<p> Spreading Log The newsletter of the Professional Nutrient Applicators Association of Wisconsin February 22, 2006 Ethics & Standards. The Association’s Ethics and Standards had been approved at the 2005 winter  Annual meeting report conference held early in the year.</p><p> Welcome new members The compliance document was discussed and adopted at the 2006 annual conference. Appointment of a new Ethics and Standards  Ethics & Standards Committee Committee responsible for investigating complaints against Association ethics and standards was tabled pending clarification of potential liability for  Annual Dues due members of the Committee.</p><p>The present Ethics & Standards Committee will  Certification opportunities meet with an attorney at the next Board of Directors meeting to determine the extent of possible liability  Business Tip of the Week in decisions rendered by the investigative Committee.</p><p>Annual Meeting Report The Association welcomes four new board members for 2006. Newly elected are: The annual meeting of the Association was held January 31st and February 1st, 2006 in Mosinee, with Steve Untied 32 paid full memberships present. Attendees got an J & S Irrigation, Abbotsford update from both the DNR and Dept. of Ag on 3 year at large term proposed changes in manure regulations and the manure task force, reducing business risk, Denise Schank GreenTier, DOT rules and new tractor technology. Superior Manure Hauling, Independence More than 60 applicators and employees 3 year at large term participated in level 1 certification training, and almost as many sat in on the level 3 certification Ryan DeBroux session. DeBroux Custom Work, Luxemburg 2 year term as the Northeast Region Representative</p><p>Ethics Gary Halopka The Ethics & Standards Committee met in March, Halopka Pumping, Dorchester June, and August of 2005 to complete development 2 year term as the Central Regional Representative work on compliance procedures for the PNAAW A big thank you to outgoing board members, Jerry Blenker, Josh Krull, Jim Mann and Jeremy Wipperfurth for their service to the board. Your officers for 2006 are: President Dana Cook 608-544-5445 Certification Opportunities President-elect Brandon Vogel 920-901-0192 Secretary Denise Schank 715-530-0341 For those firms who are not certified, or want a Treasurer Steve Untied 715-613-2563 refresher on certification, a set of meetings will be held around the state in March. Watch the Board Members newsletter for more details. Sixty people participated in the Level 3 Training at the annual Chris Lindstrom 715-279-5550 meeting. Do they know something you don’t? Dave Eisentraut 920-528-7614 Gary Halopka 715-613-4699 Tim Ransom 608-676-5218 Business Tip of the Week Ryan DeBroux 920-655-4517 Techniques to Increase Cash Inflows</p><p>Annual Dues Due There are several simple methods that can be used to increase the amount of cash flows while Association dues for 2006 are $100.00 for active simultaneously reducing the effects of irregular or applicators and $50.00 for associate members seasonal patterns of receipts. Five proven (industry/dealers/farmers). Use the enclosed form. techniques are: Those that have already renewed for 2006 include:  Taking deposits and progress payments After All Kraus Custom Forgage  Offering discounts for prompt payment Animal Slurry Pumping L & M Industries  Asking for your money Bestul Liquid Manure Lundeen Farm Automation  Taking on non-core paying projects Blenker’s Big Red Practical Applications  Factoring receivables Brandon’s Farm Services Quad T LLC Cook’s Countryside Right Way Applications Deposits and progress payments can greatly smooth DeBroux Custom Rohl Custom Harvesting Delmec Farm Russell Robaidek, Inc. the receipt of cash in businesses which otherwise Eisentraut Ag Services Salsbury have highly variable levels of cash flows. For Fellenz Custom Field Work Schneidecker Pit Pumping example, many businesses that involve summer Folkman Custom Hauling Superior Manure activities, such as water parks, are open as few as Gruett’s Inc. T-K Ag Works 100 days per year. However, many costs, such as Halopka Sales & Service Waste Control Service, Inc. rent, taxes, maintenance, security, and utilities, J & S Irrigation Wery’s Dairy Aire continue year-round. These types of businesses K & D Manure Handling often choose to obtain cash flow during the closed Knee-Deep Manure season by selling season tickets or other forms of advance purchase. Progress payments are payments Associate Members (industry, farmers) include: that are received from your customer as you achieve Agri-Serve Blue Royal Farms, Inc. predetermined goals in a lengthy project. Progress D & S Ag Operations Maple Ridge Dairy, Inc. payments are very common in the construction W.D. Farms, Inc. industry where individual projects may take years to Checks for membership should be made out to complete. PNAAW and sent to: Denise Schank Requiring deposits is advisable in many kinds of PNAAW Secretary businesses in which the process to fulfill a contract Superior Manure Hauling with a customer requires significant amounts of W27784 Cty X time or additional capital. Examples of this type of Independence, WI 54747 business are building contractors, consultants, and manufacturers of custom machinery. costumes and props. Factoring receivables should Discounts for prompt payment will often motivate be considered only if other, less expensive methods your customers to make payments in a timely to increase cash flows have not been sufficient. manner. It is common for wholesale suppliers to offer their customers terms of a 2 percent discount Factoring is a method of borrowing against for payment within 5 to 10 working days. You receivables. The factor will usually lend between must carefully balance the cost of providing the 75 percent and 80 percent of the amount of discount with the cost of obtaining the needed cash uncollected receivables. As the receivables are from other sources. The cost of a discount for collected, the factor deducts a proportional principal prompt payment is deceiving. Consider that you are amount and remits the remainder, less its fee, operating a wholesale distributorship of plumbing typically 5 percent of the gross receivables, to the supplies, with an average margin on sales of 22 business. percent, and you provide a 2 percent discount for prompt payment. A customer purchases $100 of To factor your receivables, your customers must supplies on account. What is the effect on your have good credit ratings. Your credit rating is profitability? Your profit margin will decline from irrelevant because it is the customers who pay the $22 to $20, a decline in gross margin of 9.1 percent. factor, not you. To provide for losses on uncollectible accounts, some factors either hold Asking for your money is at once the most simple back some of the remittances or charge back any and the most effective way to obtain payment from uncollected amounts at the end of a specified customers. Surprisingly, many owners and contract period. managers of small businesses are loath to call customers and request that they pay what they owe. Katz, Jerome A., and Richard P. Green. Entrepreneurial However, you will find that few, if any; Small Business. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2007. 412- businesspeople will be offended by a polite phone 414. call requesting payment. This is especially true of the owners and managers of small businesses who have encountered cash flow difficulties themselves. Very often, a request for prompt payment will be honored, if possible. Of course, there is an implied obligation that, if at some time in the future the customers encounter cash flow problems, you will also be understanding and cooperative, helping them through their own rough spot.</p><p>Taking on noncore projects can often provide desperately needed cash during slow business periods. Possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Signgraphics, Inc., of Kansas City, Missouri, during slow times in early spring, often will send a crane truck and operator to hoist air- conditioning and other equipment onto the roofs of buildings. Bill Millers’ Barbecue of San Antonio, Texas, for a fee, deep-fries whole turkeys for customers during the slow restaurant periods immediately preceding Thanksgiving and Christmas. Rowan Oak House B&B, in Salisbury, North Carolina, as do many bed and breakfasts, during its slow seasons, sells “murder mystery weekends” that include lodging, breakfast, dinner, and a role-playing mystery game, complete with </p>