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Cemeteries, even those that benefit from combination ownership, face more challenges than ever these days.  We are creating a column for cemeterians that shines a spotlight on a problem and then outlines a corresponding answer or solution.  In this first column, Dan responds to a question about how much inventory to have, develop and when?

For many years businesses have paid the health insurance premiums for their employees.  The IRS extends a deduction for this expense but the rules and conditions are confusing and there are new wrinkles under the market reform provisions.  Click here for a summary of the basic rules and what you are no longer allowed to do. Accounting Newsletter December 2015  

In this month’s Finance 101 column, Isard explains why buying what you don’t need just to get a tax write-off is pure foolishness.

Preneed funeral and advance cemetery sales are important to many businesses, but how do you know whether your sales program is taking you where you want to go?  The average funeral home can measure its preneed effectiveness by reviewing the 5 ratios Dan discusses in the November ICCFA magazine. Dan also presents 3 metrics for cemeteries.

Strategic Planning for most funeral directors is akin to dieting. Funeral home owners and managers know they should plan for the health of their business, but most get caught up in serving families again before they can finish the assignment. Then, halfway through the year during an April lull in calls, those unfinished plans hit them, and most just shrug their shoulders and promise themselves they’ll complete them next year. Now you know why I cannot stay on a diet and why you are not effective in strategic planning. Allow me to explain my view of what strategic planning is. Strategic planning follows a one-year-or-longer road map (you wouldn’t start a cross-country drive without planning the route). In reality, you start the process by determining where you are and where you want to finish, assessing the risks and threats, as […]