Douglas Emerson Profitable Horseman
Profitable Horseman Newsletter 
 
December 17, 2009
Here's An Easy Way to Track Your Financial Worth




It's year end and time to make the final tally of income and expenses for the year.  Whether you keep your books with a pencil based system, electronic spreadsheets or accounting software, the sooner you get the year closed out, the happier you'll be. 

 

Your net income for the year is just one part of your financial progress report for 2009.


A Balance Sheet or Statement of Financial Condition is the other.

 

A balance sheet, in simplistic terms, is a piece of paper that has three sections:

1.      Assets   A list of items you own and their values

2.      Liabilities A list of whom you owe and how much

3.      Net Worth A number that reflects the difference between Assets and Liabilities and represents your ownership in dollars

 

All of the numbers on a balance sheet reflect figures as of the specific date of the balance sheet.  As a result, the balance sheet is often referred to as a financial snapshot in time.

 

For bookkeepers and accountants, the balance sheet serves a purpose of reflecting the changes in a business's assets including depreciable assets at book values, (cost less depreciation) and liabilities on the same day and month (usually December 31)  from year to year.

 

Granted, the accountant's balance sheet is good stuff, but as a business owner you want to know what you and your business are really worth at fair market value (FMV) not  book value.

 

A way to do that is to create a hybrid balance sheet, A Statement of Financial Condition.

 

It lists assets at FMV and all your debts.  The result at the bottom is  your Net Worth.  It looks like this:

 stmt of financial cond

If you'd like your own blank copy of  this Statement of Financial Condition, e-mail me by clicking here.  Put "Net Worth" in the subject line and I'll e-mail a blank form back to you.  You can fill in the blanks with a pencil.

 

I recently spoke with a long time lender in the agricultural credit world.  He prefers this hybrid type of statement with all loan applications over the statements with book values.  Fair Market Values make his job easier with credit decisions and the borrower benefits because it usually shows a stronger net worth.

 

Remember, your business is either growing in value or shrinking in value; it never stands still. 


The annual statement of financial condition is an excellent way to monitor your progress.



Others Have Said 

" When your self-worth goes up, your net worth goes up with it"--Mark Victor Hansen


"Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones"--Ben Franklin


"In a business, a habit of keeping absolutely to the letter and the spirit of an agreement, even when it is unfavorable, is the most precious of assets, although it is not entered in the balance sheet."--Lord Chandros



Have Voice, Will Travel.

mike

I'd like your help with my goal of helping 10,000 horsemen in the next ten years become profitable horsemen.  I'm looking for public speaking opportunities to associations, groups, councils and businesses to tell the story about success in the horse business.
 
Please contact me about your group's event, the subject and the possibilities.  E-mail me here or call me (716) 434-5371.

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E-mail me here:
doug@ProfitableHorseman.com

And we'll get you scheduled for a live webinar demonstration of the software and specific tips for your business on how you can put it into action immediately for a more profitable business.
Back At The Barn

winter turnoutIf you like horses, there is a 99% chance you like dogs too, and have one or more of your own.

Two Black Lab pups have been entertaining us during the day and at night, well, not so much at night.  Waking up to play at 3:00 A.M. is not on my bucket list.

I've discovered that Black Labs are close to invisible in the night and they've discovered that the sound of my footsteps means better get out of the way!

Where does a business consultant get advice? 

From other business consultants, of course.  I met with my mastermind group last week in Syracuse, NY for a day and a half of strategy for each other's business.

Good food and good company are crucial for the success of any worthwhile strategy session.  I enjoyed both.

If you're ever in Syracuse and like barbecue, you can't go wrong with lunch or dinner at Dinosaur Barbque.

It's an experience, try the brontosaurus!




I help professional horsemen and horsewomen struggling with the business half of the horse business. 

Not enough time, not enough money or not enough of the right people working for you?

Is your horse boarding business unprofitable?
Contact me to see if I can help. 


Until next time,
 
Doug

Doug Emerson
Profitable Horseman Deewochagall
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