By Brenda Duckworth If you were in Kennewick, WA July 29-31 for the Farm Financial Standards Council yearly conference, then I probably don’t need to tell you about the fun we had. The group continues to grow, yet remains small enough to ensure comradery and open discussion. As co-chair with
By Alan Miller One of the simplest ways to monitor farm financial progress is to compare the owner’s equity (or net worth) reported on the balance sheet at the end of one year to the equity reported a year earlier. If the amount of equity is larger, the farm made
By Alan Miller Let’s consider one windshield metric that I first learned to appreciate in the early years of the farm financial crisis of the 1980s. That financial measure is capital debt repayment margin (CDRM). This windshield metric can help provide direction where the farm balance sheet still looks great,
By Alan Miller Future accounting information is inherently valuable for decision-making because it is so relevant to the decisions we need to make now. Forecasted, projected, budgeted, or whatever you want to call it, future accounting information is never more valuable than when the economics of farming are in transition.
By Scotty Elston It is inevitable as a producer you will be faced with adversity, whether weather-related events, volatile markets, labor issues, regulatory burdens, or perhaps farm policy shifts. If you are faced with a substantial financial loss in your farming or ranching operation, what should you do when it
By Carroll Merry In the motion picture Close Encounters of the Third Kind, there’s a scene near the end where the humans are using sound and lights to communicate with the alien mother ship. When the alien craft takes over total control of the computers, one of the scientists comments
By Kieth Raynor On January 21, 2016 the Farm Financial Standards Council will once again team up with the staff from Farm Futures magazine and host an Ag Finance Boot Camp in St. Louis. If you have not attended one of these in the past, I strongly encourage you to
By Jim Casler When considering benchmark data, the three important items to consider are accuracy, timeliness and applicability. The Benchmarking Part 2 article discussed accuracy of industry benchmarking data and the Benchmarking Part 3 article explored the timeliness of industry benchmarking data. The significance of using benchmark data that is
By Brenda Duckworth The first two parts of this series offered ideas on moving from cash-based to accrual-based accounting. If you stayed hooked to read Part III, you likely are interested in moving toward management accounting as the primary source of reports versus accounting only for income tax or lender-required
By Brenda Duckworth So, you understand the importance of accrual financial statements where you are showing the true profitability of the business. In doing so, you have reported expenses only when income is earned, regardless of when cash changes hands. How did you handle “warehousing” the expenses associated with unfinished
It’s easier than ever to join the Farm Financial Standards Council. Click the link below for more details and register for membership online with just a few clicks.
