Cash Management
{ Prioritize who to pay first.
{ Have conversations with vendors to ask for
longer payment terms or partial payment.
{ Have financial records in one, easily accessible
place and review them daily.
{ Review financial information and forecast cash
needed to operate the business. Know your
financial data well. Don’t rely on your CPA to
tell you how the business is going.
{ Address problem areas where costs are out of
line.
{ Regularly review customer accounts and have
solid credit policies in place.
{ Place slow pay customers on COD or prepayment.
{ Require cash payment at time of sale.
{ Talk to lenders about renegotiating existing
loan terms and interest-only payments for a
while.
{ Keep payment promises (Don’t make promises
you can’t keep).
{ Work with federal and state government
agencies about payment of past due and
coming due taxes.
{ Don’t ignore collection letters from federal
and state government agencies. They can
freeze your bank accounts, cutting off access
to cash.
{ Have a line of credit in place, review it
$+
annually and adjust as needed.
{ Sell unproductive assets now. Don’t wait until
a crisis.
{ Consider business credit cards, but understand
the risk.
{ While no one enjoys laying people off, have a
plan to reduce labor if needed. Check with the
Florida Department of Economic Opportunity
about unemployment programs available
to business owners in distressing economic
times.
{ Reduce embezzlement opportunities by
limiting check signing to the owner or
requiring two check signers. Examine payroll
records for accuracy and reconcile bank
statements and credit card registers daily.
GUIDE TO BUSINESS RESILIENCY IN TIMES OF DISASTER PAGE 2