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Health Savings Accounts (HSA) offer an opportunity for you to build tax-free savings to pay for current and future qualified medical expenses. Used in conjunction with a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) a high-deductible plan may cost less overall than making monthly premium payments to a traditional health plan and making co-payments when you require medical care. If you use the HSA/HDHP method, you’ll pay some of the initial medical costs out of your HSA, up until you meet your HDHP deductible. A traditional health plan would pay for most of those up front, after a more modest deductible. Which method is best for you depends on your medical care needs and the HSA/HDHP and Traditional Plan options available to you.
The break even point for a product or a business is the point where sales revenue equals your fixed plus total variable costs. If you are below the break even point, you are losing money. If you’re above the break even point, you are generating a profit. To break even, your sales revenue from each sale needs to exceed the variable costs of creating or delivering the product or service. The resulting gross margin can then be used to cover the fixed costs of your business. Once your fixed costs are covered, your business is at the break even point.
The gross margin of a product is measured by subtracting the cost of goods sold from the selling price. Cost of goods sold includes all costs associated with producing the products or services sold by a company. Gross margin percentage is obtained by dividing gross margin by sales revenue. Many companies offer multiple products, so understanding overall gross margin is often an exercise in understanding how various unit sales, price points and costs for each product or service contribute to the overall business.
Managing the inventory of a business is an important. Having insufficient inventory on hand can often result in lost sales and dissatisfied customers. But having too much inventory on hand can be financially strenuous as your available cash is tied up in product that sits in your warehouse. Businesses that successfully manage their inventory keep enough on hand to satisfy demand and replenish that inventory just as their supply is running out. Businesses that are seasonal in nature or that have fluctuating demand keep a ‘safety stock’ on hand to make sure they can accommodate unanticipated need.
While there are potentially many ways to value a business, one popular method is using the discounted, or present value, of your estimated cash flow. This method takes your current income, before income, taxes, depreciation and amortization and projected income for a defined number of years and determines the present value of that income, based on the cost of capital. Some businesses are less valuable because of their marketability and as a result a discount is often applied to reflect the difficulties that may be encountered when trying to sell the business. Keep in mind that this method does not include the value of your companies assets, only its ability to produce income.
Accounts receivable are monies owed to your business for goods or services delivered to a customer, but not yet paid for. Successful businesses collect money that is owed to them in a timely and efficient manner. Having too much money tied up in receivables means you’re not collecting the cash to pay for the goods or services you’ve provided. Not extending credit may impact sales. The ‘Receivables Turnover Ratio’ measures a businesses effectiveness in extending credit and collecting debt. The higher the ratio, the more effective the business is in dealing with its receivables. The accounts receivable to sales ratio looks at the amount you have tied up in receivables in comparison to your same period sales. The Average Collection Period shows how long, on average, it takes for you to collect your debts.
Repayment of a business loan requires that the borrower make a monthly payment back to the lender. That monthly payment includes both repayment of the loan principal, plus monthly interest on the outstanding balance. Loan payments are amortized so that your monthly payment remains the same during the repayment period, but during that period, the percentage of the payment that goes towards principal will increase as the outstanding loan balance decreases.
Does it make better sense to buy or lease a new piece of equipment? That depends on a number of factors, such as the residual value of the equipment you intend to purchase, the amount of money you pay up front as a capitalized cost reduction and the cost of financing. A lease will usually be a more attractive option when compared to an equipment purchase when measured over a comparable term. Keep in mind that with a lease, you will have to return the equipment at the end of the lease term, whereas if you buy, you will own the equipment and will be able to continue driving it after the term expires.
Even if a business is profitable, it might fail because it isn’t generating enough cash flow. Money that is tied up in inventory and receivables isn’t available to help the business pay its bills. You can vary inventory levels, payment terms, etc. to find the formula that is right for your business to make sure you are generating a positive cash flow.
Working capital is the amount you have remaining when current liabilities are subtracted from current assets. Whether a business has enough working capital is measured by the ‘current ratio’, or current assets divided by current liabilities. Generally, a current ratio of between 1.2 and 2 is considered the sign of a healthy business. If your current ratio is below 1.2, its an indicator that your business might have difficulties paying its bills. If it is above 2, its an indicator that your assets are not being put to their best use.
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