Women’s Enterprise USA Magazine Salutes Top WBE CEOs of 2021

by Sharai Lavoie | Jun 17, 2021 | Accounting, CFO, Community, CPA, Entrepreneurs, Finance, Growth, Mentor, SaaS, Small Business, Startups, Technology

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
Linda Hamilton, CPA, CEPA, SYSTEMologist®, Linda A Hamilton CPA PLLC, New York, New York
Kyra Hardwick, MBA, Managing Consultant, The Kyra Co. LLC, Houston, Texas
Jodi Cannon Hohman, CEO, Lagarda Security, Burton, Michigan
Kate Holby, Co-Founder, Ajiri Tea Co., Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania
Porcha Johnson, Founder and Publisher, Black Girl Health, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Hannah Kain, President and CEO, ALOM Technologies Corp., Fremont, California
Sharai Lavoie, CEO/Managing Member, Lavoie CPA PLLC, Charlotte, North Carolina
Mary Lawrence, President, Richards Graphic Communications Inc., Bellwood, Illinois
Elizabeth Ledoux, Founder and Head Strategist, The Transition Strategists, Ft. Collins, Colorado
Sandy Lish, Principal & Co-Founder, The Castle Group Inc., Boston, Massachusetts
Betty Manetta, President and CEO, Argent Associates, Plano, Texas
Michelle Manire, CMM, Founder and President, Coast to Coast Conferences & Events, Long Beach, California
Dee C. Marshall, CEO, Diverse & Engaged LLC, Newark, New Jersey
Carol Muszynski, President, Eighth Day Design Inc., Falls Church, Virginia
Carmen Nazario, President/CEO, ELYON International Inc., Vancouver, Washington
Mary Parker, CEO, ALL N ONE Security Enterprise, Atlanta, GA
Lauren Rakolta, President & CEO, DFM Solutions Inc., Detroit, Michigan
Ann Ramakumaran – will send responses, CEO and Founder, Ampcus Inc., Chantilly, Virginia
Angelica Rivera, President and CEO, Colmex Construction LLC, New Orleans, Louisiana
Silvana Rosero, President & CEO, Laguna Media Group, Grand Prairie, Texas
Jenell Ross, President, Bob Ross Auto Group, Bobrossauto.com
Molly Sandlin, Founder and President, CAET Project Management Consultants LLC, Keller, Texas
Rosa Santana, Founder and CEO, Santana Group, San Antonio, Texas
Billie Bryant Schultz, CEO, CESCO Inc., Dallas, Texas
Wendy Spivak, Principal & Co-Founder, The Castle Group Inc., Boston, Massachusetts
Debra Stevens, Principal, The Stevens Group/International Tenant Representative Alliance Global, Boston, Massachusetts
Liora Stone, President, Precision Engineering Inc., Uxbridge, Massachusetts
Amy Tiller, CEO and Co-Founder, Inspired Results Inc., Portland, Oregon
Andrea Tsakanikas, President, CrewFacilities.com LLC, Austin, Texas
Nina Vaca, CEO, Pinnacle Group, Dallas, Texas
Biddie Webb, Partner, Limb Design LLC, Houston, Texas
Liz Whitehead, CEO, 12PointFive LLC, Silver Spring, Maryland

For questions, please contact:

Kristin Schneider, Publisher

kristin@wegp.biz

About WE USA magazine

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.

Strategic Financial Planning In 2 Questions

by Sharai Lavoie | Feb 16, 2021 | Accounting, Blog, Budgeting, Business Intelligence, CFO, Community, Competitive Advantage, CPA, Entrepreneurs, Finance, Financial Services, Growth, Lavoie, Planning, Services, Small Business

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.

DOWNLOAD GUIDE

Lavoie Secures Kelley Michalski as Partner and Vice President of Operations

by Sharai Lavoie | Jan 11, 2021 | Accounting, Community, Entrepreneurs, Finance, Financial Services, Growth, Lavoie, Planning, Services, Small Business

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.

LAVOIE + BESPOKE SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT CASE STUDY

by Tara Fusco | Dec 7, 2020 | Accounting, CFO, CPA, Entrepreneurs, Finance, Financial Services, Growth, Services, SMBs

See why this award-winning Charlotte Sports & Entertainment Marketing Agency uses Lavoie CPA as their financial strategy partner

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Company: Bespoke Sports & Entertainment

Founded: 2014

Specialty: Sports and entertainment consulting and experiential marketing agency

Location: Charlotte, NC

With over 50 years of combined experience in Sports & Entertainment Marketing, Bespoke’s founders, have seen their fair share of agencies come and go. They have worked with some of the largest names and most complex brands in the sports and entertainment industry. So, when they started their venture, they knew they needed more than just an accountant to supervise their financial stability. They needed a financial strategist that could confidently run major investor meetings and take control of the company’s future; and a firm that could manage expenses while also augmenting human resource needs.

Download the case study to learn how Lavoie helped the company grow year over year and work with award-winning brands.

DOWNLOAD CASE STUDY

Bespoke_Sports&Entertainment_Orange&Black_2020

“It’s simple, Lavoie helped us create the infrastructure we needed. From setting up accounts payable and HR policies to recommending affordable technology, Sharai Lavoie and her team were there to give us the day to day insights we needed to keep cash flowing, flexibility to focus on sales, and proactive recommendations that enabled us to scale at the right pace.”

Mike Boykin

CEO & Cofounder

Our CPA Day of Service

by Mark Colwell | Sep 27, 2017 | Corporate Social Responsibility, Accounting, CPA, Finance, Lavoie

For the last six years, the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants (NCACPA) have challenged its members to give back to the community by participating in the CPA Day of Service. The idea came originally from one of NCACPA’s Board of Directors to allow members to “take to their communities and give back in some way”.

As a member of the NCACPA and the Charlotte community, we have made it a priority to participate in this event every year by volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, one of the global nonprofit housing organizations in the US. The organization works toward helping people in the community to build or improve a home and they rely on volunteers to be able to do so.

“Everyone deserves to have a place to call their own regardless of their income level. Affordable housing is pivotal to reducing poverty in Charlotte and beyond. Habitat for Humanity Charlotte provides the hand-up needed by thousands of local and global families. We always look forward to spending the day with the wonderful people at Habitat ReStore and doing our part towards being a part of the solution. Shopping afterwards is always an added perk! I always find something there!”
– Sharai Lavoie, CEO and Managing Member at Lavoie CPA.

Habitat for Humanity ReStore

On Friday, September 22, all our employees met up at one of the two Habitat ReStores, which functions as the fundraising division of Habitat for Humanity of Charlotte. The ReStores accept donations of new or used items and resells them to the public at a reduced cost. Consequently, Habitat can use the proceeds to build Habitat homes with their local affiliates. There are currently two locations in Charlotte, NC, which allows Habitat to build approximately 10-12 new homes every year.

Volunteers are necessary for Habitat’s success and when it comes to the ReStores they are mostly in need to people to help them with unloading donated items, organizing and cleaning donations, placing the items on the sales floor, and aiding customers with carry-outs of purchased items.

“We had a very rewarding time helping the community and bonding with our Lavoie CPA Team. Habitat is a great organization that helps struggling family’s get on their feet through volunteers and the family working together”
– Doug Burkhart, Senior Financial Consultant at Lavoie CPA

Thank you to Habitat for Humanity for letting us be a part of your mission and giving back. If you are interested in volunteering please visit the Charlotte ReStore website or email the Volunteer Coordinator of Retail Operations at volunteer@charlotterestore.org.

How to Improve Your FP&A Process Right Now

by Madeleine Wallmon | Aug 2, 2017 | Analytics, Big Data, Finance, Planning, Software

FP&A Teams Have the Wrong Focus

According to a recent report by Adaptive Insights, CFOs want their employees to spend less time on collecting and preparing data and more time on forecasting and analysis. The survey revealed that financial planning and analysis (FP&A) teams are currently spending 53% of their time on reporting and data gathering alone.

“Reporting, whether it’s on actuals or forecast or planning should be quick. We shouldn’t be spending a lot of time on that,” says Jim Johnson, CFO of Adaptive Insights. “We should be spending much more time on the model that’s supporting it. The predictive analysis, the key performance indicators and the stuff that is really important for the company.”

There is a good reason why employees should spend more time on analytics. Oracle found that businesses who were effective at integrating financial and operating data, using analytics in processes and utilizing predictive analytics outranked their peers by 70% on profit and revenue.

How Can You Improve Your FP&A Process?

Implement a Dynamic Planning Process

First of all, your business need to incorporate a FP&A process that allow for flexibility. Rolling forecasts, for example, is one way to ensure you are adapting to market forces. Since rolling forecasts ultimately is an approach where you add or drop data on a rolling basis, you consequently have real-time insights to your performance against your predictions. APQC reported that an organization can save a median of 25 days on the annual budgeting cycle by using rolling forecasts.

“It makes no sense to use a 19th-century tool to manage 21st-century company in a volatile global economy,” argues Steve Player, a program director at the Beyond Budgeting Roundtable. “In the old days, the CFO sat in the back of the ship recording what happened. Now, the CFO stands on the bridge looking forward and adjusting for variables.” With Lavoie CPA, you can tap into the expertise of our experienced outsourced CFO services, which bring a wealth of knowledge and industry-specific insights to guide your financial decision-making.

Traditional annual budgets have limits. They often take too long to prepare, and when completed the data is already out of date. Rolling forecasts offer continuous updates to your data and a longer horizon with data up to 12-18 months ahead. Thus, you have much more accurate data and reliable insights. This, as a result, allows you to take more strategic decisions about your business.

Make it Easy for Employees to Collaborate

Collaboration among employees and management is crucial for your business. First, they help you realize your goals, but they can also aid in reducing hidden costs. According to research by CEB, hidden budgeting and forecasting costs may prevent companies from realizing their full potential of investments in FP&A improvements.

How do businesses encourage collaboration? There’s one simple answer. Leverage technology. Cloud-based accounting software is a great solution for companies that have data that needs to be shared and aggregated by more than one employee. In addition, cloud software also allows for employees to access the same data from virtually anywhere. Finally, most cloud-based software providers offers integration with other enterprise systems, which allows you to have one source for your performance management.

Conclusion

While you may think your business is doing well enough, your competitors are advancing by implementing better FP&A processes like the ones discussed above. Don’t wait, instead, invest in FP&A processes that will help your business achieve outstanding results and reduce hidden costs.

← Sage Announces Acquisition of Intacct for $850m Our CPA Day of Service →