If you have ever been in debt then you probably know about the Service Financial (TF) industry. All Service Financial functions as a middleman that takes advantage of those who are already suffering with bad debt. They advise you to quit paying your debts immediately while attorneys in The Litigation Group, AKA Coast Fishing will work hard to invalidate your debts. They tell you your creditors are going to call you repeatedly and your credit is going to tank temporarily, but then the lawyers will send numerous cease and desist letters and soon you will be free of debt and have a new financial beginning.

Unfortunately, it rarely works out like that. In fact, most of the time the Debt Recovery attorneys and Service Financial do not work together very well. Most people that have had to file for bankruptcy protection have received some level of support from Service Financial. This is because they require a monthly Business Value or Cash Flow Guarantee to remain solvent. If the business was to fail they would be financially devastated.

Service Financial makes their profit through service management. While they can technically do this in house, they often use an outside third party to complete this service management process for them. Essentially this means they are creating reports and statements to document the changes they have made to the business and this documentation is often used by the creditors to assess the creditworthiness of the company. However, if you want to use the services of Service Financial for better financial stewardship of your company you must ensure they use the best practice framework to assess your organization.

It is best practice to use the best practices framework recommended by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The AICPA framework states that its goal is to help companies achieve and maintain best practice management practices that minimize risk, improve customer service, increase productivity, and maximize revenue. Therefore it is in the best interests of Service Financial to implement and use the framework recommended by the AICPA. It is also in the best interests of your organization to implement and use the framework recommended by the AICPA.

When it comes to service management and budgeting, it is imperative that the company develop and maintain effective financial management practices. If the Company is able to successfully implement and maintain its budgeting and service management practices then it will be able to effectively mitigate the risks associated with poor financial management practices. In essence then, it is in the best interests of Service Financial to implement and use an effective budgeting and service management framework that work in conjunction with the principles of the AICPA framework. The AICPA has published a number of financial performance reports and case studies that provide valuable information regarding best practice framework implementation and how companies can develop and maintain effective financial management practices. The following case study provides a small glimpse into the use of an effective budgeting and service management framework by Service Financial. The case study was developed to assist Service Financial with their goal of optimizing their internal budgeting process:

“We believe the Company must focus on building its capability to monitor and track spending, identify service conditions, and initiate service actions in support of its mission, programs, and objectives. This requires establishing a capability that will facilitate accurate and timely identification of expenditures, understand the requirements of its customers and measure performance against those requirements. Our process for defining and measuring performance should include a benchmarking approach that is consistent with the principles of AICPA’s Best Practices for Budgeting and Service Management.” (Service Financial Implementation Guide – Part 2)

The above-described example is a prime illustration of why it is essential for Service Financial to work closely with their clients and vendors to implement a better financial management framework. A key requirement for this type of activity centers on the ability of the Service Financial Business Owner and his/her organization to determine and report on an individual level the key drivers of their organization’s financial performance. In essence, a better financial management system needs to have a tool that can take a holistic view of the organization’s finance s. The tool then needs to be capable of generating reports, which will in turn provide the necessary support to the Service Financial Function. The methodology of service monitoring is quite critical to the success of implementing a more effective and efficient approach to asset management.

Service Financial was unable to determine how they were going to apply their financial management capabilities to their customer base. At first, they believed that having a single point of data entry was sufficient, but as the need for more accounts became evident, they realized that their cost per hour tracking would provide more support to their business value proposition and ultimately help them to improve their bottom line. The ability to track expenses, identify service conditions and generate reports in real time makes their job easier, and it also allows them to adapt their service to the needs of their customers.