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FINANCIAL TERMINOLOGY2024-02-03T20:31:42-05:00

Resources

Accounting Terminology every Business Owner should know.

The accounting process and all of the financial terms can be overwhelming. Therefore, with the help of our clients, we composed a list of frequently mentioned accounting terms to help our business owners navigate the world of financial terminology.

The Accounting Detective provides each client with the information to manage their business successfully. We are here to help our clients free up their time so they can focus on what’s most important, the bigger picture. We take time to learn about our client’s business and internal processes through collaboration and communication with all teams. We acknowledge that each business and client has different challenges and definitions of what is valuable to them.

We listen, interpret, and provide objective insight and guidance to help business owners, managers, and senior executives with their financial goals by guiding them to develop financial budgets and forecasts. We take pride in developing instructions and delivering accurately designed financial statements and specialize in helping business owners streamline their accounting and finance operations.

The core function of The Accounting Detective is to provide every client with accurate accounting information, factual financial statements, and essential guidance to help them achieve their goals while minimizing obstacles.

Resources

Accounting Terminology every business owner should know.

The accounting process and all of the financial terms can be overwhelming. Therefore, with the help of our clients, we composed a list of frequently mentioned accounting terms to help our business owners navigate the world of financial terminology.

Financial Terminology

What are Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)?2024-01-04T12:56:48-05:00

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) form the foundation of accounting and financial reporting. They are a set of standardized guidelines and principles that companies follow when preparing and presenting financial statements. GAAP ensures consistency, comparability, and accuracy in financial reporting, providing investors, creditors, and other stakeholders with reliable and meaningful information.

GAAP covers various areas, including revenue recognition, asset valuation, financial statement presentation, and disclosure requirements. By adhering to GAAP, companies can maintain transparency and enable meaningful analysis of their financial performance.

One of the key aspects of GAAP is revenue recognition. GAAP provides specific guidelines on when and how companies should recognize revenue. This ensures that companies report their revenue accurately and consistently, allowing stakeholders to assess the financial health of the company.

Another important area covered by GAAP is asset valuation. GAAP provides guidelines on how companies should value their assets, such as inventory, property, and equipment. This ensures that companies report their assets at their fair value, providing a more accurate representation of their financial position.

Financial statement presentation is also a critical component of GAAP. GAAP provides guidelines on how financial statements should be structured and presented. This includes the format and content of the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. By following these guidelines, companies can present their financial information in a clear and standardized manner, making it easier for stakeholders to analyze and compare financial statements.

Disclosure requirements are another important aspect of GAAP. GAAP requires companies to provide additional information and explanations in their financial statements to ensure transparency. This includes disclosing significant accounting policies, related party transactions, and contingencies. By providing these disclosures, companies enable stakeholders to make informed decisions based on a complete understanding of the company’s financial position and performance.

Overall, GAAP plays a crucial role in ensuring the reliability and comparability of financial information. It provides a standardized framework for companies to prepare and present their financial statements, enabling stakeholders to make informed decisions. By following GAAP, companies can maintain transparency, facilitate meaningful analysis, and build trust with investors, creditors, and other stakeholders.

What is Revenue Recognition?2024-01-04T12:48:53-05:00

Revenue recognition is the process of recording and reporting revenue in a company’s financial statements. It involves determining when and how revenue should be recognized based on specific criteria.

Revenue recognition principles determine when revenue can be recognized, ensuring that it is matched with the corresponding expenses and reflects the transfer of goods or services to customers. These principles aim to provide accurate and transparent information about a company’s financial performance.

Proper revenue recognition is important for maintaining credibility in financial reporting and complying with accounting standards.

Revenue recognition refers to when and how your business accounts for the money it collects. Properly recognizing income can be more difficult for companies that use accrual accounting than cash-basis accounting, as many startups do. But it’s essential for understanding the financial health of your business.

For businesses that collect money before or after providing a product or service, revenue may be categorized differently. For example, accrued revenue is money you’re owed for products or services you’ve already delivered.

Deferred revenue is money you’ve collected for a product or service you haven’t delivered. In order to comply with generally accepted accounting principles, the business should recognize the income earned once payment is received and the product or service has been delivered.

What is EBITDA?2024-01-04T12:50:48-05:00

EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization.

It is a measure of a company’s profitability before deducting interest expenses, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.

EBITDA is often used to assess a company’s operating performance and compare it to other companies within the same industry. By excluding interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization from the calculation, EBITDA provides a clearer picture of a company’s ability to generate operating income from its core operations.

However, it’s important to note that EBITDA does not take into consideration changes in working capital, capital expenditures, or other non-operating expenses. It should be used in conjunction with other financial metrics for a comprehensive evaluation of a company’s financial health.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) is a financial metric that can help you understand your company’s cash flow from its core activities. EBITDA strips away non-cash and potentially subjective financial metrics.

For example, your interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization depend on your financing and accounting decisions. Investors can better understand how much cash your company can generate each year by focusing on EBITDA. Software as a service (SaaS) companies is also sometimes evaluated using the Rule of 40, which considers the growth versus profitability trade-off.

If your EBITDA margin (EBITDA / Revenue) plus revenue growth is higher than 40, your company could be an attractive acquisition target.

What is Contribution Margin?2024-01-04T12:51:20-05:00

Contribution Margin is another key financial metric that measures the profitability of a product or service. It represents the amount available to cover fixed costs and contribute to profit after subtracting variable costs.

More specifically, the contribution margin is calculated by subtracting variable costs (such as direct materials and direct labor) from revenue. It indicates how much each unit of sale contributes toward covering fixed costs and generating profit.

Contribution margin is crucial for businesses to understand their break-even point and make informed decisions about pricing, product mix, and cost control.

The contribution margin is a company’s or product’s line revenue minus variable expenses. Your contribution margins can determine which products or services to invest in and which to discontinue. Your company’s contribution margin isn’t on your financial statement, but you can calculate it once you separate your fixed and variable expenses. It can be difficult as variable expenses can include expenses from your cost of goods sold and operating expenses.

For example, depending on your business, utilities may be a fixed expense if increasing or decreasing production doesn’t impact your utility bills. However, raw materials, online digital advertising, and sales commissions could all be variable expenses.

What is Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)?2024-01-04T12:52:58-05:00

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) is an important financial metric used to calculate the direct costs associated with producing or providing goods or services. It includes the cost of materials, labor, and other resources directly attributable to the production or delivery of the goods or services. COGS is deducted from revenue to determine gross profit.

COGS is particularly relevant to businesses that sell physical products. By understanding and properly accounting for COGS, businesses can assess their profitability and make informed pricing decisions.

When calculating COGS, it is crucial to consider all the costs that are directly tied to the production or delivery of goods or services. This includes the cost of raw materials, such as the price of the ingredients used in a recipe or the cost of purchasing goods for resale. Labor costs, including wages and benefits for employees directly involved in the production process, also form a significant part of COGS. Additionally, businesses need to factor in any other direct expenses, such as packaging materials, shipping costs, or equipment maintenance costs.

Properly accounting for COGS is essential for businesses to accurately assess their profitability. By deducting COGS from revenue, companies can determine their gross profit, which is the amount of money left after accounting for the direct costs of production. This figure provides a clear indication of how efficiently a business is utilizing its resources and generating revenue.

Moreover, understanding COGS allows businesses to make informed pricing decisions. By knowing the direct costs associated with producing or delivering goods or services, companies can set prices that not only cover their expenses but also generate a profit. Pricing products too low may result in losses, while pricing them too high may deter potential customers. Therefore, a thorough understanding of COGS is crucial for businesses to strike the right balance and maximize their profitability.

For businesses that sell physical products, COGS is particularly vital. These companies need to account for the cost of acquiring or producing the goods they sell. This includes the cost of purchasing raw materials, manufacturing or assembling the products, and any additional costs incurred during the production process. By accurately tracking these costs and including them in the calculation of COGS, businesses can have a comprehensive view of their direct expenses and make informed decisions to optimize their operations.

Cost of goods sold (COGS) is the costs that are directly associated with making a company’s products or services. These depend on the company and industry but could include raw materials, shipping expenses, web hosting, and salaries for certain employees. Even if they’re essential for creating and selling your products or services, indirect costs, such as rent or marketing, are omitted and categorized under Operating Expenses. Different formulas depend on whether you sell physical products or services; you can also find COGS at the top of your income statement, right below revenue.
Tracking your company’s COGS could help you understand its finances because Revenue minus COGS equals gross profit.

What is the difference between Accrual vs. Cash-based accounting?2024-01-04T12:53:57-05:00

Accrual accounting and cash-based accounting are two different methods of recording and reporting financial transactions.

Accrual accounting recognizes revenue when it is earned and expenses when they are incurred, regardless of when cash is received or paid. This method provides a more accurate representation of the company’s financial position and performance over a given period.

For example, let’s consider a software development company. Under accrual accounting, if the company completes a project in December but does not receive payment until January, the revenue will still be recognized in December because it was earned during that period. Similarly, if the company incurs expenses for software licenses in November but pays for them in December, the expenses will be recognized in November because they were incurred during that period. This method ensures that revenue and expenses are matched appropriately, providing a more realistic picture of the company’s financial health.

On the other hand, cash-based accounting recognizes revenue and expenses only when cash is received or paid. This method is simpler and more straightforward, especially for small businesses with simple financial transactions.

Using the same example of the software development company, under cash-based accounting, the revenue from the project would only be recognized in January when the payment is received. Similarly, the expenses for software licenses would be recognized in December when the payment is made. This method focuses solely on the cash inflows and outflows, disregarding the timing of when revenue is earned or expenses are incurred.

While cash-based accounting may be easier to understand and implement, it may not provide an accurate representation of a company’s financial performance. For instance, if the software development company has a busy December with multiple projects completed but receives payment for all of them in January, the cash-based accounting method would show a significant increase in revenue for January, even though the work was done in December. This can distort the financial analysis and decision-making process.

The key difference between these two methods lies in the timing of revenue and expense recognition. Accrual accounting provides a more comprehensive view of a company’s financial performance, while cash-based accounting focuses more on cash flows.

Accrual basis accounting combines two fundamental principles: the matching principle and the revenue recognition principle. The matching principle says that expenses should be recognized in the same period as the revenue they help generate. The revenue recognition principle states that revenue should be recognized when it is earned or realized, i.e., when a business performs the actions that entitle it to the revenue. Accrual accounting clarifies the relationships between revenue and expenses, providing better insight into profitability. It also offers a more accurate picture of a company’s assets and liabilities on its balance sheet. For these reasons, accrual basis accounting is the only method allowed under General Accepted Accounting Principles and is required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for publicly traded companies.

Cash basis accounting is used by small businesses and organizations that pay taxes via their owner(s) personal tax returns. The cash basis method records revenue and expenses based solely on cash flow. Revenue is recognized when the company receives cash from a customer, and costs are recorded when cash is paid out. This makes bookkeeping under the cash basis accounting method very straightforward and tracking cash flow simple.

What is a Financial Controller2024-01-04T12:58:54-05:00

A Financial Controller is a key role within an organization’s finance department. Their primary responsibility is to ensure the accuracy, integrity, and compliance of financial reports and records. Financial controllers oversee financial operations, internal controls, and financial planning and analysis.

The role of a financial controller may vary depending on the size and complexity of the organization. They often play a crucial role in budgeting, forecasting, and financial decision-making. Additionally, financial controllers are responsible for implementing and maintaining accounting policies and procedures, as well as managing the overall financial health of the organization.

Financial controllers are highly skilled professionals who possess a deep understanding of accounting principles, financial analysis, and reporting standards. They are experts in interpreting financial data and providing strategic insights to senior management. By analyzing financial trends and performance indicators, financial controllers help organizations make informed business decisions and identify areas for improvement.

In addition to their financial expertise, financial controllers also possess strong leadership and communication skills. They collaborate with various departments within the organization, such as operations, sales, and human resources, to gather relevant financial information and ensure accurate reporting. They also work closely with external auditors and regulatory bodies to ensure compliance with financial regulations and standards.

Financial controllers are responsible for overseeing the day-to-day financial operations of the organization. This includes managing cash flow, monitoring accounts payable and receivable, and ensuring timely and accurate financial reporting. They also play a crucial role in developing and implementing financial strategies to support the organization’s growth and profitability goals.

Furthermore, financial controllers are often involved in mergers and acquisitions, where they assess the financial viability of potential targets and provide financial due diligence. They also assist in post-merger integration, ensuring smooth financial transitions and alignment of accounting systems and processes.

As technology continues to advance, financial controllers are increasingly leveraging financial software and systems to streamline processes and improve efficiency. They are responsible for selecting and implementing financial management tools that enhance reporting accuracy and provide real-time insights into the organization’s financial performance.

Overall, financial controllers play a critical role in the financial management of an organization. Their expertise and insights help drive strategic decision-making, ensure financial stability, and contribute to the long-term success of the organization.

A financial controller is a senior-level executive who acts as the head of the accounting department. The Financial Controller manages accounting teams, ensures that the books are in proper order, reports directly to the business’s CFO and CEO, and can take the helm of financial planning and analysis. As the name suggests, a fractional controller handles all the duties of a full-time controller, except they do so remotely on a part-time or as-needed basis.

Over the years, the role of the Controller has evolved in scope and responsibility. While overseeing financial compilation and reporting remains the primary responsibilities, there are several others they may also be tasked with, including:

  • Building and managing budgets
  • Conducting financial forecasting
  • Coordinating and reconciling audits
  • Designing financial processes and controls
  • Ensuring tax compliance
  • Maintaining the general ledger, payroll, and taxes
  • Managing the finance and accounting teams
  • Preparing financial statements
  • Providing financial and accounting insights
  • Setting financial KPIs
  • Staying up to date with industry-specific regulation and compliance requirements
  • Tracking revenue inflows and outflows

As high-level supervisors, their roles go far beyond data entry and basic accounting tasks. They ensure that all accounting processes are done correctly, accurately, and efficiently.

What is the difference between Bookkeeper and Financial Accountant in the corporate setting?2024-01-04T12:57:30-05:00

Bookkeepers and financial accountants play different roles within an organization’s financial operations.

A bookkeeper’s primary responsibility is to record and maintain accurate financial transactions and records. They handle daily financial tasks, such as recording sales, processing invoices, and reconciling bank statements. Bookkeepers are often responsible for maintaining the general ledger and ensuring that financial transactions are properly classified and coded.

Bookkeepers are the backbone of the financial operations of a company. They meticulously record every financial transaction, ensuring that all the numbers add up and are accurately reflected in the company’s financial records. This attention to detail is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the financial data and ensuring compliance with accounting standards.

On the other hand, financial accountants focus on analyzing financial information and preparing financial statements. They interpret financial data, perform financial analysis, and provide insights into the company’s financial performance. Financial accountants are typically involved in financial reporting, budgeting, and strategic financial planning.

Financial accountants take the raw financial data provided by bookkeepers and transform it into meaningful information that can be used by management, investors, and other stakeholders. They analyze the financial statements, identify trends, and provide valuable insights into the company’s financial health and performance. Their expertise in financial analysis allows them to make recommendations for improving profitability, reducing costs, and optimizing financial resources.

While there is some overlap in their responsibilities, bookkeepers primarily focus on recording and maintaining financial records, while financial accountants take a broader perspective and provide analysis and insights based on those records.

Both bookkeepers and financial accountants are essential for the smooth functioning of an organization’s financial operations. Their collaboration ensures that the company’s financial data is accurate, reliable, and useful for decision-making. Without bookkeepers, financial accountants would not have the necessary data to perform their analysis, and without financial accountants, bookkeepers’ records would lack the interpretation and insights needed for strategic planning.

In summary, bookkeepers and financial accountants have distinct roles within an organization’s financial operations. Bookkeepers focus on recording and maintaining financial transactions and records, while financial accountants analyze and interpret the financial data to provide insights and recommendations. Together, they form a strong financial team that supports the organization’s financial health and success.

Bookkeepers handle the day-to-day tasks of recording financial transactions, while financial accountants provide insight and analysis of that data and generate accounting reports. Bookkeeping is more of a transactional and administrative role that handles the day-to-day tasks of recording financial transactions, including purchases, receipts, sales, and payments. Financial accounting is more subjective, providing business owners with financial insights and financial data based on information gathered from their bookkeeping data using accounting software.

What are Capital Expenditures?2024-01-04T13:00:38-05:00

Capital expenditures, also known as CapEx, are investments made by a company to acquire, improve, or maintain long-term assets. These assets are expected to provide benefits to the company over multiple accounting periods.

Capital expenditures include items such as property, plant, and equipment (PP&E), software development, infrastructure, and research and development (R&D) projects. CapEx is typically categorized as a long-term investment and is capitalized on the balance sheet. Capital expenditures are essential for business growth and expansion, but they also involve careful planning and budgeting to ensure a positive return on investment.

Capital expenditures (CapEx) are when you spend money to buy, maintain, or improve assets that you plan to use for longer than a year. These can include tangible assets like equipment and property and intangible assets like patents or licenses.

These expenses likely appear under the “Assets” section of your balance sheet rather than on your Profit & Loss statement. While you may invest significantly in these assets (in your books), you spread out the cost over the asset’s useful life. For example, if you purchase a 10-year license for $126,000, you can depreciate (take a write-off) $12,600 each year.

Capex software streamlines capital expenditure management, aiding organizations in planning, tracking, and optimizing long-term investments. With features like predictive analytics and real-time reporting, it empowers informed decision-making, ensuring capital investments align with strategic goals. These tools also enhance transparency, compliance, and financial management efficiency, facilitating sustainable growth.

What is Churn?2024-01-04T12:39:41-05:00

Churn, also known as customer attrition or customer turnover, refers to the rate at which customers or subscribers cancel or stop using a product or service over a specified period.

Churn rate is an important metric for subscription-based businesses, as it directly impacts revenue and customer lifetime value. High churn rates may indicate issues with product quality, customer service, or value proposition. Reducing churn and maintaining customer loyalty are crucial for sustainable growth and profitability.

Customer churn refers to how many customers you’ve lost during a period (ex., month or year), while revenue churn can refer to the annual or monthly recurring revenue change from losing customers due to cancelations.

Depending on the business model, churn could apply to someone who stops using the service, downgrades their plan, or cancels a subscription. Your business’s churn rate, or attrition rate, is the percentage change you measure during a period.

For example, if you start the month with 6,000 customers and end with 5,400, you have a 10% customer churn rate. Conversely, you had a 90% renewal rate. While every business will experience churn, a high churn rate could indicate that you need to change something about your product or service.

Often, it’s more expensive to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one, so focusing on decreasing your churn rate can be crucial for a successful business.

What is Retention?2024-01-04T12:44:24-05:00

In the context of accounting and finance, retention refers to the practice of withholding a portion of an employee or contractor’s payment until a certain condition is met or a specific project is completed. Retention is often used in industries such as construction and consulting.

Retentions are typically held as security against issues such as project delays, defects, or non-compliance. Once the condition is fulfilled, the retained amount is released to the employee or contractor.

Retentions help ensure quality workmanship and compliance with contractual obligations.

Customer retention measures how many of your active subscribers remain customers over time. You can calculate your retention rate by dividing the total number of active customers who continue their subscription by the number of active customers at the beginning of the period—a week, month, quarter, or year.

While every business experiences a churn rate, your retention rate can give you insight into your product-market fit and customer satisfaction.

What is Depreciation?2024-01-04T12:45:04-05:00

Depreciation is an accounting process that allocates the cost of tangible assets over their useful life. It represents the wear and tear, obsolescence, or decline in value of these assets over time.

Depreciation is important for matching the expense of using assets with the revenue generated from their use. It also serves to reflect the decrease in an asset’s value on a company’s balance sheet.

Various methods can be used to calculate depreciation, including straight-line depreciation, declining balance depreciation, and units-of-production depreciation.

Depreciation is how a company writes off the value of fixed assets over their useful life. Depreciation could be applied to tangible assets, such as office equipment, computers, and buildings, and intangible assets, such as software licenses and intellectual property.

The amount you’ll depreciate each year can depend on the depreciation method your business selected, how much the asset costs, its useful life, and whether there’s a residual or salvage value at the end.

Recording depreciation can help ensure your books accurately represent your company’s value over time and make understanding its financial health easier.

What is Amortization?2024-01-04T12:46:18-05:00

Amortization is an accounting process that refers to the systematic allocation of the cost of intangible assets over their useful life. It is similar to depreciation, which is the allocation of the cost of tangible assets.

Amortization is commonly applied to assets such as patents, copyrights, trademarks, and software. By spreading out the cost of these assets over their useful life, companies can match the expense with the revenue generated from their use.

Properly accounting for amortization is important for accurate financial reporting and complying with accounting standards.

Amortization is expensing the cost of an asset or loan over time. Companies with capital expenses for intangible assets, such as trademarks, patents, and licenses, may amortize the cost over the asset’s expected useful lifetime.

For example, if you have a patent with a 10-year useful life, you may be able to write off a tenth of its total value each year. Amortization is similar to depreciation, which is how companies write off the value of a tangible, fixed asset over its useful life.

What is Forecasting?2024-01-04T12:46:56-05:00

Forecasting is the process of predicting future financial or business outcomes based on historical data, market trends, and other relevant factors. It helps businesses anticipate and plan for future scenarios, make informed decisions, and allocate resources effectively.

Financial forecasting can include projecting sales, revenue, expenses, cash flow, and other financial performance metrics. It is often used for budgeting, strategic planning, and assessing the financial feasibility of new initiatives.

Accurate and reliable forecasting is crucial for effective financial management and decision-making.

A forecast is a data-backed estimate of your company’s future financial performance. It can be crucial for making educated investment decisions, creating realistic budgets, and avoiding a cash flow crunch.

Forecasts can incorporate broader market expectations, such as industry benchmarks or how changing interest rates could impact your sales. But they should also be based on your historical records and what you know about the coming year, such as the seasonality of your business and upcoming marketing campaigns.

Creating budgets and forecasts annually is an essential part of a business. But it’s also an ongoing process, as you may want to compare your projections to actual results and then make revisions or set new goals. Investors may also review your forecasts to understand your business better and evaluate how well you know the business.

What is Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)?2024-01-04T12:47:37-05:00

Similar to ARR, Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is another metric used by subscription-based businesses. However, MRR focuses on the predictable and recurring revenue generated on a monthly basis.

MRR provides a more granular view of a company’s revenue streams and helps track revenue growth, customer retention, and customer churn rates. It also assists in analyzing the impact of pricing changes and promotions on revenue.

Effective management of MRR is crucial for businesses to ensure customer satisfaction, retention, and sustainable revenue growth.

Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is the revenue your business brings monthly from subscriptions during a single month. You can calculate your MRR by multiplying the number of users or customers by their respective subscription prices and adding the results (if there are quarterly or annual plans, you can include the monthly amount).

You may also need to account for changes from upgrades or downgrades during the month, but avoiding including one-time charges or variable fees in your MRR is essential. Taking a more in-depth look at specific changes within your MRR, such as MRR growth from new customers versus a loss from churn, can also be insightful.

For example, you should address a high churn rate even if you have a positive overall MRR due to increasing your new customers and upselling.

What is Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)?2024-01-04T12:48:19-05:00

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is a metric commonly used by subscription-based businesses to measure the predictable and recurring revenue generated from customers over a year.

ARR represents the total annual value of all active subscriptions or recurring contracts. It provides insight into the stability and growth potential of a business, allowing for better forecasting and financial planning.

ARR is particularly relevant for software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies and other subscription-based business models, providing a clear view of ongoing revenue sources.

Annual recurring revenue (ARR) tracks the expected revenue from products and services sold with contracts that last at least 12 months. Companies with business models based on Software as a service (SaaS) and subscription models commonly track their ARR.

To calculate your ARR, add up the annualized revenue from subscriptions minus one-time and variable fees — because those are not recurring. You may also need to add income from expansion revenue (upselling) and subtract lost income from canceled subscriptions (churn).

Utilizing KPI analysis helps compare your ARR with existing and new customers and look at how the increased ARR from upselling compares to the ARR you lost from churn.

What is Fair Market Value (FMV)?2024-01-04T12:49:24-05:00

Fair market value (FMV) refers to the present value of a company’s common shares. With public companies, you can look up the FMV by checking the current stock price. In most cases, private companies may need a third-party appraisal and 409A valuation to determine their FMV. The FMV of each of your company’s common stock is important for founders, investors, and employees who receive stock or options.

Fair Market Value (FMV) refers to the price that an asset would sell for between a willing buyer and a willing seller in the open market. It represents a fair and unbiased estimation of the value of an asset.

FMV is used in various contexts, such as valuing assets for taxation purposes, conducting business transactions, or determining the value of investments. It takes into consideration factors such as supply and demand, market conditions, and other relevant economic factors.

Valuing assets at their fair market value is important for accurate financial reporting and decision-making.

For example, determine the FMV of your common stock during your first valuation before you issue common stock options. Then, you’ll need a new 409A valuation after material events, such as a funding round or acquisition, and no less often than once every 12 months.

It is important to note that hiring a qualified third-party appraiser to determine your FMV value can be important because the IRS can reject a grossly unreasonable valuation.

What is Burn Rate?2024-01-04T12:50:05-05:00

Burn rate refers to the rate at which a company is spending its available cash or financing. It is often used in early-stage startups and represents the net negative cash flow over a specified period.

A high burn rate indicates that a company is spending its cash resources rapidly without generating sufficient revenue or profitability. This can be a cause for concern for investors or stakeholders as it may indicate a lack of sustainability.

Monitoring and managing burn rate is crucial for startups and businesses with high cash consumption to ensure proper allocation of resources and to secure additional financing if needed.

Your company’s burn rate describes how quickly it’s losing (burning) money. Many venture-backed startups need time and money to build their customer base and improve their products or services before becoming profitable. You’ll generally discuss your burn rate in terms of monthly figures, and it’s only relevant before your business is profitable.

You can calculate your gross monthly burn by determining how much you spend each month. You can find this by comparing your cash balances from one month to the next.

Your net burn rate is your monthly revenue minus monthly expenses, showing how much you lose each month. A negative net burn rate can indicate you’re making money, but only if you exclude new funding during the period.

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