Meta: Army Financial Readiness is characteristic in the early stages of any trading system because this is the signal that informs traders.
Table of Contents
What Is Financial Readiness?
Financial Readiness is the area on the price chart, where traders are prepared to enter or exit the market by focusing on different indicators. Readiness has several phases. The warning of the occurrence of the transaction signal, the signal, the end of the transaction has applied to the trading phase.
Financial statements and financial information are one of the core contents of the listing application documents. As far as the educational institutions are concerned, the requirements for the quality of financial information are much higher than non-listed educational institutions. There are two primary objectives for the financial preparation of the educational institution.
The first is to show shareholders and potential investors the true financial status and operating results of the company as reflected in relevant accounting standards. The second is to make the preparation and disclosure of financial statements meet the target capital market.
Some issues in financial preparation are common to all educational institutions to be listed. And some are unique to educational institutions in certain sub-fields, but the focus is on two aspects: basic accounting work and accounting treatment of major issues.
For Veterans and Service Members, you may love this checklist.
Fort Hood ACS Financial Readiness
Fort Hood is the US Army in Texas Killeen, a base nearby, most of the barracks in Bell County, the other part is in Coryell County. They named the base after General John Bell Hood of the Confederacy during the Civil War. The base is about 100 kilometers from Austin and Waco and is the largest home base of the U.S. Army’s active armored forces. It was completed and put into use in 1942, and at the beginning of 2009, the base has stationed 52,000 soldiers. The area is equivalent to three-quarters of Hong Kong.
On November 5, 2009, there was a shooting incident in Fort Hood military camp. They killed 12 soldiers and one military employee in the incident. The gunman was a Palestinian American Major Nidal Malik Hasan. Another disappearance of Vanessa Gillen occurred in 2020. In that year, 25 Fort Hood soldiers died unnaturally, causing the Secretary of the Army to order rectification. On December 8, 2020, 14 officers and soldiers in the Fort Hood military base were fired or suspended, including Major General Evlander, then Commander of Fort Hood.
The ACS Financial Readiness Program helps job seekers and career changers overcome the significant challenges associated with finding a job, especially during relocation.
Related – ACS Employment Readiness Program
Military Financial Readiness Benefits
As the Defense Department, the Army is part of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS). As a civilian or military employee of the armed forces and thus of the federal administration, you contribute daily to security and freedom with your specialist knowledge and commitment. You will experience unique work content, a multilingual environment, and constantly new challenges.
See our related article about Civilian Personnel Advisory Centers & Employment opportunities.
The government passed the Remuneration Structure Modernization Act on Wednesday. It contains financial improvements for soldiers and civil employees. They drew the law up by the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ministry of Defense could introduce far-reaching measures. Now, the Bundestag and Bundesrat are dealing with the law. They should complete the parliamentary procedure by the end of the year so that we expect it to come into force in early 2020.
Changes to the law are still possible. It is already certain that the law contains many financial improvements for Bundeswehr employees. “The law is a plain success on the way to increasing the attractiveness of service in the Bundeswehr,” commented the Ministry of Defense. The law is another important step in implementing the turnaround in personnel and thus strengthens the Bundeswehr’s operational readiness.
Also, fair pay will be increased, and it will reduce the bureaucratic effort. Probably the clearest improvement concerns the foreign use of surcharges. It should be increased significantly in all stages. According to the current status, the increases should amount to between 27 percent and 47 percent. For example, those who receive a foreign use surcharge of level 6 should in the future receive a net surcharge of 141 euros per day of work.
To implement the turnaround in personnel, it is essential to attract and keep highly qualified personnel for the Bundeswehr. The corresponding salary instruments are being made more flexible and financially expanded. The job and hardship allowances for on-board use are to be combined and increased to form a new allowance for seafarers.
There are also changes to the job allowances. In the maritime sector, for example, the existing job and hardship allowances for on-board use are to be combined and increased to form a new allowance for seafarers. Submariners are to receive an allowance of 700 euros per month in the future, ship crews 350 euros. A new allowance is also to be introduced for military command functions up to the level of the company commander according to the current status. It can amount to up to 150 euros per month, depending on use. The field service allowance is to be abolished.
It introduces new allowances for certain Information technology defense activities. The allowances for regional doctors, ambulance doctors, and pilots who also serve as commanders should continue to be paid in 2020. Members of special forces units can also look forward to significant improvements. They are the higher bonuses and the highest level AVZ for special operations abroad.
For soldiers who are temporarily exempted from the soldiers’ working time regulation because of their service. For example, it is on long voyages or during training exercises. There is to be a new lump-sum remuneration for special time burdens. A flat rate of 86 euros gross one day should be. The new remuneration replaces the previous remuneration system in that the times worked had to be recorded to the minute. Thus, it saves both soldiers and the administration a lot of work.
Many soldiers and civil employees are commuters and regularly drive hundreds of kilometers to get to the office; their mobility costs are often very high. For this group, they could achieve significant improvements within the framework of the amendment to the Separation Allowance Ordinance negotiated at the same time as the Salary Structure Modernization Act. The travel allowance for two-week family trips home will also apply to unmarried people in the future. Besides, it would be possible to save the allowance if you do not go home every 14 days.
In the future, separation allowance should also be available up to six months before starting a new post if the new job requires the second place of residence. It has only been three months so far. The right to choose between separation allowance and relocation allowance will also apply to foreign assignments in the future. The Ministry of Defense wants to make it easier for soldiers and civilian employees of the Bundeswehr to decide to serve abroad for some time. The separation accommodation allowance should also continue to be paid for three months with parental leave or care leave.
Besides, they intend to change the Hardship Allowance Ordinance at the same time as the Salary Structure Modernization Act. New hardship allowances are to be introduced for protocol soldiers and military support personnel for special forces.
Military Financial Readiness Programs
Before going any further, you may like to check out this in-depth article about Financial Readiness Program (RFP).
In order to strengthen the mobilization of the implementation phase transport energy, transportation mobilization preparations classified project planning authorities should land transport, water transport, air transport deployment of combat readiness ready to strengthen the operational capacity of Ports and Harbors, substantial offshore feeder loading unloading facilities, complete ship outfitting and training plan. Then, plans to prepare for the mobilization of civil aviation stations (fields) and navigation (assisting) navigation equipment (implementations) to enhance the training of emergency repair skills.
The shipowner shall cooperate in handling matters related to ship outfitting in the preceding paragraph. In response to the needs of the mobilization implementation phase, the Ministry of National Defense should work with the Ministry of Communications. And the Ministry of the Interior to formulate traffic control measures for the national army’s mobile transportation and military supplies during the mobilization implementation phase.
In the face of the state of lockdown, the emergency acquisition of foreign purchases and the shipping control mechanism, the Executive Yuan mobilization committee will repay and guide various agencies to jointly establish.
In order to strengthen the communication energy during the implementation phase of the mobilization, the competent authority of the transportation mobilization preparation classification plan should conduct surveys and statistics on public and private telecommunications control equipment manufacturers, telecommunications enterprises and special telecommunications installers, and plan for unified communication control, facility safety protection, etc. mobilization preparations complete communications moving staff work to prepare the implementation phase.
Before the survey, public and private telecommunications regulation equipment manufacturers, telecom utilities and dedicated telecommunications should fit together to handle, and provide relevant information to mobilize energy. The relevant measures for the use of public and private communications facilities to support military control at various stages of combat readiness shall be formulated by the Ministry of National Defense in conjunction with the National Communications Commission.
To strengthen national defense science and technology of energy, science and technology mobilization readiness program authorities should be combined with industry, academia, research study units, research and development planning mechanism weapons systems, and industry, academia, research units handling the investigation, statistics and grouping Preparations to complete the establishment of the talent pool plan.
In the previous investigation, industry, academia, and research units should cooperate in handling the investigation and provide talent pool materials. The measures for the support of military services by scientific and technological talents shall be stipulated by the competent authority of the scientific and technological mobilization preparation plan.
In order to quickly mobilize the army to stage an effective defense operations support, military mobilization readiness program main pipe organ, should implement the reserve forces grouping, training and counseling organization set up reservists. Demand for military mobilization matters, administrative organs should be fully prepared to mobilize support to carry out, and with participation plus exercise.
The first related to reservists counseling organization, which grouping, training, duty service, to help mobilize and equity matter implement key measures shall be prescribed by the Ministry of Defense.
Basic Accounting Work
Many educational institutions that are planning to go public have a short operating history and usually go through a period of rapid expansion and development. During this period, the internal basic work of educational institutions often cannot keep up with the development speed of external businesses, resulting in a disconnect between business and finances. Common problems include:
Incomplete Accounting Information and Files
There is a lack of original supporting documents such as contracts, invoices, and sales records for important sales and purchases during the operating performance period. It is because these documents were not obtained at the beginning because of historical irregularities, or because of poor management of accounting files.
If these situations exist in a large number, it will bring great difficulties to the audit of financial statements and the determination of operating data at the IPO stage. It will also create tax risks.
Irregular Use of Funds
Because of various reasons, some educational institutions have used personal accounts for the collection of tuition fees, training fees, and other income, the payment of costs, fees, and other expenditures during their historical operations. Also, some problems cannot be clearly distinguished between company business expenses and shareholders’ expenses, such as using company funds to pay shareholders’ expenses, or individual shareholders paying costs and expenses for the company.
The existence of these problems will bring difficulties to the authenticity and completeness of business records of relevant educational institutions, tax compliance, and determination of the ownership of monetary funds.
Irregular accounting
The most common is to confirm related transactions based on the time of receipt, payment, or invoicing of revenues and costs, instead of following the accrual basis principle required by accounting standards.
It will not only cause shareholders and investors to misunderstand historical operating performance but also bias their judgments on the timing of the opening of the capital market by educational institutions. It will also lead to many subsequent financial statements when educational institutions introduce investors or prepare materials for listing.
Accounting treatment of major events
Different from basic financial work, the impact of the accounting treatment of major events may not be so extensive. But they are often very significant. The judgment and treatment of a certain event may directly affect whether an educational institution can complete its listing. Major accounting matters frequently encountered by educational institutions include:
Revenue recognition
The current education market is flourishing. Many new business models are emerging in an endless stream. The revenue recognition methods under different business models may not be as simple as imagined. Especially after implementing the new revenue standards, the revenue recognition methods for some businesses may differ from the past:
For traditional schools, usually recognize tuition income in installments during the study period. But whether to share tuition income during winter and summer vacations, needs to be judged according to the actual situation of the school. To meet the needs of students, it provides students with multi-element charging arrangements, such as accommodation fees, meals, school uniforms, books, and school bus fees. They come at different time points or periods.
We may recognize these items as separate performance obligations under the new income standards. Can income be recognized or when to confirm the revenue? It needs to be considered. The timing of revenue recognition such as royalties income and franchise income may not be so simple. And it requires judgment.
For training institutions, we have the revenue recognition of unfinished training course packages, the revenue recognition related to the right to re-repair, the accounting treatment of refunds and delays, the full or net method of revenue, and other issues that need to be based on specific issues. The contract terms are sorted out and judged.
In short, the core issue of revenue recognition for educational institutions is the timing of revenue recognition. If there are errors in judgment and handling, the division of business performance in different years or periods will be incorrect. It will affect the judgment of the development trend of the company and the conditions for listing.
Merged Statement
Accounting standards require entities that can exercise control. They get variable returns into merged statements. Many companies do not accurately understand the meaning of control and variable returns. It leads to incorrect judgments on consolidation.
An entity comes with a shareholding ratio of over 50%. If under the entity’s articles of association, the major shareholder cannot unilaterally make certain important business and financial decisions. So, we can include it in the merged statement.
The opposite also exists. For example, the common VIE structure in the education industry is to control the relevant entities through a series of agreements without direct equity relationships. So, it achieves the purpose of merged statements;
For some current educational brand franchise business models, the management methods and charging methods of the brand side and the partner may also allow the brand side to control the franchising schools and get variable returns. It requires the consolidation of their statements, although this is not the original intention of the brand.
Accurately defining merged financial statements is essential to the listing plan. Therefore, companies should carefully test joint ventures, cooperation agreements, investment agreements, company articles of association, and other documents from the perspective of accounting standards to avoid subsequent surprise.
M&A Transactions
Running schools in groups is a major development trend in the education industry. After obtaining financing, educational institutions often use mergers and acquisitions to achieve leapfrog expansion. According to accounting standards, for subsidiaries gained through a business combination not under the same control, it must reflect the identifiable net assets of the gained company in the merger statement of the acquirer at fair value. It includes the difference between the merger consideration and the acquisition of identifiable net assets.
On the one hand, the gained educational institutions will often identify intangible assets such as brands and student sources when they conduct fair value evaluations. If these assets have a higher evaluation value, the amortization in the merger statement of the acquirer will dilute the gained profits generated by the enterprise itself.
If the purchase price is significantly higher than the fair value of the net assets, it forms larger goodwill. Once the merged company’s future operating conditions do not meet expectations, the goodwill may be impaired, and such impairment amount is often very significant.
Therefore, education institutions should deliberate the financial impact of the above aspects before the completion of the merger transaction.
Equity Incentive
If an educational institution intends to implement equity incentives for employees or non-employees before the IPO, according to accounting standards.
For employee stock options, starting from the grant date, the cost of employee compensation needs to be confirmed in the financial statements based on the fair value of the equity compensation granted.
For non-employee options, at the end of each reporting period, it is necessary to re-estimate the fair value of the equity compensation granted, and confirm the equity-based compensation cost in the financial statements. Besides, sometimes companies sell shares directly to employees. And if the sale price is lower than the fair value, we will also recognize it as a shared payment.
For share-based payment, the process of fair value confirmation requires the introduction of many assumptions and professional judgments. It may require a third party to assist in the evaluation.
Amortization expenses may have a significant impact on the profit and loss during the reporting period. In particular, the fair value of share-based payments at the approaching listing stage may be high, significantly increasing the expenses during the amortization period. Therefore, educational institutions should design and plan equity incentive plans.
Complex Equity Instruments
In several rounds of financing before listing, educational institutions may accept preferred stocks and convertible debt investments. These investments may include gambling terms, veto rights, anti-dilution, non-cash purchases, and pre-emptive rights. It is often a mixed financial instrument that involves more complicated accounting treatments. Especially, if it needs to be measured at fair value, the gains and losses from changes in fair value may have a significant impact on financial statements.
If educational institutions plan to sign such investment agreements with investors, they should test-related accounting treatments and financial effects in advance.
Employee Social Security and Provident Fund
Many educational institutions often pay social security for their employees at the lowest standard acceptable to the local social security and provident fund departments at the start-up stage. Some do not even meet this standard and cannot cover all employees in terms of payment scope. Although this practice has not been punished or ordered to pay, it does not fully comply with current laws and regulations from the perspective of listing requirements.
Educational institutions that intend to go public may face large amounts of supplementary withdrawals, supplementary payment of employee social security, and provident funds. They pay the cost of actual money to meet compliance requirements. Educational institutions should communicate with lawyers and accountants in advance and agree on the accounting treatment of social security and provident funds.
New Lease Standard
New lease standards under the Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises, International Financial Reporting Standards, and US GAAP have all been issued. Under the new lease standard, the lessee as an operating lease needs to recognize the right-of-use asset and related liabilities at the discounted value of the rent. It will pay them according to a similar financial lease model (except for a few eligible cases). It will include expenses in the income statement as amortization of right-of-use assets and financial expenses.
For education companies, especially some off-campus training institutions and institutions engaged in online education. We get most of their business and office space through operating leases. Implementing the new lease standard may have a significant impact on the balance sheets of these companies. It will lead to an increase in the asset-liability ratio, and will also have a certain impact on the distribution of expenses during the lease period. Educational institutions should conduct early assessments and plan countermeasures.
Regarding the common problems in preparing for the listing of these educational institutions, educational institutions should take precautions and prepare in advance for the capital market.
Health diagnosis
As financial work penetrates the daily work of educational institutions, the impact is relatively extensive. And financial preparations are relatively complicated. It takes more time and economic costs to complete it, and it may even involve adjustments to certain business models. Most times, educational institutions may not fully rely on their resources and strength to achieve everything.
Therefore, educational institutions should introduce experienced institutions as soon as possible to help management to sort out and diagnose, and get a share in a shorter time and at a lower cost. A list of issues that need to be resolved or rectified before listing.
The intermediary agency and the management will discuss and plan a workable rectification plan and complete the rectification before the start of the performance period for the listing application. So, avoid situations where there are more or more serious problems that may delay the listing plan.
These basic financial tasks need to be completed by high-quality financial personnel. Therefore, educational institutions should pay attention to improving the allocation of corporate financial personnel. It includes the number and qualifications of personnel to ensure the continuous and effective operation of basic financial tasks.
When the enterprise develops to a certain stage, the business becomes more complex and diversified, and the number of employees is also burgeoning. It requires the construction of internal control to be put on the agenda:
On the one hand, all capital markets have higher requirements for the internal control of listed companies. Only sound and an effective internal control can guarantee the continuous and standardized operation of the enterprise and the authenticity and accuracy of financial statements.
Educational enterprises should have a special department or team responsible for the construction, maintenance, and supervision of internal control. First, the company’s business processes from the business end to the financial segment should be comprehensively sorted out, standardized, and perfected each control point, and it should form internal control documents;
Second, the internal control documents should be updated in time according to changes in business and management requirements. And implementing internal control should be supervised through internal education and inspection.
Third, under the current general trend of online education and Internalization. Special attention should be paid to the construction and standardization of information systems to ensure the accuracy and uniformity of business financial data and data security.
In summary, education companies that intend to go public should pay attention to basic accounting work, and pay attention to the accounting treatment of major issues. Then, gradually improve the efficiency and effectiveness of financial management and control. Finally, conduct health diagnosis on their financial management and control as soon as possible to complete the road to the listing.
How to Find a Good Financial Advisor?
Besides providing financial positions, companies sometimes need to hire financial consultants who have been serving all the year-round. These financial consultants intervene as third parties and guide with rich experience to help the company understand the financial status of the company more objectively.
With the help of abundant expert resources on the platform, many financial consultant companies provide an efficient way for enterprises to connect with perennial financial consultants. Companies can come to the platform to post their requirements for free. After that, there is full-time staff to help clarify the requirements, recommend the requirements to professional matching experts. Then, they let the company directly communicate with interested experts, and finally reach cooperation.
Perennial Financial Advisors
Companies of different sizes need to hire long-term financial consultants. For example, some large companies need long-term financial consultants to strengthen their financial management.
Of course, there are still some companies that need to be experienced financial experts to guide the company’s financial staff. Besides the scenarios listed above, when companies face annual fiscal and tax inspections, bidding, bank loans, and applying for various qualifications, they may also need financial consultants to provide consulting services for a period to help companies complete their business and solve problems.
Financial Consultants
There are many ways that long-term financial consultants can help companies. For example, financial consultants can standardize the handling of company accounts. They will play a positive role in the long-term development of a company. In specific financial affairs, financial consultants can also help the company examine whether the processing of tax declaration and procurement is compliant and legal. Then, they provide scientific fiscal and tax planning for enterprises and help enterprises to avoid tax reasonably.
Financial consultants can not only take part in the analysis of business activities but can also directly execute specific affairs. They have played a prominent role in the rational allocation of resources and optimization of financial work. Whether you can find a suitable financial adviser, they will have a direct impact on the development of the enterprise.
The Vanguard platform, which provides expert experience sharing services, has settled in many senior experts with rich financial management experience and can provide enterprises with long-term financial advisory services. Users come to the Vanguard platform to post their needs for looking for long-term financial consultants. After that, there will be full-time personnel to connect with users to sort out needs and improve communication efficiency.
The full-time staff will also target and recommend experts with matching conditions according to the actual needs of the enterprise, to avoid the interruption of users by the unmatched experts. The Vanguard platform will ensure that we recommend the first interested expert to the publisher within 48 hours. Finally, the platform will also track the communication between the publisher and the experts, determine whether it is necessary to recommend other experts and ensure that the publisher will eventually connect with the experts.
The Vanguard platform has a resource-rich expert database. The experts in the financial field have reliable qualifications and rich experience. They have performed various types of financial advisory services in long-term professional practice and have a wide industry coverage.
A listed company serves as a financial executive or a professional financial adviser in a consulting company. To recommend more high-quality cooperation opportunities to experts on the platform, the Vanguard platform does not charge companies any docking fees, and companies can find suitable consultants by publishing their requirements for free.
Companies at all stages of development have a greater demand for financial consultants. Experienced financial consultants are of great significance to the development of enterprises. Dealing with financial issues well is the foundation for the long-term development of enterprises.
With the help of the platform’s rich expert resources, Vanguard will continue to improve the quality of services and help enterprises find suitable financial consultants more efficiently If your company needs to find qualified and reliable consultants, welcome to cooperate with Vanguard. Our experts and service personnel will help your company solve the problems encountered with professional, high-quality, and efficient services.
Find a Good Financial Advisor
A financial advisor is a person who assists a company in financial investment and asset management. In addition, the Financial advisor handles clients’ insurance matters and helps them plan their future investments comprehensively. Financial counselors can work for organizations or companies, and in many cases they choose to work independently for themselves.
Finance specialists are responsible for ensuring that the internal action plan of a client or company is implemented smoothly and calculates budget needs for business operations. The pressure on money is not small. So, the Finance specialists are also tax specialists, who know the regulations related to the company’s business lines. They continually have to work with the client to record quarterly or annual financial fluctuations.
Unlike personal financial consulting services, which are for personal consulting, corporate financial services are for organizations and businesses. Therefore, the financial professional’s workload is more and the degree of professionalism is also higher. At this time, the financial advisor is responsible for performing the tasks such as:
- Analyzing capital information and profitability of the account.
- From there, clearly define the long-term goals for the business.
- Consider the items of the business, what are the redundant, budget-consuming items, and the items with potential for development.
- Consulting on difficult issues in business activities, implementing projects, financial plans according to business needs.
Overall, a good financial advisor needs basic requirements such as: knowledge of many fields, tax, real estate, securities, insurance, retirement, and short-term, and long-term strategies. Financial advisor is a person who assists an asset management and financial investment company. In addition, they also handle customer related issues from future financial, insurance, and investment accounts. Financial counselors can choose to work for an organization, company or can also work independently.
For more confidential help, you may want to research on Financial Counseling Page.
FAQs
What is a fee advisor?
Fee advisors are free in their recommendations, as they do not base their payment on commissions from the credit institutions. You can recommend products objectively and independently in the interests of the customer. The payment of the fee is therefore not dependent on the number of contracts concluded. Theoretically, the fee advisor has no primary interest in concluding a contract, but in ensuring that the customer is optimally advised.
If you choose a fee advisor, expect hourly rates of around $150. The initial consultation with a fee-based financial advisor is usually free, as it serves only to get to know each other.
What is a commission advisor?
The commission advisor offers his service free. They only pay his consulting service after a product through commission. Thus, the commission advisor cannot act as independently as the fee advisor, since it directly links the amount of his remuneration to the type and number of deals.
The advice can often suffer from these conditions, as the commission-based financial advisor is inclined to recommend products. They bring in more commission than products that are better suited to the customer.
However, if you decide to hire a commission advisor, be well prepared for the consultation and carefully compare the proposed products with your ideas, financial resources, and goals. Here, it can also be worthwhile to get a second opinion.