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Generally, the rule is that you must pay your taxes as you go. If you have not paid enough income taxes by filing time, you may have to pay a penalty for underpayment.  To determine whether you need to make estimates, answer these 3 questions: Accounting Newsletter March 2015

“The number one thing cemeteries are doing wrong is not reaching people, assuming there’s no need for memorialization,” said Dan Isard, president of The Foresight Companies. “A cemetery is not just a point of interment, it’s a point of memories. We don’t go to a cemetery to visit our loved one who is buried there because we want to see their casket. We’re looking at the ground, remembering their life, remembering the memories. The same is true whether the body is cremated or buried.”

Funeral homes and cemeteries have gone from being sure-fire, profit-generators, to being management challenges in danger of losing money, if not going out of business entirely.  Here’s what you need to do about the situation. Rescue me-The 5 changes the funeral & cemetery professions must make – ICCFA March April 2015

Recently, I was invited to speak at the Fourth Annual Cremation Strategies Conference, sponsored by Kates-Boylston Publications.  Being invited to speak on cremation to a room filled with death-care professionals, all of whom provide cremation services to families each and every week, is a daunting assignment. The Reality Primer of the Cremation Business – ACC March 2015

In this March Finance 101 column, Dan answers Runit Tilleye Dropover Junior’s questions about leaving his firm to his daughter.  He starts by stating the obvious; passing your firm on to the  next generation requires analysis of the value of the business today and how much you’ll need to be financially independent. Next in Line – Finance 101 – March 2015

Erin Whitaker explains why the day of the huge funeral home is coming to an end.  In this management/design article for the ICCFA Magazine she states that funeral homes of the future should invest in smaller but more flexible spaces to meet the changing needs of consumers. Why the Funeral Home of the Future will be Small – ICCFA February 2015 EW

There is only one key to advance sales, and it makes or breaks a sales program: click below to find out more. The Key to Advance Sales – February ACC

In our February issue of AccountAbility (Accounting newsletter renamed), Diane DeClercq gives 5 tips for getting the most out of your relationship with your accountant. Accounting Newsletter February 2015

With a 40% cremation rate, you can’t offer a discount to the majority of cases, and taxing the minority will not make a profitable year.  You must allocate pricing to all parties.  See more of Dan’s response to Pricing Problems in Pottsville, PA here… Pricing Cremation – Finance 101 – February 2015

Erin Whitaker explains how the synergies between funeral service and hospice are stronger than their differences and why we must work together to form a new business relationship for the benefit of the families we both serve. Bridging the Gap – The Director – February 2015 EW

Aftercare and outreach are essentially the same. If you wanted to have a balloon send-off with children who write notes, tie it to the bottom of a helium balloon and release it into the sky, that’s an aftercare event. When you have a program that honors veterans as a group, it is an outreach program. Both programs give you an opportunity to demonstrate to your community that you are the most knowledgeable person in this community on death, dying, grieving and surviving. Aftercare, Outreach and Preneed – The Next Frontiers – CFN – January 2015

The Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice has gone through its own new beginning with a new management team. In part, the Academy chose to make the change, and in part, change was thrust upon it due to common life changes. Funeral service is going through these normal life changes. Yet funeral service is adapting to change with far less tolerance. In this article, I hope to give funeral service the words to accept change. New Beginnings for an Old Profession – The Compass Winter 2015