Month: October 2021

An employee handbook gives your team a clear picture of your company’s guidelines, policies and expectations. And while you aren’t required to have an employee handbook, it’s an excellent way to communicate the ins and outs of your company and may help mitigate any legal issues you encounter.

An employee handbook gives clear guidelines of behavior that is expected and enforced at your company. It allows you to share your company’s vision, mission and general code of conduct with your employees from day one. A good employee handbook is a living, breathing document that your employees regularly reference—anything they want to know about working at your company should reside in the handbook.

What should you include in an employee handbook?
The following are six essential elements you should consider including in your employee handbook:

Company Overview.
Share how your company was founded and clearly define your mission, vision and purpose for being a company. You should also discuss which values you use as guiding principles to make decisions.

Employee Compensation, Benefits and Perks.
Explain how employees will be compensated—from payment frequency to available paycheck options (such as checks or direct deposit) to alternative compensation (bonuses or commission). Next, define your overtime policy (if applicable) and clearly explain what benefits (including insurance) your company offers. Finally, discuss any perks employees get from working at your company, which may include flexible schedules, remote work options, education reimbursement, a company car or cell phone and more.

Code of Conduct.
Thoroughly describe the conduct you deem acceptable at your company—how you expect employees to handle themselves while at work. Be as specific as you can, including such things as customer service, dress code, phone, computer and Internet use during work hours, breaks and rest periods, customer privacy, substance abuse, smoking guidelines, conflict resolution and more. Share what the expectation is and what disciplinary procedures are in place relating to each code of conduct violation.

Anti-Discrimination and Equal Opportunity Policies.
The law requires that you explicitly state how your company adheres to anti-discrimination and equal employment opportunity laws for hiring and promoting employees (under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or EEOC). Additionally, it would be best if you address your compliance with the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which prohibits unfair hiring, firing, promotion and recruitment practices related to an employee’s citizenship status, national origin and eligibility verification process.

Family and Medical Leave Policies.
If more than 50 employees work for your company, you should have a Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) policy in place and clearly outline it in your handbook. For more information, check out the FMLA Employer’s Guide or talk to your attorney or Human Resources consultant.

Workplace Safety and Security.
Clearly outline what steps you take to ensure a safe work environment at your company, whether physical or non-physical. And make sure you understand workers’ compensation rules and procedures to help your employees better should the need arise.

While this is not an exhaustive list of what to include in your employee handbook, it will give you a good start. Be sure to work with your attorney or a Human Resources consultant to help create a handbook that will clearly explain your company rules and guidelines to employees and protect you and your company from legal issues. Additionally, ask your employees to read and acknowledge receipt of the handbook annually to ensure they understand your company standards, which will further protect your company.

To manage your business effectively, you must understand the difference between making money and managing money. While some may think cash flow and profit are the same, they are very different. And both are critical to your future success.

What’s the difference between profit and cash flow?
A business can be profitable with poor cash flow, while a healthy cash flow doesn’t necessarily mean your business is thriving. Let’s start by defining each:

• • Profit (also known as net income) is your revenue after you subtract costs. Gross profit refers to what your business makes after you deduct direct costs. Net profit is what you make after you deduct all other costs.
  • Cash flow refers to how money flows into and out of your business throughout a given period of time—positive cash flow means there’s money coming into your business and negative cash flow means money is going out.

So which is more critical to your business—profit or cash flow?
Profit will show you the immediate success of your business, but cash flow may be more crucial to your company’s long-term plans. Profit is typically an indicator of financial health; however, cash flow is what keeps your daily operations moving forward. The critical difference between the two is timing. Consider these examples:

If you own a small consulting firm, you may likely collect your receivables on a 30-day or 60-day payment cycle. That means you’ll show a profit on your books, but the cash will not be available until you receive payment. So if you need to purchase something or pay vendors, you may find yourself with low cash flow. Unfortunately, you may have to put off a business opportunity or delay purchasing something you need—or be unable to meet your day-to-day obligations. And at the end of the day, you may not survive if you cannot maintain a positive cash flow.

On the other hand, if you own a local deli, you probably receive payments immediately at point-of-sale terminals through debit cards, credit cards, and cash purchases. In that instance, you will have cash flow immediately; however, you may have to sell much more than the small consulting firm to make a profit each day. And if you can’t regularly show a profit, it can negatively impact your ability to grow.

The importance of generating a positive cash flow.
A positive cash flow is necessary to generate profits. So it’s critical to take a closer look at a few ways to create positive cash flow, especially if you want your business to grow and thrive:

• • Tighten up your receivables window – and if you have customers who don’t pay on time, consider charging late fees or asking for upfront payment for specific products or services you offer.
  • Find ways to attract new business – not necessarily adding new customers, but focusing on increasing business with your existing customer base (as it’s much cheaper to do so). For example, consider offering a promotional special or a VIP program to existing customers to drive repeat business and potentially an influx of cash.
  • Get a short-term business loan – there are many available, including our business loans at Pinnacle Bank. Be sure to look for a loan that will help you meet your immediate cash flow needs without causing you to land in too much debt in the long run.

Next step: Discover more ways to optimize your cash flow.

Get the help you need.

Managing a business is challenging—there are many things to do on any given day. But it’s vital to look at how cash flow impacts your bottom line consistently. If you need assistance finding ways to maximize your profitability or improve your cash flow position, we can help you. Contact one of our business experts at 877.759.7939

Over the past several years, work habits have significantly changed. Many people work remotely and conduct business wherever they may be—and that includes small business owners. So, for example, instead of being tied to an office to manage your books or run payroll, you can now do what you need to do using an app.

Since the pandemic, improved mobile products and services have emerged to make business operations more manageable than ever. And while a mobile app can’t do everything you need, it can do quite a bit.

Let’s take a look at some of the operational tasks you can now do using an app:

Accounting/bookkeeping.
You can use mobile devices to generate estimates, send invoices, manage expenses, bill time and even scan and save your receipts. Some of the more popular accounting apps include QuickBooks, Quicken, NetSuite and FreshBooks.

What to do: Whatever accounting mobile device you use, be sure to link it to your Pinnacle Bank business checking account to manage your funds quickly and easily 24/7.

Mobile banking.
Using a mobile banking app, you can conduct nearly all of your banking business wherever you are and whenever you have the time. Here are just a few of the many things you can do:

• • • • Deposit checks
      • Pay bills
      • Transfer funds
      • Check your balance
      • Set up fraud alerts

With a Pinnacle Bank mobile app, you’ll experience increased security with multi-factor authentication and secure login.

Tip: Find out more about Pinnacle Bank’s mobile app by watching this short video.

Payroll.
Most small businesses depend on payroll services to help manage employee payroll, make tax payments and do other related business. Now you can manage payroll using an app — imagine clicking a few buttons to approve payroll from wherever you are. Keep track of employee hours, manage your tax payments and pay employees on time at your convenience.

Helpful: Talk to your payroll processor about the mobile app options available to you.

Customer payment management.
You can use a portable card reader and an app to turn your phone into a mobile point-of-sale system, accepting credit card, debit card and mobile wallet transactions. Additionally, you can receive payments from clients using Zelle® or other peer-to-peer payment systems (such as PayPal) to get money faster and safer.

Smart idea: Learn more about the payment processing services available at Pinnacle Bank with next-day funding, breach protection, and fast transaction processing.

Communicate with customers and employees.
You can use your mobile phone to talk to employees and customers wherever you are. But if they aren’t available, you’ll resort to leaving a message, which may or may not get returned. For quick and easy messaging, texting is the answer. And while a follow-up phone call may be required, it’s good to know you can text someone wherever you are. For example, you may see that someone has called you, but you cannot talk at that time. Simply send a text to let that person know you received the call and provide a time to call back. Or maybe you just want to check in on a customer or employee quickly — sending a text message is a great way to do so.

Another option: If you’re in a location where texting is unavailable, or you don’t have a person’s mobile phone number, you can use apps, such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, to communicate with customers or employees.

Project management.
One of the significant challenges business owners face each day is project management. How do you keep projects moving along and ensure everyone working on the project is updated regularly? Using a cloud-based project management app, you can upload files, share due dates for deliverables, manage the workflow, keep track of project hours and discuss the project in a controlled and secure environment.

Try this: Many project management apps are available, but Microsoft Office Planner, Trello and Google Workspace are a few good options to consider.

Social media management.
As a small business owner, you know the value of social media marketing to connect with your customers. While all social media platforms have tools to help improve customer engagement, managing your social media with each app can be time-consuming and cumbersome. Instead, consider using a social media dashboard app, such as Hootsuite or Buffer. That way, you’ll have all your social media channels in one place. You can reply to customers, generate reports, monitor campaign performance and more.

Bonus: Get the tips you need to create a robust digital marketing strategy for your business.

Managing your small business from a mobile device may take time to get used to, but it is well worth the effort. You’ll find you’ll have more time to do the things you need to do in the day. And you’ll likely communicate more effectively (and more regularly) with customers and employees.

Most people look forward to the holiday season. It’s a time for many to reflect on the past year and celebrate new beginnings with family and friends. But, unfortunately, it’s also a time when people may feel more financial stress than at any other time of the year.

What is Holiday Financial Stress?

Financial stress is often associated with economic issues, such as job loss or an unanticipated change to your circumstances. And while that type of financial stress can be overwhelming, our focus is to address the more self-imposed holiday financial stress, including social expectations, overcommitting, lack of planning and trying to keep up with your neighbors and friends.

For example, you may feel this year’s holiday celebration must be better than last year’s experience, which may drive you to spend unnecessarily. Or maybe you get carried away every holiday season, trying to find the best gift for each family member or friend, which leads to spending more than you should.

The fact is, if you can control your expectations, you can begin to eliminate the stress and anxiety you may feel during the holiday season.

Tips to Reduce Financial Stress

The following are some helpful tips to reduce financial stress during the holidays:

• • • Set a budget and stick to it – Determine how much you can spend on gifts or celebrations and don’t deviate from that amount. The closer you stick to your budget, the less stress you’ll feel.
    • Make a list and check it twice – Write down all the gifts you anticipate buying and start early. Then, take advantage of any deal you can find for gifts, party supplies, food and holiday décor.
    • Use cash for purchases – The more you can avoid using credit for purchases, the better. And it will also help you avoid the “after-holiday blues” as you begin to pay off the debt you incurred.
    • Practice self-care often – Do whatever it is that helps you relax, including exercise, massage therapy, taking a bath, reading a book, etc. Take the breaks you need to focus on improving your well-being to enjoy those around you better.
    • Ask what people want – There is no harm in asking what someone wants for the holidays. While some may think this takes away the surprise, if that’s a source of stress for you, ask anyway.
    • Be creative – You may need to give homemade gifts to family and friends, and there’s no harm in that. In fact, many will find them to be more heartfelt and appreciate them more than a gift you buy from the store. Remember, a plate of homemade cookies will go a long way with your neighbors and friends.
    • Create a plan – Start planning for next year now. Keep track of what you spend and begin to set aside money for next year. Consider opening a Christmas Club account at Pinnacle Bank or enroll in our Saving Cents program so you can save money as you spend.

While you may not eliminate all the stress you feel during the holidays, taking these steps will help you gain more control of your finances. Focus on what matters most and allow yourself to adopt new celebratory traditions if the old ones require too much time or money.

If you need assistance setting up a holiday budget or would like to set up other savings options, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.