Hear more from Jennifer Mailhes at our Boost Your Business Value Boot Camp on May 10
If you’ve met Jennifer Mailhes, you probably recognized quickly that she’s not your typical CPA. From an accounting generalist background to a partner role at TR Moore & Company, Mailhes’ experience has resulted in a unique ability to relate to the business owner and the CFO/controller alike – a strength that has earned the trust of clients who consider her part of their management team. Also a marathon runner and avid sports fan, this Boost Your Business Value Boot Camp series speaker shares her insight on cash flow challenges, how business is like baseball and more:
- What inspired you to choose your profession?
My first job out of college was working as an auditor for an accounting firm that also had our department focusing on tax work. I gained a well-rounded background in that environment, and eventually morphed into the person who took on special projects. After doing that for nearly five years, I felt consulting was the next logical and natural step for me. Today, I enjoy providing clients with more than a hindsight view of their financials; I not only help them put the metrics in place to monitor how the business is tracking, but also understand those results so they can make better decisions about the future. - What are you reading right now?
I’m actually reading Moneyball by Michael Lewis for the second time. I went to an Astros game with a client who mentioned that a movie was being made based on this book, and now I’m reading it again out of curiosity as to how that can be done. In reading it again, I’ve noticed that this book is basically about key performance indicators, but in baseball terms. The whole premise is treating baseball like a business by ignoring conventional wisdom and assumptions and instead measuring the right things that really drive player performance.In the book, the Oakland A’s organization actually tracked and valued alternative characteristics that enabled them to be a competitive team at one-third the payroll of the New York Yankees. Usually, the examples with our clients are not quite this extreme, but the point is that by focusing the indicators of a business on the aspects you have to get right, versus what you think you should track, can create great efficiency and savings. - Tell us about a breakthrough moment you’ve had with a client, where you really accomplished something great for the business together.
I had a client who owned two companies, but was actively involved in only one business. The other business was run by the controller, who handled the day-to-day functions, including the accounting work. The company purchased an accounting system, but wasn’t satisfied with the seller nor how the system was implemented. I put on my problem-solving cap, learned the software and helped the controller understand the system and effectively use it to better manage the company’s processes. She was a bit technology adverse, and at the time, would not even keep a computer in her office. When I noticed that she had finally moved the computer into her office, I knew that we had achieved something big. She mentioned to me how much she enjoyed only working 40 hours a week as opposed to the 50 to 60 hours she worked before we improved her efficiencies. - What is currently trending in your industry?
I’m seeing a lot of my clients’ businesses picking back up, which is causing their cash flow to be tight. The impact has been both positive and negative, because while businesses are more profitable, they are having trouble figuring out how to fund increased sales.The key to overcoming this challenge is proactive planning. I have a client who has to order more product overseas and in larger quantities to keep his margins up. We conducted cash-flow planning to stagger purchases in a way that doesn’t eat up his cash and worked with him and his banker to increase his line of credit. This helped him reduce his cash requirements, ensure things were being funded correctly, gain terms when possible and really think through the whole cash management cycle (more about this at our Sept. 29 workshop). - Your workshop sponsorship is helping to fund a scholarship for the University of Houston’s Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship. Do you have advice for aspiring business owners?
At a minimum, review your financials on a monthly basis and review reports with your management team. This will enable you to create plans for action and follow-up, as well as accountability for activities discussed in meetings. Talk to business owners in your desired field, develop an advisory board, attend networking events and, most importantly, plan by function, not by person.
As the Consulting Partner at Doeren Mayhew firm TR Moore & Company, Jennifer Mailhes assists business owners and their management teams in areas such as strategic planning, CFO services and accounting analysis, and business advisory services. Hear more from her at our Boost Your Business Value Boot Camp: The Profitability Factor on May 10. Read more, and register by contacting Melinda Genitempo or Geoff Gallo at 713.789.7077 or info@trmoore.com.
