Does this sound familiar? Your business is growing. Customers are buying what you’re selling. You should be ecstatic. But you can’t sleep at night. You feel like the business is out of control. Things should be rosy but it feels strained. The information you look at doesn’t make sense. You’re confused by the reports you […]
Below is a recent conversation I had with one of our long-term, entrepreneurial clients: Jane, the Client: So, one of my friends has just found out that the individual managing the finance and accounting operation for her organization made a number of pretty significant oversights. She asked me for a little advice. Robin: Hey Jane! […]
2020 hasn’t gone the way anyone expected, giving everyone plenty of reasons to worry and fret. But I thought for this year-end blog it might be good to focus on the positive rather than the negative. I think we could all use more of the former and less of the latter. I was mulling over […]
Well, 2020 hasn’t gone the way anyone predicted. But for that reason, I think it’s all the more important to remember the things that have gone well. Here at KBSCFO, some things haven’t worked out, but many things have gone right this year. The more I think about it, the more I realize how many […]
As you are probably well aware if you run a distillery, the prospect of an increase in the excise tax for distilled spirits is hanging over the industry’s head. In December 2017, Congress passed a bill that included a provision to temporarily lower the federal excise tax (FET) on spirits Distillers pay $2.70 per proof […]
Recently I’ve been taking sailing lessons on the nearby Chesapeake Bay. It’s been a fun and relaxing pastime during a particularly stressful year. My sailing instructor has been teaching me watercraft safety rules and sharing some cautionary tales. What has been striking to me is how many of those rules also apply to landlubbers—and business […]
Did you know that KBS CFO has practice that specializes in working with distilleries? Powered by KBS CFO, DistilleryCFO (www.distillerycfo.com) focuses on the success, growth, and sustainability of distillery businesses. DistilleryCFO is a one-stop solution, addressing the financial and technological elements of running a distillery while providing the great service that KBS CFO is known […]
There are a lot of people offering a lot of useful—and not-so-useful—advice about weathering the storm created by COVID-19 and the economic downturn. They talk about marketing efforts, restructuring lease agreements and debt, or moving business online. You might be forgiven if you read such articles and think: “That’s all very well and good, but […]
As for many businesses, this is a tough time for a number of distilleries. Restaurants and bars have very limited operations—if they’re opened at all—and large distributors simply aren’t buying the inventory they usually do. Tasting rooms are closed. And employers worry about whether they need to lay off staff while being hyper-alert to their […]
In just two months the pandemic has turned a lot of conventional wisdom on its ear. Many of the rules that were once taken for granted in the business world no longer apply when your company may be partially or completely shut down. This situation is completely unprecedented. Since nobody has ever faced it before, […]