All-in-one money management: a central assets account can improve your bottom line - small business financial management

Black Enterprise, August, 1994 by Carolyn M. Brown

Every business owner knows the importance of careful record keeping. The less time you spend trying to figure out your bottom line, the more time you can spend improving it. One way to help oversee your company's financial activities is through a central assets account.

This all-in-one money management vehicle is available from almost all brokerage firms and banks. Essentially, the business assets - checking, line of credit, bank card transactions and securities - are combined into one account. You save both the time and trouble of compiling information from checkbook records, dividend and interest statements and security receipts. A monthly statement allows you to track expenses.

The benefit of this type of account, says Walter L. Clark, vice president and investment officer with Wheat First Butcher Singer, is that you have a professional handling your assets, your money is diversified and you receive long-term financial planning.

But perhaps the most attractive feature is the "sweep." Every penny from deposits, interest, dividends and security sales is swept into a money fund of your choice. So, the money in the account is continuously reinvested.

If you qualify for a margin account, you can take out a loan at a competitive interest rate and choose your own repayment schedule. The securities in the central assets account serve as collateral.

Says Dean Witter Reynolds account executive Pierre Dunagan, a central assets account is worthwhile if you maintain multiple relationships with banks or other financial service firms or if you keep money in low-yielding bank accounts.

While a central assets account makes it easier to maintain a basic recording system, it's no substitute for a detailed accounting system, mainly because it deals just with the disbursement side of the business," says Robyn T. Elliott, a CPA. Elliott teaches a course, "Record-keeping For Small Business Owners," at the Pacific Coast Regional Small Business Development Corp. in Los Angeles.

Since these accounts vary widely, you would be wise to shop around. Generally, account minimums range from $25,000 to $100,000 (in cash or securities). There's usually an annual management fee, which may amount to as much as 2% of the account.

Before opening a central assets account, look for the following:

* Coding features to help categorize your checks. When the statement is issued, it not only lists the category to which checks were written (i.e., travel) but whether they went for tax-deductible payments.

* A daily computer sweep of assets.

* A year-end summary statement of the entire account's activity fiscal rather than calendar year).

* ATM card privileges for petty cash and travel and entertainment expenses.