The Unified Group hosted a Financial Forum September 11-13th in Chicago, Illinois. Attendees kicked off the meeting with a Sunday night reception as we welcomed our members.

Monday morning was started with facilitation by Shane and Melissa Dick from Atlas Accounting and Consulting. Attendees discussed the importance of benchmarking. Together they shared the successes they have had managing change, improving, understanding, and monitoring performance. Members agreed that having the Benchmark has provided the ability to assess trends, build a true understanding of the financial data, and set performance expectations. Day one also contained discussion lead by Tim Smerz (Air Comfort) and Ryan Jorgensen (MSS) as they walked the group through popular financial issues in both the Construction and Service sides of the business. They discussed in-depth issues such as burden, productivity measurements, overhead costs, SG&A and cash/DSO. “Ryan and Tim are both great assets to the group. They have a lot of good ideas and foster open discussions among the group” said Bobby Grimes of A&G Piping in Fort Worth, Texas.

Melissa again lead the way on Day 2 with a cash flow discussion, show and share and the group also discussed budgeting and forecasting. Members wrapped up the day with many ideas to bring back to their companies. Gretchen Riddle (A&G Piping) said she would have missed “the inspiration to implement things to improve and grow our business” had she not attended this meeting. “The interactive nature of the forum is what makes it so valuable. Everyone was comfortable enough with the group to speak freely, which really makes the process so much more relevant and informational,” said Stacy Shiftlet of Blauch Brothers.