BUSINESS Challenges of a Family Business must leave the company’s employment. In some firms, such employees can re- main but cannot work in the same de- partment or have a situation where one supervises the other. Although such relationships can some- times be managed successfully, the un- derlying issue oſten becomes perception among other employees. “Joe/Jane de- mands high levels of performance from us but gives his (spouse, girlfriend, boy- friend, fiancé, husband, etc.) a pass. He/ she gets unduly favorable treatment, and everyone knows it.” Like so many other things, situations like this can become even more compli- cated within a smaller family business. It’s best to avoid such circumstances, but where this is just not feasible, try separa- tion of roles, departments, locations and anything else to minimize interactions. Roles and Job Responsibilities In any business, it is essential that roles and responsibilities are well defined, un- ambiguous, communicated successfully and understood. Job descriptions can be extremely helpful. Just about any business will have at least the three basic business function- al areas: sales, operations and finance, which are sometimes referred to as “legs of a stool.” In a one-person business, the same individual performs all tasks im- plicit in each area. In a three-person busi- ness, ideally, one individual would be as- signed to each area. Of course, in the real world, individuals in smaller businesses oſten must handle more than one area and wear many hats. You can find good ideas for job descrip- tions and qualifications from online job sources, including opportunity adds. But you may prefer to create your own job de- scriptions. Following are some thoughts about how to do so. 16 KEYNOTES SEPTEMBER 2020 “One thing I have learned is that many of the fundamental family business challenges and issues are similar, irrespective of the company’s size.” Developing Job Descriptions First, develop summaries for each pri- mary functional area, as if each were a distinct role performed by one individual. You may find it easier to start by group- ing and making a bullet list of functional tasks done on a daily basis, irrespective of who is doing them. Some folks refer to this as “a day in the life.” Following are some examples that hopefully will illus- trate this generic approach. Accounts Receivable (A/R) Functional Tasks Evaluate/recommend or reject estab- lishing new credit account and limits Set up new credit customers in A/R system Collect payment for due open invoices Handle and disposition any invoice dis- crepancies or disputes with customers Receive and record payments Apply/post payments received against open invoices Update accounts receivable file in accounting soſtware Prepare daily bank deposit for receipts Prepare cash receipts forecast Run A/R reports, as scheduled or on demand Accounts Payable (A/P) Functional Tasks Provide your company’s credit wor- thiness information to new suppliers or vendors Set up new suppliers/vendors in A/P system Receive and record invoices from sup- pliers or service providers Verify/validate invoices received for accuracy and appropriateness Handle and disposition any discrepan- cies with suppliers or providers Prepare check request (and possibly voucher) for payment of due open invoices Update accounts payable file in ac- counting soſtware Prepare estimates (forecast) of cash re- quired to pay upcoming bills Run A/P reports, as scheduled or on demand Invoicing and Billing Functional Tasks *** Receive and record completed work orders from company technicians Verify/validate work orders received for accuracy and appropriateness Compare completed work orders against quotations for same job (where applicable) Reconcile discrepancies with techni- cians and/or dispatch or salesperson Calculate invoicing amounts, if not al- ready done Prepare/enter invoice data for com- pleted jobs, progress payments or recurring fees Generate (print or email) invoices in accounting soſtware Mail hard copy invoices and/or state- ments (where applicable) Run invoicing/billing reports, as scheduled or on demand WWW.ALOA.ORG
