Post #4 of 4 in a series of posts about financial records. See the bottom for a list of the 4 posts.
How good do your financial records need to be? How good is good enough?
The answer to that question will vary with the situation. Your loan officer can answer questions about your particular situation. Generally the larger your debts or the tighter your cash flow, the better your financial records need to be. And every borrower should be able to reconcile their checkbook exactly.
We offer a variety of recordkeeping services, both on the farm and in our office. Please contact your local branch office for more information if you are interested.
If your operation is large enough, you might consider employing a financial controller on your staff. We discussed financial controllers in the Fall 2009 issue of Financial Partner magazine (2 MB PDF file).
For some of our largest borrowers, we may require accountant prepared statements. Such operations will probably benefit from a financial controller on staff to work with the external accountant.
This is part of a series of 4 posts on this subject:
Financial Records - Letter to Members
Financial Records - Reconciling
Financial Records - Cash vs. Accrual
Financial Records - How good?
