenue number. I don’t hang my hat anymore on a number of employees or anything like that because success is way more encompassing in my total self versus just what I do, which is one question I hate when people ask what I do.
I’m more than just that.
[00:17:46] Julie Bee – Host: Oh, yeah. No, I hear you. I’m, I’ve, I’m, yes,. I’m going through that struggle right now, trying to figure out and tell people what I actually do these days. It sounded like there was a time when revenue, a number, number of employees was. [00:18:00] The definition of success and a transition has happened.
Can you talk a little bit about that transition or that transformation?
[00:18:07] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: It was more around; I think that transformation happened when you observed. So I’m a big people, watcher, observer kind of person. Mm-hmm. And have always been, but I found it very interesting, the people that I observed where they had.
What I would’ve considered a success at that time. Mm-hmm. Like, oh my God, I gotta get there. Mm-hmm. But then you look at the fallout, and you look at everything around it, and you look at it, at least for me, I looked at it in the sense of, is that really where I wanna be? And if it means that having that means all the other things, I don’t.
Like there’s a, there’s a sense of core self that, like, I don’t want it, like I’ve fought very hard to just really. [00:19:00] Pivot me to just being comfortable with just being myself and not what other people expect me to be on that side. And so it just kind of became, do I wanna give up that sense of myself for that?
And do I have to? Because a lot of times you don’t have to. It just means that it’s gonna be a lot slower for you, and that’s okay. And I’m okay with that, so, but I don’t ever want to. Lose myself and lose my grounding in the pursuit of something that once I have it, you just kind of have all these other things that I regret.
Mm-hmm. or you think about constantly of things you would’ve done differently.
[00:19:42] Julie Bee – Host: Boy, that’s an excellent answer. I, I went through that whole thing too, and I think most business owners do, whereas, oh, you.[00:19:48] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: do get to, ’cause, in your head, you’re Martin Zuckerberg.[00:19:51] Julie Bee – Host: Yeah. Get into X number of revenue or X number of employees.
And then what really, and I actually just had this transition last year [00:20:00] where I, I finally realized that the achievement of a goal does not define if I’m successful or not, because as soon as I achieve a. I’m like, okay, what’s next? Like, I, I, you know, I might celebrate like this, this much, but it, it’s almost like the next day I’m thinking to myself, okay, what’s the next goal?
Like, what’s the next step in this process? So I spent a lot of time last year redefining what success looks like for me outside of any goal. So, it’s, you know, laughing and being happy and being able to be me and doing things that I love because I, I, I feel for people whose only definition of success is external goals.
Because I feel like they never, they probably never feel successful because they’re always trying to get to the next thing.
[00:20:46] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: I found success when I learned how to train myself to make a really good pound cake, so that was a success for me too. ,[00:20:55] Julie Bee – Host: I could make a Turkey. Oh my gosh, my Turkey is, my [00:21:00] Turkey is really, really, really requested on all the major holidays, said, I’m like, that is the kind of stuff that makes me feel successful as a human being.
There
[00:21:10] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: you go. Like the joy in everything out that, right? That[00:21:15] Julie Bee – Host: is where it is. Oh, man. This has been such a good conversation, but I just have one more question I wanna ask you today. If you were asked to teach a class about being a business owner to future business owners and future entrepreneurs, what is the one thing that you would want them to learn from your class?
That is
[00:21:35] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: such a loaded question, Julie. If you[00:21:37] Julie Bee – Host: have maybe two, two or three things, that’s fine[00:21:39] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: too. That is crazy because I don’t know that you can teach it. Honestly, I, I honestly don’t know that you could teach it. The only thing that I would say that would be a takeaway from. Class I taught on it, so to speak, would be to make sure you’re comfortable with asking for help.
Hmm. [00:22:00] A lot of times, as business owners, we think we can do everything. We know everything. We don’t need to listen to anybody because we got it figured out, and then crisis mode hits. Be comfortable asking for help and ask for help before you need it. That is very key. And also learn how to give yourself.
You’re gonna ha you’re gonna make mistakes. You’re gonna have oops moments. You’re gonna have times when you’re like, I probably should have done that differently, that kind of thing. But allow yourself some grace with that because you’re not perfect. And even though someone may be looking to you to be that you’re not.
Yeah. And you gotta, you gotta own that. Mm-hmm. Off. and if you own that off top, it’ll make your life so much easier.
[00:22:50] Julie Bee – Host: Wow. Well, yeah, I think we are going to wrap it up right there, Sohar. I have really enjoyed this conversation so much. I’m so glad we finally got it. Got it on [00:23:00] here. Got it recorded. Yes,. I know the, uh, business owners that will listen to this will enjoy it as well.
I really want to thank you for being on the show.
[00:23:09] Sharai Lavoie – Guest: Well, thank you for having me, and thank you for picking, putting up with my crazy schedule to get this done. So I truly appreciate you for that. You[00:23:18] Julie Bee – Host: you are welcome. And that is it for this episode, but stay tuned because I’ll be back with more lessons learned on the business owner’s journey.
I’m Julie Bee, and they don’t teach this in business school.
In Closing
We hope you enjoyed this insightful conversation between Sharai Lavoie and Julie Bee on “They Don’t Teach This in Business School.” Sharai’s experiences in overcoming burnout, redefining success, and the importance of teamwork serve as a testament to the resilience and dedication that has made Lavoie CPA PLLC the successful firm it is today. If you’d like to learn more about our services or get in touch with our team, please visit our website. As always, we are committed to helping businesses and individuals achieve their financial goals and look forward to serving you.
DALLAS — Women’s Enterprise USA has released its list of Top Women-owned Business Enterprise CEOs of 2021 — a group of visionary women business leaders who demonstrate the best and brightest of women-owned business enterprises. Women’s Enterprise is an award-winning print and digital publication focused on the development and accomplishments of women-owned businesses.
“These CEOs are leading the way for other female entrepreneurs to bring competitive, collaborative and innovation solutions to a marketplace in motion,” said Kristin Schneider, publisher of Women’s Enterprise. “Our Top WBE CEOs of 2021 have not only built successful companies, they are changing the way the world does business.”
To determine the top CEOs, WE USA’s team of advisors and editors reached out to the regional partner organizations of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council and business leaders throughout the country to identify women business owners who have achieved measurable success, advanced innovation in their industries, become role models and contributed substantial time and effort to helping other WBEs. The following are the WBE CEOs ― in alphabetical order ― who most strongly exemplify these characteristics.
Juuhi Ahuja, Founder, CEO and President, Wise Men Consultants, Houston, Texas Imelda Alejandrino, CEO/Creative Director, AP42 Marketing and Technology, San Ramon, California Dana C. Arnett, CEO, Wicked Bionic LLC, Los Angeles, California Camille Austin, Owner, Elite Roofing Services Inc., Tampa, Florida Michelle Aristeo Barton, President, Aristeo Construction Co., Livonia, Michigan Debra Berry, CEO, Berry Industrial Group Inc., Nyack, New York Donna Brin, Founder & CEO, bFIVE40, Little River, South Carolina Gabrielle Christman, President and CEO, Hunter International Inc., Avon, Ohio Donna Cole, President/CEO, Cole Chemical & Distributing Inc., Houston, Texas Jacqueline Darna, CEO, Darna & Co. LLC dba NoMo Bands, Tampa, Florida Iyabo Dedmon, President, ThriveOn Concepts, North Kansas City, Missouri Dana Donofree, Founder and CEO, AnaOno LLC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nathalie Doobin, Owner, President and CEO, Harvard Services Group Inc., Miami, Florida Leanne Duong-Ma, President/Owner, Direct Source Procurement, Las Vegas, Nevada Pamela Feld, Founder and CEO, Triumph Technology Group, Tustin, California Jill Frey, President and CEO, Cummins Facility Services LLC, Prospect, Ohio Nenette Gray, Founder and CEO, Lemonade Creative Marketing LLC, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Lili Hall, Founder, CEO and President, KNOCK Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota LindaHamilton, CPA, CEPA, SYSTEMologist®, Linda A Hamilton CPA PLLC, New York, New York KyraHardwick, MBA, Managing Consultant, The Kyra Co. LLC, Houston, Texas Jodi Cannon Hohman, CEO, Lagarda Security, Burton, Michigan KateHolby, Co-Founder, Ajiri Tea Co., Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania PorchaJohnson, Founder and Publisher, Black Girl Health, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania HannahKain, President and CEO, ALOM Technologies Corp., Fremont, California Sharai Lavoie, CEO/Managing Member, Lavoie CPA PLLC, Charlotte, North Carolina MaryLawrence, President, Richards Graphic Communications Inc., Bellwood, Illinois ElizabethLedoux, Founder and Head Strategist, The Transition Strategists, Ft. Collins, Colorado SandyLish, Principal & Co-Founder, The Castle Group Inc., Boston, Massachusetts BettyManetta, President and CEO, Argent Associates, Plano, Texas MichelleManire, CMM, Founder and President, Coast to Coast Conferences & Events, Long Beach, California Dee C.Marshall, CEO, Diverse & Engaged LLC, Newark, New Jersey CarolMuszynski, President, Eighth Day Design Inc., Falls Church, Virginia CarmenNazario, President/CEO, ELYON International Inc., Vancouver, Washington MaryParker, CEO, ALL N ONE Security Enterprise, Atlanta, GA LaurenRakolta, President & CEO, DFM Solutions Inc., Detroit, Michigan AnnRamakumaran – will send responses, CEO and Founder, Ampcus Inc., Chantilly, Virginia AngelicaRivera, President and CEO, Colmex Construction LLC, New Orleans, Louisiana SilvanaRosero, President & CEO, Laguna Media Group, Grand Prairie, Texas JenellRoss, President, Bob Ross Auto Group, Bobrossauto.com MollySandlin, Founder and President, CAET Project Management Consultants LLC, Keller, Texas RosaSantana, Founder and CEO, Santana Group, San Antonio, Texas BillieBryantSchultz, CEO, CESCO Inc., Dallas, Texas WendySpivak, Principal & Co-Founder, The Castle Group Inc., Boston, Massachusetts DebraStevens, Principal, The Stevens Group/International Tenant Representative Alliance Global, Boston, Massachusetts LioraStone, President, Precision Engineering Inc., Uxbridge, Massachusetts AmyTiller, CEO and Co-Founder, Inspired Results Inc., Portland, Oregon AndreaTsakanikas, President, CrewFacilities.com LLC, Austin, Texas NinaVaca, CEO, Pinnacle Group, Dallas, Texas BiddieWebb, Partner, Limb Design LLC, Houston, Texas LizWhitehead, CEO, 12PointFive LLC, Silver Spring, Maryland
Now close to celebrating its 30th anniversary, WE USA magazine is America’s award-winning resource for information on women’s business enterprise and diversity. Reaching an audience of women business owners, corporate procurement managers and executives, education professionals and government representatives, WE USA focuses on value for the readers, advertisers and communities it serves. For more information, visit weusa.biz.
Developing a strategic financial plan can seem daunting; however, it can be boiled down into two questions: what are you doing now and where do you want to be? This article walks you through the process of answering these two questions, providing a foundation for developing a financial strategy for your organization.
Question 1: What Are You Doing Now?
Every journey has a starting point and an ending point. Before you can implement a plan to achieve your financial goals, it is important to consider where you are now.
Current State of the Numbers
The current state of your organization’s numbers are a good starting point when determining your organization’s capability to meet its financial goals. Some important questions to ask include:
Are you in a position of stability? Financial stability is vital to reaching “stretch” goals. If the organization is not currently financially stable, it is important to identify this fact and develop a strategy for achieving stability as a first step in the planning process.
What is actually coming in/out the door? Knowing the size of the company’s cash reserves is not enough for financial planning. How much revenue is coming into the organization and how much is going out again as expenses?
What is fueling the majority of your expenses? While increasing sales is one way of improving the organization’s financial footing, the ability to do so depends on the market and potential customers. Identifying and minimizing expenses increases profits as well but is less impacted by external factors.
Culture
Achieving financial goals requires the support of the entire organization. Take a moment to consider your organization’s culture and if the company has the maturity and ability to meet its goals.
Do your decisions match your vision and mission? An organization’s goals and procedures are important, but actions are even more so. Are your decisions, both recent and historical, helping to move the organization towards its goals?
Would your employees agree? Employees throughout the organization can have different perspectives, insights, and recommendations. Ask those “down in the weeds” how well the company is following its vision and mission and how they believe things could do better.
Question 2: Where Do You Want To Be?
The effectiveness of a strategic plan can only be effectively measured if there are usable metrics. Before starting to build a plan to improve the organization’s financial position, it is necessary to define success and failure.
Targets
The first step in defining “success” for a financial strategy is defining concrete targets. From there, the next question to ask is what do you need to achieve your targets?
Human Capital. Does your organization have the human capital necessary to achieve its goals? This not only includes headcount but access to the specific skill sets required now and in the future.
Acquisitions. Does your organization have the capabilities that it requires? Are there areas of your business where things could be done more effectively or efficiently?
IT Investments. The IT landscape is evolving rapidly, and new solutions have the potential to dramatically improve operational efficiency and effectiveness. Are there any IT investments that the organization should make that would help in reaching its targets?
Expenses
A failure to properly monitor and manage expenses is one of the most common ways that businesses fail to achieve their financial goals. Gaining visibility into past, present, and future expenditures is an essential part of financial planning.
How can you gain more visibility into your expenditures? Visibility into expenditures is essential to identifying opportunities for optimizations and cost cutting. How can you achieve a higher level of visibility into business operations?
Do you have an idea of your cash flow on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis? What level of visibility do you currently have into your organization’s cash flows? Examining cash flows at the daily, weekly, and monthly level can help to identify potential inefficiencies and opportunities.
Beginning Your Strategic Financial Plan
Answering the questions that were asked in this article enables you to lay the groundwork for developing your organization’s financial strategy. To learn about the next steps in your financial planning process, download the CEO’s Guide to Strategic Financial Planning.
Lavoie secured Kelley Michalski as Partner and Vice President of Operations. Lavoie is excited to welcome Kelley Michalski to our team as our new Partner and Vice President of Operations in Charlotte, NC. In this role, Michalski will be responsible for managing client operations, maintaining internal control structures, and providing strategic support to our clients and organizations. As Lavoie continues to grow exponentially year over year, Michalski’s leadership will be an invaluable asset in reaching our goals.
“I am truly looking forward to being a part of an established market leader in the finance field,” said Michalski. “I’m excited to become a contributor to the growth of Lavoie.”
Michalski brings with her over 20 years of experience leading strategic financial planning and implementation. Her wide breadth of practice includes everything from overseeing financial performance and organizational governance to managing risk and compliance. She has excelled in creating sustainable, data-driven financial strategies by developing a foundation of analytics to fuel tactical and long-term business decisions. Michalski’s leadership and expertise will be valuable additions to the Lavoie team.
“We are delighted to have Kelley become a Partner with the company. Through Kelley’s involvement with our team over the years, she has shown herself to be an exceptional leader in the industry,” said Sharai Lavoie, Lavoie’s CEO/Managing Member.
Prior to joining Lavoie, Michalski was the Chief Financial Officer for a subsidiary of a Fortune 15 organization and the owner of a small business located in Charlotte. A graduate of Iowa State University, Michalski brings with her an entrepreneurial mindset to support organizations of all sizes.
About Lavoie: Founded in 2009, Lavoie has served as a reliable Charlotte CPA firm that specializes in strategic financial and operational planning for businesses of all sizes. By delivering state-of-the-art strategic support, Lavoie’s clients can focus on growing their business and soar to the next level of greatness. In addition to providing customized solutions for clients, Lavoie prioritizes social justice issues and is extremely involved in the local Charlotte community.
