Are you starting a new business in the new year? Put these items on your to-do list.     Business plan. Outline who will own the business and what the legal form will be, your qualifications to run the business, the competitive market you face, the products or services you will sell, and how [...]

  How much money did you save last year? If your savings fell short of your goals, don't give up. You can still take charge of your financial future. Here are tips to become a successful saver.   Set goals. Give your saving a purpose. Do you want to accumulate an emergency fund with enough [...]

    Staffing errors can spell disaster for your start-up. Here are three to watch out for.   Staffing the firm with friends and family. While this strategy may work in some circumstances, hiring pals and relatives often spells trouble. For one thing, friends and family members often expect – even subconsciously – to be [...]

  As the owner of your business, you are the decider of salaries for your staff. That's true for your own salary too. While there is no one-size-fits-all formula for determining how much to pay yourself, here are two factors to consider. Regularly review and update your firm's cash flow projections to determine the salary [...]

Indiscriminately trying to sell to "everyone" can dilute your message, muddy your image, and waste your company's resources. To market effectively, you have to know your customers. Remember: Satisfied customers come back, and they generally refer others. Here's how to get started:   Think about your typical customers: ages, interests, gender, aspirations, and financial and [...]

  Do you regularly monitor your company's cash accounts? Being aware of where your cash is going can help prevent theft or improper expenditures, which are among the chief sources of loss for small companies.   What can you do to reduce the risk of losses? The textbook answer is to implement "internal controls." Internal [...]

  Scam artists are relentless in finding ways to take your money. But some old-school methods are still effective for protecting yourself. Here are suggestions.   Fortify your computer and your phone. Install anti-virus and anti-spyware programs and update your protection regularly. Consider firewall software to prevent unauthorized access. Change the password on your computer [...]

  Times of crisis, when others are suffering and you want to help most, is also when heartless fraudsters tend to strike. If you're planning a donation, watch for these signs that a charity isn't on the up-and-up.   The fly-by-night charity. Every legitimate charitable association had a start date, and some are still being [...]

The 2016 Global Fraud Study released recently by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners shows that asset misappropriation occurred in more than 83% of the cases reported. Asset misappropriation includes billing and check tampering schemes. According to the study, billing schemes were most common, comprising slightly more than 22% of the cases, and check tampering [...]