Farm Financial Standards Council Marks Milestone

FBS user, Kerry Knuth, (center) addressed his former TEPAP (The Executive Program for Agricultural Producers) instructor Dick Wittman (left) and TEPAP Director Danny Klinefelter (right) at the 20th anniversary meeting of the FFSC (Farm Financial Standards Council) in St. Louis on July 21-22, 2010. Klinefelter was a co-author of CFS (Coordinated Financial Statements) which FBS Systems computerized, and co-founder of the FFSC, which adopted many of the concepts prototyped through CFS to standardize financial reporting and analysis throughout American agriculture.

Knuth's presentation was entitled "Utilizing Management Accounting -- Benefits and Challenges" based on his experiences with FBS's E.CLIPSE Management Accounting in his Nebraska crop and custom farming operation. Knuth was first exposed to MA through management guru/TEPAP instructor Wittman, and his presentation was a case study in ways that the TEPAP program can change operations.

Through MA, Knuth is moving his business model from reactive to proactive. He shares, "We've been doing custom work since 2002, but never knew whether it's paying for itself or not. Keeping track of everything we do is very tough. But I don’t see myself as a farmer any more—rather the owner of a farm operation. I know there a lot of farmers who will continue with the way things are. Even if I didn’t love accounting, I have to track costs. "

Knuth's innovative use of a marketing brochure was featured in Mike Wilson's July/August Farm Futures column, "Farmer, market thyself."

http://magissues.farmprogress.com/FFU/FF07Jul10/ffu42.pdf

The FBS User Conference will include two breakout sessions on management accounting:
1. A forum where producers can share their experiences, insights, decisions made and questions raised through all aspects of MA.
2. A kickoff for a machinery operations benchmarking group, coordinated by John McNutt and Moe Russell.

Another User Conference breakout session will cover accounting for hedging transactions based on the latest (pending) recommendations from the Farm Financial Standards Council Technical Committee and adapted to FBS to help better match gain/loss to specific groups/centers/time periods.

For more information or to register, click on: http://www.fbssystems.com/news/ats/UC2010.htm