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Jeff Moskovitz

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Outsourced CFO/Advisor/Coach, JMM Advisors

180 points

Jeff's 25 years as a business and finance professional includes 10 years as a practicing CPA, and 15 years in private industry as a Controller, CFO, Executive Officer, Entrepreneur, and Consultant. He has started companies, grown companies, bought companies ...

Jeff's 25 years as a business and finance professional includes 10 years as a practicing CPA, and 15 years in private industry as a Controller, CFO, Executive Officer, Entrepreneur, and Consultant. He has started companies, grown companies, bought companies, and sold companies.

Jeff has been a featured speaker at various state and national conferences, with a particular focus on the application of business principles and professional management practices to industries which, for a variety of reasons, have been slow to evolve in this area. Examples include private education companies and non-profit organizations of various types and sizes.

Jeff specializes in helping owners, managers and executives understand, develop and use financial information to make data-driven decisions that optimize results.

Jeff is a member of both the American and Pennsylvania Institutes of Certified Public Accountants.

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WEB: Jeff's Blog

Nov. 11, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz is now following Helen Bereschinova and 7 other people

Nov. 2, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz and 7 other people answered this question

How many chances do you give an employee to suddenly start using common sense?

One can teach many things and one can learn many things but, unfortunately, Wendy, common sense isn't one of them.
The other point I would add is that delegation is not abdication. If someone is responsible for a deliverable, the fact that she's delegated some of ... more

General Management

Human Resources

Administrative Assistant

Oct. 26, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz and 3 other people answered this question

What are the biggest myths about working for non profits?

Excellent, Mark. I once wrote a post entitled, "Non-profit is a tax status, not a business model." A few of my favorite myths:
"Business principles? Are you crazy, we're a NON-PROFIT!"
"Non-profits are so focused on their mission that organizational politics don't exist."
"If we show poor financial ... more

Human Resources

Career Development

Oct. 25, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz answered this question

How can I start my own decorating business?

Put together a quick and dirty plan, set priorities, then execute. Stay in action and keep moving forward, even if it's only baby steps. Can you provide some more context? more

Decorating Business

Oct. 25, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz and 1 other person answered this question

Business valuation: what are the common methodologies used to value a small business?

There are generally three approaches to valuing a privately-held business: 1. Asset
Approach; 2. Market Approach; and 3. Income Approach. Various methods can be used under each approach, depending on the nature of the business and the availability of external data.
The asset approach is usually ... more

Business Valuation

Business Valuation Methodology

Oct. 17, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz and 13 other people answered this question

What are the qualifications to be a mentor?

Mark and Jim, with all due respect, I don't believe that anyone is suggesting that a grocery store cashier can mentor someone who wants to be a brain surgeon. I'm assuming the responses that don't address the issue of experience only do so because it's ... more

General Management

Human Resources

Career Development

Oct. 14, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz answered this question

Google Q3:11 earnings: How did Google so handily beat revenue and earnings expectations?

From what I can tell, it all seems to be related to the top line, which increased due to the fact that paid clicks increased by 13% over Q2 '11. This, despite the fact that the average cost per click is down 5% from the ... more

Earnings Report

Oct. 13, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz and 16 other people answered this question

What to do when a competitor snatched your to-be product/feature?

Write a thank you letter to your new competitor. It's less expensive to learn from his mistakes than to make them on your own. Quite often, as was the case with the IPod, which David alluded to above, the first one to market is not ... more

General Management

Information Technology

Aug. 30, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz and 8 other people answered this question

Is economic/political uncertainty the main reason as to why the private sector is not investing?

Scott, I do believe your last two paragraphs nailed it, and your list of uncertainties isn't even all-inclusive, nor does it have to be.
There are so many government interventions and regulations out there, the consequences of which few people, including some of those who championed ... more

Human Resources

Aug. 18, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz and 3 other people answered this question

Why is Groupon losing so much money?

Groupon lost another $103 million during Q2, but even more alarming is the fact that the company reports that its "merchant pool," (i.e. those merchants it has contracts with), declined for the first time ever from Q1 to Q2. Many view this as a signal ... more

Aug. 18, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz and 2 other people answered this question

What government regulation would you do away with in order to increase jobs?

The Evil HR Lady is looking at this issue through her "HR lens." My view, while similar, is somewhat more broad.
I don't even believe that it's necessary to look at the content of any particular policy or regulation to answer this question. In reality, the ... more

Human Resources

Aug. 10, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz and 8 other people answered this question

What are your tips for giving constructive feedback?

Constructive feedback should focus on a particular workplace behavior that needs to be addressed to improve performance. It should never be personal. Example: "When you come in late in the mornings, I get annoyed." A better way: "When you come in late in the morning, ... more

General Management

Human Resources

Employee Communications

Aug. 9, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz and 7 other people answered this question

If a company gets acquired, do employees still keep their seniority?

Hi Caty,
Assuming there is no union contract, the standard procedure, if any, would be for the acquiring company to either assume the acquired company's obligations under an existing employment contract, or to execute a new employment contract with the employee. That contract would, for all ... more

Human Resources

Mergers and Acquisition

Aug. 4, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz asked a question

Can anyone suggest the best way to handle an upside down auto lease?

Automotive Industry

Aug. 3, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz and 5 other people answered this question

How should an organization go about building a high-performance culture? Where do they start?

Thanks for the kind words, Kellie. And yes, the majority of people will resist change, even if it benefits them. Having participated firsthand in a major cultural overhaul, which occurred over a period of several years (always a work-in-progress), I would estimate that 10%-20% of ... more

Human Resources

Employee Development

July 27, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz and 2 other people answered this question

What are common mistakes entrepreneurs should avoid when pitching investors?

Brent and Howard, you both make excellent points. Having read hundreds of business plans, the weakness I see most often is the inability to translate the elements of the business plan into financial projections that are consistent with the plan's various elements. I've seen brilliant, ... more

Angel Investing

July 25, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz and 11 other people answered this question

What are some easy ways small businesses can cut costs?

Given that it's unlikely that a company can "cut" its way to long-term prosperity, I'm assuming that all other aspects of the business model, i.e accelerating cash collections, pricing, "pruning" customers that are too costly to serve, etc., have been exhausted.
Cost cutting should be viewed ... more

July 25, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz and 6 other people answered this question

Why do businesses change accounting firms so frequently?

All of the reasons above, plus one other, which most people don't like to acknowledge: "Opinion shopping," which is unethical, at best, and illegal in most cases. more

July 25, 2011

Jeff Moskovitz recommends this answer by Andrew Baker

Given the consumerization of endpoint tech + cloud computing it appears the buy vs. lease model is changing. Do you agree?

Given that most organizations don't buy everything or lease everything, but make use of both mechanisms for the purchase of equipment, I don't see that changing until they move to a 100% subscription model for equipment and services.
Even if every major technology and service for ... more

Information Technology

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