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Whether you're walking a tightrope or scribbling in your checkbook, balance is a good thing. And, one of the best ways to evaluate a company is to glance at its balance sheet to see what it owns with what it owes.
The balance sheet is a paragon of simplicity and is made up of three components: assets (the stuff it owns), liabilities (the money it owes), and shareholders' equity (the company's value to its shareholders).
Assets take two forms: short-term (or current) assets and long-term assets. Under short-term, there¿s good ol' hard cash. Then, there¿s something called "cash equivalents," which are assets like short-term bonds that can be sold so quickly, they might as well be cash. There you factor in inventory, which (if you're a reasonably competent business owner) you can sell to customers in return for--you guessed it--cash. (The raw materials a company owns to make that inventory also falls under this category.)
Long-term assets are things that are harder to convert into cash. (Think real estate and equipment.) Long-term assets depreciate, meaning they lose some value over time. Also under the long-term category are what's called intangible assets: things like patents and brands, that are important, but hard to quantify. Accountants earn their stripes figuring out the real overall value of these assets.
Once you know your assets, it's time for liabilities. As with assets, liabilities are separated into short-term or current, and long-term. Current liabilities are what a company owes in that year: Things like payments to employees or accounts payable to suppliers. Long-term liabilities are debts paid over several years.
Shareholders' equity is determined by subtracting the liabilities from the assets. That number represents the value of the company after all its bills are paid.
Obviously, investors should pay close attention to balance sheets. Spikes in the amount of debt carried, or a reduction in shareholders' equity, are usually red flags.
Home / Markets / Industries / Finance
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Scotiabank(R) and Berkeley Payment Solutions bring a unique new suite of prepaid Visa* cards to the Canadian marketplace
Comtex
TORONTO, May 27, 2008 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) ----Prepaid credit cards provide the universal appeal of cash and take both
the guesswork and legwork out of corporate incentive and reward programs
Scotiabank has collaborated with Berkeley Payment Solutions to launch one of Canada's first suite of corporate prepaid Visa cards. Hugely popular in the United States, prepaid Visa card payment solutions benefit companies seeking proven cost-effective payment solutions that extend their company's brand and resonate with employees, customers, and partners.
This new suite of payment solutions feature branded, re-loadable prepaid Visa cards that provide the ease-of-use of a credit card with the universal appeal of cash and the satisfaction of a personal reward. By allowing cardholders to redeem their reward anyway and anywhere they want, prepaid Visa cards are the ultimate win-win solution: employees, customers and partners want to receive meaningful and convenient reward and incentive options (based on choice and flexibility) while companies want to eliminate the time, cost and hassle associated with the disbursement of checks and/or merchandise.
"Given the market for prepaid Visa cards is experiencing significant growth across North America, Scotiabank's collaboration with industry-leader Berkeley Payment Solutions gives us the ability to offer a new suite of innovative corporate payment solutions to the under-serviced Canadian marketplace," explains Rubina Havlin, Vice President, Credit Cards, Scotiabank. "Our clients and the many other Canadian companies who have been searching for a cost-effective alternative to deliver and manage reward and incentive programs will now have the versatility, flexibility and choice they have been seeking."
Using an innovative prepaid Visa platform (featuring all the security and flexibility associated with the Visa brand) and providing timely, useful and accurate reporting metrics to measure the success of each payment program, Scotiabank and Berkeley's prepaid Visa cards both increase program participation and motivate participants to exceed program goals. Other important results include increased marketing return on investment, significant lifts in sales, enhanced employee motivation and enhanced employee retention.
"Not only are prepaid Visa cards less costly to issue than cheques and merchandise, companies are discovering its significant value as a marketing tool," explains David Eason, CEO, Berkeley Payment Solutions. "Showcasing a company or product's name or logo on each prepaid Visa(R) card allows it to establish a positive association with the brand each time a cardholder uses it to make a purchase."
Nissan Canada selected Scotiabank and Berkeley to spearhead two recent reward programs. In October 2007, the "Nissan Rogue Test Drive Direct-mail" program invited customers to test drive the all-new Nissan Rogue and gave them the option of being rewarded with a Nissan prepaid Visa card. In addition, and among the first programs of its kind in Canada, Nissan launched its "Bonus Days" program in December 2007 which provided customers with the choice of receiving either a Nissan-branded prepaid Visa gift card or a rebate upon the purchase of one of four Nissan vehicles (Rogue, Altima, Sentra or Versa).
"Nissan Canada strives to stand out from the crowd with innovative and effective ways to incent and reward our customers," explained Jason Legere, Manager, Sales Planning, Nissan Canada.
Scotiabank and Berkeley also worked closely with LG Electronics Canada to launch its LG Shine cell phone in October 2007. As part of its "Born to Shine" campaign, an LG-branded re-loadable prepaid Visa card was issued to more than 1,500 retail sales associates at cellular dealerships across Canada. The reward structure was clearly communicated by LG's national sales team at the launch of the campaign and funds were regularly loaded onto each person's card based on the volume of all LG cell phones sold.
"The LG Shine prepaid Visa campaign is seen as a tremendous success on every level by both our Canadian management team and our head office in Korea," explained Beverley Battram, Director of National Accounts, LG Canada. "Not only was our lift in sales much higher than anticipated, it was one of the easiest incentive programs for our national sales team to both implement and communicate to dealer sales associates. This program delivered such outstanding results and such a win-win proposition for everyone involved - both internally and externally - that we intend to re-launch a similar program in May," concluded Battram.
Eason explains that employee reward, compensation and incentive programs have been around for decades, but corporate incentive choices haven't evolved much beyond catalogues. However, more and more Canadian companies are starting to turn to prepaid Visa cards because they are finding it virtually impossible to anticipate what their employees want to receive as an incentive or reward. In fact, Eason's analysis of a recent prepaid Visa card campaign worth hundreds of thousands of dollars found that collectively, cardholders did not spend more than 10% of funds in one single merchant category. However, even if a category could be identified, it would be almost impossible to select the "right" brand or store desired by each individual. This is why giving cardholders the choice and flexibility to redeem their rewards anyway and anywhere they want is the ultimate win-win situation.
About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is one of North America's premier financial institutions and Canada's most international bank. With more than 60,000 employees, Scotiabank Group and its affiliates serve approximately 12.5 million customers in some 50 countries around the world. Scotiabank offers a diverse range of products and services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking. With $449 billion in assets (as at January 31, 2008), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS). For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com.
About Berkeley Payment Solutions
Berkeley Payment Solutions delivers innovative pre-paid Visa card programs and services to companies across North America seeking proven cost-effective payment solutions that extend their company's brand and resonate with employees, customers, and partners. While reducing the complexity and cost of implementing incentive, reward, and rebate programs, Berkeley harnesses the universal acceptance, security and functionality of a Visa credit card. For further information, visit www.berkeleypayment.com.
TM Trademarks of the Bank of Nova Scotia. (R) Registered trademarks of
the Bank of Nova Scotia. * VISA Int./Lic. User The Bank of Nova Scotia.
SOURCE: Berkeley Payment Solutions
SOURCE: SCOTIABANK - PRODUCTS & SERVICES
SOURCE: SCOTIABANK
Andrea Lekushoff, (416) 435-2569, alekushoff@berkeleypayment.com
Copyright (C) 2008 CNW Group. All rights reserved. ********************************************************************** As of Friday, 05-23-2008 23:59, the latest Comtex SmarTrend� Alert, an automated pattern recognition system, indicated an UPTREND on 04-02-2008 for BNS @ $46.66. For more information on SmarTrend, contact your market data provider or go to www.mysmartrend.com SmarTrend is a registered trademark of Comtex News Network, Inc. Copyright � 2004-2008 Comtex News Network, Inc. All rights reserved.
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