08.16.18

How to Lower Customer Acquisition Cost
Chris Arndt

Congratulations, you have managed to persuade a customer to purchase your product or service. In fact, you have managed to repeat this action over and over again. But, do you know the true cost to acquiring those customers and have you figured out how to improve that cost?

07.23.18

Clean Up Your Books: Six Bad Bookkeeping Habits to Break Now
Chris Arndt

New clients frequently ask us how to best organize their neglected books. The truth is, the sooner you clean up your books, the sooner your outsourced accounting team can focus on growth. Growth is awesome, bad bookkeeping habits are not.

Break these six bad bookkeeping habits before you find yourself drowning in disorganization.

06.04.18

Eight Business Lessons Learned from our Q&A with DUDE Products
Chris Arndt

We’re spilling the beans on one of our clients. These are the takeaway business lessons we gleaned from a recent interview with Brian Wilkin of DUDE Products, including a sneak peek of what’s in store next for the DUDEs.

02.23.18

How Detailed Does My Business Budget Need to Be?
Chris Arndt

I feel pretty safe saying that most, if not all, entrepreneurs know they need a business budget. Where business owners often get hung up is on just how comprehensive that budget needs to be. We, at Red Granite and ORBA, frequently get asked this exact question by clients: “How detailed does my business budget need to be?” And it’s another one of those “it depends,” kind of answers.

01.29.18

Questions to Ask Your Accountant Before You Expand Your Business
Chris Arndt

Think you are ready to expand your business? We often see startups attempt to expand too quickly before they are at the appropriate stage in their growth.

01.19.18

The Most Common Signs You Have Outgrown QuickBooks
Chris Arndt

When is it the Right Time to Say Goodbye to QuickBooks? We often get asked by growing companies whether or not they have outgrown QuickBooks. Let us preface this by saying when we get asked this, the honest answer is—it depends. It depends on your company size, it depends what industry you are in, and […]

12.06.17

Five Ways OmniChannel Retail Influences Your Accounting Processes
Chris Arndt

Strategies to use to ensure seamless accounting processes with an omnichannel retail experience. When “omnichannel” was first mentioned, Marketers everywhere were dubbing it as the next buzzword marketing term. Yet, as the years have gone by, its prevalence has increased considerably throughout publications. In fact, recent stats suggest that today’s consumers use an average of almost six touch-points across […]

11.21.17

Financial Evolution of a Start-Up
Chris Arndt

From checking it twice to predicting your future, these are the five stages of a start-up’s finances: Stage One: The Lone Wolf Transaction In the beginning of the evolution of a start-up, it is likely that the founder is in a lone wolf scenario. He or she is grinding away to get the business off […]

11.16.17

Budgeting and Forecasting for High Growth Companies
Chris Arndt

From best practices, to forecasting, to budgets gone bad, we recently hosted a roundtable discussion on budgeting and forecasting for high growth companies at The Junto Institute in Chicago, IL. One of the key takeaways from this discussion were the essential questions to ask for each stage in building a budget.

11.11.17

11 Lessons in Cloud-Based Etiquette
Chris Arndt

Have you been on the receiving end of some untoward cloud-based etiquette? At one point or another, I’m sure all of us has experienced a video conference with someone while their roommate was chowing down on Chipotle in the background. If not, count your lucky stars, as it’s not a pretty scene.