This is a quote from Constantin Brancusi, a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. He lived from 1876 to 1957 and is considered a very influential figure in modern sculpture. And while I’m not keen on his sculpture, I do love the quote, “Simplicity is complexity resolved.” I had never […]
Book Review: I Contain Multitudes
Just before Christmas last year, this blog offered a gift to readers. That gift was a referral to the book, An Immense World, by Ed Yong. It was the most positive review I’ve ever given a book. But An Immense World was Yong’s second book, so I said I needed to go back and read […]
Back to the Office or Work from Home?
Perhaps the biggest legacy of the pandemic is the changes it has wrought on “the office.” The simple version of this is, “Back to the office or work from home?” Of course, it isn’t that simple. In fact, it isn’t simple at all but goes to the core many of our businesses. During the pandemic, […]
ERTC Redux
I want to revisit a topic from last year, including the subsequent results I’ve seen and the controversy that has been stirred up. On August 16th, my blog post touted the benefits of applying for the Employee Retention Tax Credit, which I urged business owners to pursue. It turns out that more that 90 percent […]
Book Review: An Immense World
My Christmas gift to you is a book I’ve just finished reading. It is the best book I’ve read in years and one of the best books I’ve ever read, and I read a lot of books. The book is An Immense World, subtitled How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us. What makes […]
Cash Projections are Overrated
Here is my thesis: Cash Projections are overrated and often a waste of time. I know that sounds like heresy coming from a CFO, but let me make my argument. Cash is Important First, cash is important to a business, of course it is. In fact, cash is to a business as blood is to […]
SRO Budgeting and SMART Goals
It is the time of year when most companies are doing their budgeting for the next year. This can be a frustrating and time consuming exercise. It is also important. Does every company need a budget? I don’t think so. Smaller companies, where the owner is very close to the transactions, may not need a […]
Book Review: Nazi Billionaires
This is an interesting book. I think all of us know the story of the Nazi regime in Germany, one of the darkest chapters in world history. We know about the death camps and the millions killed by the Nazis. We know about the forced labor in German industry during the war. Or I thought […]
Book Review: The Fatal Impact
And now for something completely different. This is a book I purchased probably 20 or 30 years ago, intended to read, and now finally have. It was first published in 1966, while the edition I’ve got, with wonderful illustrations, was published in 1987. When I was in high school, I was really into cars. In […]
More Free Money!
During the pandemic, the CARES Act provided several programs to help businesses. The best known was the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), which had two phases, and was extremely popular. Another program under the CARES Act was the Employee Retention Credit (ERC), sometimes known as the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC). The ERC was nowhere near […]