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O P I N I O N
Strategic and predictive As we move deeper into the final quarter of the year, now’s the time to look ahead to 2017’s backlog, pipeline, and cash flow.
A s we move deeper into the last quarter of fiscal 2016, senior leaders of many firms we work with are grappling with the following:
drive marketing, business development, and sales elements that will convert into spending needs in 2017. ❚ ❚ Resource planning to address how well positioned the staff needs are based on the backlog and pipeline of work. So, what are your plans as you enter the last quarter of 2016? “Is the firm on track to meet the financial goals that were established? What course corrections were made to achieve the quarterly goals?” As our focus at Zweig Group is to continue to assist our clients to be successful, here are some areas that your firm should be addressing: STRATEGIC PLANNING/BUSINESS PLANNING. If your strate- gic plans were in place in 2016, how has the firm See TED MAZIEJKA, page 10
❚ ❚ Accelerated work effort going into October, Novem- ber, and December to meet client-spending needs. ❚ ❚ Accelerating collections to insure cash flow needs are being met for year-end activity (bonus, capital expenditure acquisition, etc.). ❚ ❚ Managing their 12-52-week cash flow projections. ❚ ❚ Balancing resource planning to meet the financial and schedule constraints of the work effort. ❚ ❚ Preparing their accounting professional support for tax planning for 2016. Some of our clients enter into the last quarter of 2016 preparing to address business planning efforts for 2017 that relate to their strategic planning efforts that have taken place before 2016 started. They, along with their in-house financial management teams and business development teams, are preparing the following for 2017: ❚ ❚ Office/service line budgets for 2017. ❚ ❚ Marketing plans that tie into the strategic plans that
THE ZWEIG LETTER October 10, 2016, ISSUE 1171
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