Kaiser Consulting | Your Accounting and Compliance Partner

?? It’s budget season, and time is flying! ?? According to the Hackett Group’s recent research, 70% of organizations struggle with accurate forecasting. As the year wraps up, aligning your budgeting strategies with realistic historical trends, statements, and forecasts is key for financial confidence into 2025. Check out our 5?? Practical Tips for building a successful corporate budget! ?? Access Our Resource Library: https://bit.ly/4eJhafC

Did you know weak passwords are one of the top ways cybercriminals gain access to business accounts? October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and these tips from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency can help you establish smart password practices at your organization: ? Require strong, unique passwords. Passwords should be unique, long, and random to create a robust defense against unauthorized access and reduce the likelihood of being easily guessed or compromised. Your IT department or security manager should establish and enforce policies that ensure passwords meet these standards. ? ? Provide an enterprise-level password manager. Implementing an enterprise password manager can bolster security. A password manager generates, stores, and auto-fills passwords, allowing employees to remember just one strong password—the one for the manager itself. Larger organizations may consider utilizing a more sophisticated identity and access management (IAM) system with single sign-on (SSO) capabilities that lets users log in to multiple applications and websites with one set of credentials. ? ? Require changing default credentials on all software and hardware products. Many devices come with default usernames and passwords that bad actors can exploit. Ensure that your organization has and enforces a policy to change these default credentials to mitigate security risks. ? ? Download and share this tip sheet for more information on creating secure passwords: https://bit.ly/3Y42kcy ? Safe computing is everyone’s responsibility. Kaiser Consulting, an Atlantix Partners Company, can help ensure you are prepared. We offer cybersecurity risk assessments to improve your organization’s safety and security. Kaiser Consulting’s IT Compliance & Data Security Team and the IT pros across our entire family of companies can evaluate your business and IT processes and identify areas of improvement to reduce your risk. ? Contact us at KaiserConsulting.com to learn more. ? #KaiserConsulting #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth #Passwords ?

Are you seeking the perfect balance between work and family this fall? Now is the ideal time to join Kaiser Consulting and embrace a flexible, part-time to full-time schedule tailored to your lifestyle. We offer our experienced professionals a diverse array of projects that are as dynamic as the changing leaves. You will collaborate with privately held and publicly traded businesses, multinational Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, closely held entities, visionary start-ups, and mission-driven nonprofits. Our team thrives in our award-winning "Best Places to Work" culture, where support and success go hand in hand. We invite you to explore our flexible careers at KaiserConsulting.com. #KaiserConsulting #Hiring #WorkLifeHarmony #JobsAvailable #Accounting #OhioJobs #Biz1stBPTW #KaiserFlexScheduling

?? Unlock the Power of Dashboards and KPIs ?? Did you know, according to a 2023 Gartner report, companies using dashboards see a 20% increase in productivity? Effective KPI development and management are essential for tracking and forecasting performance. Check out our resource library, and you'll find a sneak peak into our data visualization capabilities! Let's talk about it ?? ?? Access Our Resource Library: https://bit.ly/4eMy906

Phishing attacks are a serious risk for all-sized businesses. Phishing happens when attackers convince victims, like business owners and their employees, to interact with harmful links, emails or attachments that can give hackers access to business information or infect devices with malware. Just one wrong click can lead to financial loss, data breaches and damage to your organization’s reputation. Don’t become an easy target! You must be vigilant and ensure your team knows how to spot and avoid threats. Here are tips from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to reduce the risk phishing poses to your organization: ?Identify available training resources and train employees how to spot phishing. It is becoming harder to identify phishing attempts because malicious actors continually improve their techniques, including new ways to make their messages seem legitimate. Employees should receive threat literacy training repeatedly and often to learn about the latest scams and how to recognize the signs of phishing emails and respond to suspicious communications. ?Alert employees to the risks. Ask your IT provider or designate an employee as a security manager to keep tabs on cybersecurity-related events. Share information on the latest scams with your employees to keep them up to date in between trainings. Frequently remind your staff to watch out for communications that may seem legitimate but are not and how to report a suspected phishing attempt if they receive something that seems off. ?Develop a culture of awareness. Don’t count on once-a-year training to be enough. As a leader, enforcing online safety practices starts with you! Adopt a culture of cyber responsibility. Commit to making your business safer by regularly reinforcing “cyber hygiene” like you would other workplace policies. Be sure employees know how and to whom to report suspicious emails or phishing attempts. ? Download and share this phishing tip sheet to stay secure online: https://lnkd.in/gwrkvAQ7 Safe computing is everyone’s responsibility. Kaiser Consulting, an Atlantix Partners Company, can help ensure you are prepared. We offer cybersecurity risk assessments to improve your organization’s safety and security. Kaiser Consulting’s IT Compliance & Data Security Team and the IT pros across our entire family of companies can evaluate your business and IT processes and identify areas of improvement to reduce your risk. Contact us at KaiserConsulting.com to learn more. #KaiserConsulting #PhishingAwareness #CyberSecurity #StaySafeOnline

On this National Manufacturing Day, we proudly celebrate Ohio’s legacy as a leader in manufacturing excellence! ? For generations, Ohio has been a manufacturing powerhouse, encompassing a diverse array of industries. With a robust innovation network, comprehensive supply chain, and skilled workforce, Ohio manufacturers are poised to shape the future in advanced manufacturing, 3D printing, semiconductors, lithium batteries, electric vehicles, space research, and other groundbreaking technologies. ? Thank you to the industry leaders and workers for your innovations that enhance our lives, drive progress, and contribute to the prosperity of our state, region, and nation. ? #KaiserConsulting #MFGDay24 #Ohio #NationalManufacturingDay #ColumbusRegion

Urgent Compliance Alert for Internal Audit Departments! ?? ?? Are You Prepared for the New IIA Standards? Insights from the recent industry events - ROC IIA Management Roundtable and The Atlanta Conference TAC with IIA reveal a concerning trend: some Internal Audit departments are not expecting to meet the January 9, 2025 compliance deadline for the new IIA Standards…and their Audit Committees are not aware of the issue. The primary hurdle? Lack of resources. ?? We’re Here to Help! For our co-sourced Internal Audit clients, we’re dedicated to supporting you through this transition. Whether you need guidance on implementation strategies, additional resources, or best practices for compliance, we have several solutions to assist you. ?? Let’s connect! Reach out to discuss your journey and how we can help you achieve compliance by the deadline. Don't wait until it's too late! ?? Access Our Resource Library: https://bit.ly/47VAh3h

Are you losing sleep over weak internal controls at your business? ? A well-designed and dynamic system of internal controls is needed to safeguard your assets, protect against fraud, and ensure complete and accurate financials. The good news is that we can help. By tapping into our firm’s experience implementing, testing, and remediating internal controls at large corporations, we developed an assessment of internal controls that are key to smaller organizations. ? Join us for our webinar, Internal Controls for Family Businesses, presented by Kaiser Consulting in partnership with the Conway Center for Family Business, on October 24 from 10:00am – 11:00am EDT. ? You’ll learn how your business can assess risk areas and implement or strengthen internal controls so you can sleep more soundly at night!?We will cover entity-level controls, business process controls, key IT controls, and how to navigate the challenges specific to smaller organizations. Kaiser Consulting professionals Michele Himes, CPA, Michelle Lindsey, NP and Sarah Matthews, CPA will share insights about processes used to identify potential weaknesses and practical recommendations to improve your overall internal control structure and mitigate risk. ? Everyone is welcome to attend. Conway Center members and their employees can attend the webinar for free, while non-members can attend for a fee of $50 per person (the Conway Center will invoice non-members after registration). If you cannot attend the live webinar, please register anyway, and the Conway Center will send you the recording. We encourage attendees to submit questions during the live session for a more engaging and interactive experience. ? Register today for an insightful hour and gain valuable knowledge on internal controls:?https://lnkd.in/gn8JEGdM ? #KaiserConsulting #LiveWebinar #InternalControls

? Having Cash Reconciliation Challenges? Imagine dealing with a $8 million variance due to a year-long lack of cash reconciliation! This was the reality for one of our clients. Tedious, manual, error-prone processes hindered their financial visibility and control. ?? Our Solution: A Streamlined Process In just 12 weeks, we developed and deployed an automated cash reconciliation solution that addressed the existing variance but also established a streamlined process for future reconciliations. This transformation enabled our client to regain control over their finances and improve overall operational efficiency. ?? Interested in how we did it? Download our detailed case study to explore the approach we took and the impactful results achieved. Discover how automation can revolutionize your cash management processes! ?? Check out our Resource Library: https://hubs.li/Q02R6z-J0 #Grow #Resources #Library #Insights #CaseStudy #AtlantixPartners

We’re happy that Alison M. Rhoades, CPA, MT, finds Kaiser Consulting the best fit for her life as an accounting professional who works a part-time, flexible schedule while downshifting her career and performing elder care for her loving family members. Please enjoy Alison’s workplace flexibility story: “When exploring transition options from full-time employment into semi-retirement in 2018, I joined Kaiser Consulting. My goal was to “step back” from 60-hour work weeks, but I wasn’t ready to stop working. Being a Kaiser consultant allowed me to work less than full-time while furthering my career with challenging projects, professional development and networking opportunities. I also had time to pursue my DIY hobbies outside the office, including renovating my home, doing vehicle repairs and exploring a side hustle involving cast-iron cooking pans. In early 2020, my life took an unexpected turn when I received an opportunity for a full-time position with a new employer. While a difficult decision, I completed my then-current Kaiser client engagement and left the firm on good terms. By mid-2023, I faced increased elder care obligations and couldn’t continue working full-time. That’s when I officially became a “boomerang” and returned to Kaiser Consulting. Our leadership team and my co-workers gave me a warm, returning welcome. My part-time work schedule has let me continue using my skills to help our clients and have time to perform required care for two elderly family members I’m incredibly close to. I serve as an advocate, and sometimes a case worker, for my relatives’ health care needs, including navigating complex issues like senior care facilities, Medicare and treatment options, and facilitating essential communications between medical teams, resident facilities and family members. One of my elders is back to being much like her old self and is a joy to be around! Having time to devote to caring for my older relatives wouldn’t be possible without Kaiser Consulting’s flexibility and the supportive culture of my teammates. I’m grateful for a workplace that allows me to pursue my different but important obligations and goals.” #KaiserConsulting #KaiserFlexScheduling #WorkLifeHarmony