May10

Concerns cause private companies to delay hiring May 10, 2012 09:22

Private companies are too nervous about the future to ramp up hiring, according to a new Sageworks Inc. survey of accountants, bankers and other financial professionals who work closely with these firms. About 32 percent of financial professionals in the survey said their clients aren’t hiring because they are concerned about the economy in general, while another 22 percent said private companies have become more risk averse because of lingering anxiety from the last recession. [More]

May04

April unemployment ticks down to 8.1 percent May 04, 2012 15:42

The U.S. unemployment rate dipped in April to 8.1 percent from 8.2 percent in March, but fewer-than-expected jobs were added. “The unemployment rate is not materially changing, which is disappointing since privately held companies continue to grow their sales and are generally the engine of job growth,” said Brian Hamilton, CEO of financial information company Sageworks Inc. [More]

May01

Avoid cash flow catastrophes: Part V - 7 tips for better forecasts May 01, 2012 11:35

Cash flow forecasts, the vital estimates of how much cash your business will have in order to continuing operating, are notoriously tricky because of the many variables involved. Even so, accountants and other financial experts say there are several steps you can take to improve their accuracy. These include being conservative, being aware of common pitfalls and updating your forecasts frequently. [More]

Apr30

Does size matter? Sales growth, margins by company size Apr 30, 2012 13:20

Privately held companies have a huge impact on the U.S. economy, and new data from Sageworks Inc., a financial information company, shows that sales and margin performance through the recession and so far in the recovery has varied, depending on the size of the company. Data showed that firms with the highest annual revenues in the Sageworks database have seen the sharpest rebound in sales since 2009. Meanwhile, the very smallest firms have seen the biggest improvement in net profit margin since 2009. [More]

Apr25

It wasn't overnight, but private hotels have turned around Apr 25, 2012 13:27

Privately owned hotels have weathered a difficult recession and are back on a profitable path. The industry posted positive net profit margins in 2011 for the first time in three years, and sales increased about 8 percent, according to a financial statement analysis of privately owned hotels by Sageworks, a financial information company. Growth in average revenue per available room, or revPAR, and ongoing expense control seem to have contributed. The sales growth isn’t dramatically higher than the 5 percent increase hotels saw in 2010, but it’s a continued improvement from the 6 percent decline in 2009 among the hotels analyzed by Sageworks. “While hotels saw occupancy... [More]

Apr23

Avoid cash flow catastrophes: Part IV-10 ways cash flow forecasts go wrong Apr 23, 2012 12:45

Experts say cash flow forecasts can be tripped up by several common items that business owners and financial managers might overlook. Generally, these can be blamed on two factors: omission or over-optimism. [More]

Apr18

Who's hiring? Apr 18, 2012 15:13

Last week's jobs report showed that fewer-than-expected positions were added in March, stoking concern that the economy isn’t growing fast enough. But several industries that have driven a lot of the hiring over the last year continued to add workers last month. Who’s been hiring, and which industries have the kind of business fundamentals that could pave the way for adding more jobs? Manufacturing, health care and food services and drinking places added jobs in March, continuing trends that have helped unemployment rates in related sectors decline since the start of the year, according to data from the Department of Labor. Aerospace manufacturer Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) and r... [More]

Apr17

Signs that business banking is back Apr 17, 2012 08:09

Business banking is back - well, mostly. Commercial lending has been growing, according to Federal Reserve data. And recent research by Sageworks, a financial information company, shows that business' borrowing-related financial ratios have improved, making access to credit more likely. [More]

Apr11

Avoid cash flow catastrophes: Part III - Frequency Apr 11, 2012 16:13

As with many things in finance, how often you perform or update your cash flow forecast depends on the business and your circumstances, according to Lauren Prosser, manager of advisory services at Sageworks. [More]

Apr10

19 banks “stress tested,” but what about the rest? Apr 10, 2012 09:30

Only 19 of the nation’s roughly 7,400 commercial banks were involved earlier this year in the Federal Reserve’s test of whether the banks could weather a severe recession that included 13 percent unemployment, a 50 percent drop in stock markets and a 21 percent decline in housing prices. But what about customers of the thousands of other banks holding some 40 percent of U.S. deposits? Those banks weren’t part of the Fed’s latest round of stress tests, so are customers worried about the health of their banks? [More]