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October 11, 2016

A Lowdown on Lending – Finance 101 – October 2016

A Lowdown on Lending Why the choice of bank controls the means of financing. Dear Dan, It was time to sell my business. I was approached by a nice person who actually lives in my town and works for a nearby business. We quickly reached an agreement on price and terms for my funeral home business and the real estate. It was simple. That is, until the bank got involved. The bank said that I had to take more money as a carryback and defer the amount for two years! Who are they to tell me what the terms of the sale are going to be? Mad at the Bankers in Bennington Dear Mad, Life is simple: If you have the money, you make the rules. Please remember to get that as a tattoo following your closing. Bankers are easy […]
October 11, 2016

HR Reality Check #3: Yep the Stories are really True!

HR-Quarterly September 2016 – SR
October 5, 2016

Figuring out what your cemetery is worth and how its sale can fund your retirement – Cemetery Impossible – October 2016

Figuring out what your cemetery could be worth on the open market is a good idea if you plan to retire in a few years. But your local commercial real estate appraiser might never have valued a cemetery in his life. Cemetery Impossible Figuring out what your cemetery is worth and how its sale can fund your retirement Dear Cemetery Impossible, I own a 60-year-old cemetery started by my parents. It was a farm before we established the cemetery. I have about 100 acres, of which 10 are fully sold out. Within the remaining 90 acres, six are plotted and the balance remain undeveloped. I do about 200 sales a year with 150 interments. The cemetery is all ground interment with no above-ground options. I am reaching retirement age and thinking about selling. I had it valued by a local […]
October 5, 2016

How to Increase your Niche and Inurnment Sales – ICCFA Magazine October 2016

Selling memorialization to cremation families involves not only implementing a “good, better, best” pricing strategy but also learning how to reach people who, unlike traditional burial families, do not automatically choose final disposition as part of the process. How to increase yourniche and inurnment sales If you have not updated your cemetery master plan in the last 10 years, you are making a grave mistake (pun intended). The cemetery of the 19th century was a simple land-use master plan. You had an acre of land with between 1,000 and 1,200 graves. Each grave equaled one interment. However the master plan of today should focus on inurnment rather than interment. If you want to increase your number of urn placements you have to change your master plan. We have learned so much about the mind of the cremation-choosing consumer in the […]
September 26, 2016

Foresight Names Mandy M. Rohde, CPA, as Director of Accounting Services

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Foresight Names Mandy M. Rohde, CPA, as Director of Accounting Services Phoenix – September 21, 2016 — Today, Daniel M. Isard, president and founder of The Foresight Companies, North America’s premier financial and management consulting firm serving funeral homes and cemeteries, announced that he hired Mandy Rohde, CPA as Director of Accounting Services. Dan stated, “After conducting a nationwide search for a Director of Accounting Services, Mandy Rhode, has been identified as the most qualified person to lead our company’s accounting team as we provide accounting services to the next generation of funeral home and cemetery business owners and managers.” Mandy will continue the work created by Diane DeClercq who is retiring. Diane served in this capacity for almost a dozen years and helped launch Foresight’s “Real Time” accounting concept. “Mandy brings a sound education and skill […]
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