July, 2019

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Kleptocracy – What Does it Mean to Community Financial Institutions?

Abrigo

The term kleptocracy has been used in the financial crimes profession for years, but many AML professionals do not understand its meaning and therefore are not adequately monitoring for it within their BSA/AML program. So, what is a kleptocrat? A kleptocrat is a term associated with political corruption and is defined as a ruler who uses their power to steal their country’s resources.

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Summer Slump: 11 Ways Your Business Can Avoid It and Keep Up Productivity

Fundera

A majority of workers feel distracted during the summer months, with 53% of workers reporting an increase in distraction from Memorial Day to Labor Day. This phenomenon, dubbed the “summer slump,” can have a big impact on your bottom line. An increase in distraction causes a decrease in motivation, with 1 in 4 employees feeling less productive during summertime.

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Recovering Overdue Accounts from Different Generations – Part I

Eastern Credit Management Services

In 2019 there are five generations in the credit marketplace and they all have unique tendencies when it comes to obtaining and repaying credit. In this two-part blog we will explore these five generations: Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z, and how to deal with each one when recovering overdue accounts. The Silent Generation and Baby Boomers will be the focus of Part I.

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Webinar: Surviving SCA - Lessons for businesses with recurring revenue

GoCardless

Learn everything you need to know about Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), and how you can prepare your business in our on-demand webinar.

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Opacity vs. Transparency at the Federal Reserve Stress Testing Conference

Abrigo

Last week, the Federal Reserve hosted a stress testing conference in Boston, MA. The conference brought together regulators, bankers, economists, and others to discuss the most important annual check on the stability of the banking system. The initial stress test conducted in 2009 was described as a “wartime” test meant to reassure the public that the system was solvent, and it was very effective.

CECL 97
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Five Ways to Build a Solid Foundation With Your Examiners

Abrigo

One of the most important business relationships you will have is the one you maintain between your institution and your examination staff. This is not a relationship that only needs attention during the exam process. Instead, this relationship should be nurtured by both sides on an ongoing basis. In order to establish and maintain a strong, communicative relationship with your examiners, these five tips should be followed: Utilizing examiners as subject matter experts : Many compliance profess

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5 Challenges of Being a Female Business Owner and How to Overcome Them

Fundera

Over the last 20 years I have counseled thousands of women business owners. They have faced immense challenges on the climb up the steep mountain of success and have handled each situation with grace, perseverance, and a focus on constantly pivoting their position so they can climb better. . While there are a multitude of barriers women face in the workplace, here are the top five challenges that most women struggle with at some point in their careers.

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45 Best Small Business Services That’ll Transform How You Work

Fundera

45 Best Small Business Services. QuickBooks Online. Freshbooks. Wave Accounting. Zoho Books. Xero. Sage. Outright. Quicken. Bonsai. HostGator. SiteGround. Netfirms. InMotion Hosting. GoDaddy. BlueHost. A2 Hosting. iPage. Gmail. Zoho Mail. Outlook. Rackspace. Greatmail. PeopleMatter. Cezanne. Namely. Bamboo HR. Jazz. Gusto. Zenefits. Gusto. Rocket Lawyer.

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How to Start a Clothing Line: Advice From Clothing Entrepreneurs

Fundera

How to Start a Clothing Line in 7 Steps. Write a business plan. Find your niche. Understand your market. Design, source, and produce your clothing line. Market your clothing line. Work with an expert. Get financing for your clothing line. Maybe you’ve been sketching designs since you were a kid, have been making your own award-winning Halloween costumes for decades, and have already sold out of the custom T-shirts you’re making out of your garage.

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America’s Best Business Travel Destinations – 2019

Fundera

Business travel is essential for business owners, executives, and employees in a number of industries. Whether you’re attending a conference, meeting a client, or staking out a new business location, work sometimes requires you to be away from your company’s home base. . According to research by Expedia, more than 60% of travelers extend business trips for leisure purposes.

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A Beginner’s Guide to Mobile Commerce: The Next Step in Ecommerce

Fundera

You may have heard that ecommerce is on a path to outstrip traditional brick-and-mortar stores. But did you know that mobile commerce, or m-commerce, is growing at an even faster rate? Smartphones’ share of U.S. online retail sales surpassed 30% in the third quarter of 2018—and that’s without counting in-app sales. If you think about how much time you spend on your own smartphone, it’s no surprise that ecommerce is rapidly going mobile.

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15 Best Online Business Courses for Small Business Owners

Fundera

15 Best Online Business Courses. Startup & Small Business Law. How to Start Your Own Business. Understand SWOT Analysis. The Lean Startup. Finance and Accounting for Small Business & Entrepreneurs. Financing Options for Small Businesses. Fundamentals of Accounting. Savings Plans for Small Businesses. Content Marketing Certification. Social Media Superhero.

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5 Free Small Business Budget Templates

Fundera

A business budget template is one of the most important tools you can use to run your small business. Unfortunately, many small business owners skip this vital business management step. There are a lot of misconceptions about budgeting. It seems difficult and time-consuming. But with a good business budget template, the process can be much less daunting.

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How to Open a Coffee Shop: A Step-by-Step Guide

Fundera

How to Start a Coffee Shop in 5 Steps. Step 1: Come up with a business plan for your coffee shop, including a structure, location, and a name. Step 2: Register your business and get the proper licenses and permits. Step 3: Find suppliers—first a high-quality coffee supplier. Step 4: Create a warm, inviting environment. Step 5: Adopt a good inventory system.

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29 Business Travel Tips You Need to Know

Fundera

At one point or another, small business owners find themselves faced with the opportunity or need to travel to pursue new partnerships, build relationships with customers, and ultimately grow their businesses. The costs of business travel can quickly pile up, especially with purchases you weren’t expecting. (Overpriced cup of coffee at the airport, anyone?

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Establishing and Changing Ownership Percentages in a Business

Fundera

If you have an ownership stake in a company, it’s not uncommon to experience growing pains. As your company expands and your goals shift, you might even decide that you want a bigger ownership percentage. On the flip side, you might want to sell your shares or bring in a new partner to lower your ownership stake in a company. Ownership percentages are obviously important because they determine what profits you’re entitled to from the business.

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How to Start a Jewelry Business

Fundera

One of the greatest joys of being an artist is sharing your work with the world. Jewelry designers in particular understand that, as jewelry can become especially sentimental to their customers. Starting a jewelry business is the best way to get your work out there and forge new connections with grateful clients. . It’s likely that you think of yourself as a jewelry designer first, and an entrepreneur second—if you think of yourself as an entrepreneur at all!

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Where to Find a Small Business for Sale

Fundera

So, you want to be an entrepreneur and you’re looking for a small business for sale. Maybe you love the idea of being your own boss and growing a successful business, but one roadblock is keeping you from moving forward: You’re having trouble coming up with an actual business idea to execute on. Some entrepreneurs are lucky enough to stumble across a million-dollar idea and start a business.

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What Is a Limited Liability Company (LLC) and How to Form One

Fundera

What Is an LLC? A limited liability company (LLC) is a business entity structure in which owners aren’t personally liable for the business’s debts and obligations. LLCs are treated by default as pass-through entities for tax purposes. This means the LLC itself doesn’t pay income taxes, but the profits and losses of the LLC pass through to the owners’ tax returns.

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25 Side Business Ideas: Top Side Hustles for 2019

Fundera

Having a side business on top of a day job isn’t necessarily easy, but it is becoming pretty mainstream. Whether you dream of starting a business one day and hope to grow your side business into a full-time gig or want to supplement your income or pursue a passion in your free time, a side hustle can be a great solution. In fact, as of 2017 over 44 million Americans had a side hustle ; and thanks to an increasingly mobile or freelance-based workforce, the side hustle trend isn’t likely to slow d

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33 Startup Ideas and What We Can Learn From Them

Fundera

Coming up with brilliant startup ideas may feel tricky to aspiring entrepreneurs, especially when it may seem that everyone’s already swooped up every good idea for a business. Still, it’s entirely possible to become successful by improving on existing products or putting a unique spin on an old idea. The benefits of self-employment can make the effort of launching a startup worth it.

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How to Create a Customer Referral Program: A Step-by-Step Guide

Fundera

How to Create a Customer Referral Program. Set Your Goals. Identify Your Target Audience. Determine Incentives. Outline Your Customer Referral Program. Create Customer Referral Program Materials. Track Your Results. Developing your small business marketing strategy is an important step in growing your brand and, ultimately, your sales. And an effective part of this overall strategy is word-of-mouth marketing.

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Financial Statements: The Ultimate Guide to the 3 Key Financial Statements

Fundera

Reading financial statements typically isn’t on the top of a small business owner’s to-do list. This is largely because many small business owners are confused by these statements. Instead of clarifying their business’s financial position, financial statements often serve to confuse business owners. As a result, you might find yourself dependent on your business accountant—who most business owners speak with only once or twice a year—to explain your business’s finances.

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Shopify Alternatives: The 10 Best Options

Fundera

10 Best Shopify Alternatives for Small Businesses. BigCommerce. 3dcart. Volusion. Square Online Store. PrestaShop. Magento. WooCommerce. Weebly. Wix. Squarespace. If you’re looking to start an ecommerce business , you’ve probably heard of Shopify. With 800,000 active stores around the world, Shopify has become a household name in the ecommerce industry.

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Writing Effective Credit Memos Efficiently

Abrigo

Why is writing effective credit memos so vexing? Given that a credit memorandum is one of the most critical documents in the life of the loan, it would seem like a straightforward process. However, lenders, credit analysts, and other banking staff frequently seek tips for writing better credit memos. One reason they do is that writing an effective credit memo is important.

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Cybercrime Continues to Top the Leader Board:

Abrigo

Cybercrime is on the rise within financial institutions and other businesses and continues to be at the forefront of the minds of those in the fraud prevention field. Bad actors are staying one step ahead of detection creating serious hard dollar losses for financial institutions. Cybercrime is defined as a criminal activity (such as fraud, theft, or distribution of child pornography) committed using a computer especially to illegally access, transmit, or manipulate data.

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FASB Gives Breathing Room on CECL to Smaller SEC Filers, Private Cos

Abrigo

Small public banks, privately held banks, and credit unions will get extra time to get CECL right, based on a move by the Financial Accounting Standards Board Wednesday. The FASB took the first step toward providing at least an extra two years for smaller public companies and an extra year for all private financial institutions to implement the current expected credit loss standard, with members saying they expect the longer timeframe to promote a higher quality, smoother implementation.

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The Majority of CFOs Expect a 2020 Recession – Is Your Financial Institution Ready?

Abrigo

After more than a decade of steady economic expansion, many experts are forecasting an impending economic downturn. Nearly half of CFOs in the U.S. expect a recession by the end of 2019 – and 82% believe a recession will have begun by the end of 2020, according to the Duke University/CFO Global Business Outlook survey. Would your institution be ready for this?

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Why It Is Critical to Update Your Core Deposit Study

Abrigo

By Urum Urumoglu Senior Consultant A financial institution’s internal pricing decisions and strategies are crucial to the safety and the soundness of the organization and to its interest rate risk management process in particular. While it is unclear whether we will remain in a rising wholesale interest rate environment, given some of the Federal Reserve’s recent discussions on the fed funds rates, we all know and expect that in many areas of the U.S., retail rates will probably go higher since

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Auditors Will Evaluate CECL Estimates as ‘Fresh Start’ From Incurred Loss Model

Abrigo

A subcommittee of the AICPA task force focused on the current expected credit loss standard (CECL) has provided its first look at how auditors will approach the changes with clients, noting that CECL represents a “fresh start” from the incurred loss model. “CECL model estimates will be evaluated against ASC 326, not anchored to incurred loss model estimates,” according to published takeaways from an AICPA CECL Task Force Auditing Subgroup meeting.

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