Knowledgeable Accountants Perform Reliable Risk Assessments

Silence the voices keeping you awake at night

All business entails risk, but some risks are more palatable than others, and certain risks are simply unnecessary. At Breon & Associates, we help you assess the risks affecting every aspect of your organization, so you can minimize exposure and enhance your prospects for success. We understand that that risk presents an ever-present threat to your business that can keep you up at night. If you find yourself lying awake wondering what might go wrong, we can deliver peace of mind to help you sleep like a baby. We not only help you resolve the risks that are already troubling you, but we can identity risks you haven’t even contemplated and advise you on proactive steps to protect your company. There’s no reason to suffer a preventable loss, when our seasoned business professionals are ready to provide the advice you need to keep your company safe.

Uncovering the many categories of business risk

You cannot operate a business without taking on some level of risk. But there are strategies for minimizing, avoiding and shifting risk that your company can employ to minimize your exposure. However, you can only take advantage of such strategies if you first identify the risk. Since the circumstances of your business are constantly changing, you need constant vigilance to remain secure.

At Breon & Associates, we alert you to various categories of risk that threaten your business, such as:

• Strategic risk — Competing in today’s global economy requires a sophisticated strategy to leverage every possible advantage. As technology reshapes the market, are you keeping pace? Do you have your finger on the pulse of public taste and current style? Are you ahead of the curve, riding the wave, or being left in the wake of change? If you want to see sustained success, you need to handle strategic risks.
• Financial risk — Cash flow, debts, and reserves are factors when evaluating your company’s financial risk. Depending on circumstances, you might want to leverage assets to expand, stand pat, or sell off assets to generate revenue, and offer discounts to create customer loyalty. Outside factors, such as interest rates, also need to be considered.
• Compliance risk — Every business is subjected to some level of local, state and federal regulation. There are definite costs to compliance, but there also potentially crippling costs to being caught out of compliance. Is your company in compliance with the EPA, the SEC and the FCPA? Do you even know, and to what degree can you be certain? If you’ve acted on questionable legal advice, you could be exposing yourself to penalties without even knowing it.
• Operational risk — Your operational systems can be costing you more than you know. If your accounting does not give decision makers that data they need when they need it, you risk setbacks, delays and poor decisions with negative consequences. If your transactions and vendors are not properly vetted, you’re taking on inordinate risk of service and supply interruptions that damage our operations and your company’s reputation in the marketplace. You could also be setting yourself up for losses due to internal fraud.
• Reputational risk — Strong branding is a vital, albeit intangible, corporate asset. But if you expose yourself to the other risk factors listed here, the foreseeable consequence is that you will not be able to fulfill customer orders, deliver quality goods and services, or pay your bills in a timely manner. Suddenly, you are not the hot, rising company; you’re the industry pariah with a plummeting value.

As previously stated, there is always risk to operating a business. And taking on additional risk is not necessarily bad. Remember the adage that a turtle only makes progress by sticking his neck out. However, if you don’t know where your risks lie or how great a risk you’re running, you’re operating in the dark and asking for trouble. At Breon & Associates, we’re determined to shine the light on risks, so you can be fully informed and make the best decisions possible for your company.