I have a client who urgently needs a bookkeeper for their newly established Manufacturing company at EPZA, Rosario, Cavite. Preference given to Cavite residents.
JOB DESCRIPTION To record, monitor and report on the day-to-day financial activities of the company and assist in the general administration of the company’s various activities.
JOB SPECIFICATION 1. Maintain the day-to-day accounts for the company and ensure that all electronic and manual records are in order. 2. Liaise with the Chief Company Accountant on all matters relating to the company accounts. 3. Liaise with warehouse staff to ensure that inventory is in order. 4. Take an active role in the general administration of the company activities. 5. Provide administrative support to other company staff.
SKILLS REQUIRED • Sound knowledge of the accounting requirements of small-medium enterprises. • In-depth knowledge of financial accounting and taxation in the Philippines. • Proficient in reconciling bank statements. • High-level ability in a Windows PC environment using Microsoft Office software applications, especially Excel. • High-level ability using Peachtree accounting software, or similar packages. • Ability to work effectively as part of a team. • High-level spoken and written English language capability. • Knowledge of manufacturing industry preferred, but not required.
EXPERIENCE REQUIRED • College graduate - Accounting major. • Minimum 2 years work experience in a small-medium sized enterprise or larger. • Newly graduate are welcome to apply.
To apply, please send your resume at: sheila@sheiferr.com
Philippine health officials say Influenza A(H1N1) cases in the country have climbed to 193, including patients from a farming town north of Manila where a community-level outbreak has been declared.
With this, sales of medical supplies such as Respirator Mask, Rubbing Alcohol, Alcohol based hand sanitizers as well as Vitamin C, Multi-vitamins and Tami-flu or Relenza has soared tremedously these past few weeks.
Previously, a box of mask was selling at only P50 but now have reportedly been sold at P80-P100 per box.
Every business startup involves some degree of risk. But while no business is risk-free, some ways of launching your business are less risky than others. Here are six low-risk ways to start a business.
1. Start your business from home: Choosing a business location requires you to lock yourself into a lease and pay rent, utilities, and other costs for the space. But many types of businesses can just as easily be operated from home. By running your business from home, you save on the overhead costs of commercial space. You also save the time and money you would normally spend commuting, which means you can be more productive.
2. Start your business part time: If time allows, you can start a business while keeping your full-time day job. This gives you the cushion of a regular paycheck and benefits from your job until your business is making enough to pay you. If running a business and working full time is too much, consider getting a part-time job to pay the bills while you launch your business. Look for part-time work that has flexible hours to give you time for your business. You can even turn it into a business education; for instance, if you’re starting your own fashion-design company, get a part-time job at a boutique so you can learn the industry from the customer’s point of view.
3. Start an e-commerce business: These days, a retail business doesn’t need a bricks-and-mortar location to succeed. By selling your products online, you can reach a nationwide or even global customer base. You significantly cut your costs, since you aren’t paying rent and won’t need to staff a store with salespeople. Depending on how much business you get, it’s possible to run an e-commerce business with you as the sole employee, at least when you first start out. You can also launch an e-commerce site as a way of testing the waters and then expand to a brick-and-mortar location once your site is successful.
4. Buy an existing business: If the costs and risks of starting a business from scratch intimidate you, consider buying an existing business. Although there is still a certain degree of risk involved, you will be buying a business where the location, employees, customer base, and systems are already established. Since you won’t have to go through the trial-and-error you would with a brand-new business, you’ll save time, effort, and money. You’ll want a business that has proven itself successful and stands a good chance of thriving under new ownership. Enlist a business broker to help you find the right one and have your attorney and accountant help you with the due diligence. If you do your homework, you’ll be buying a known quantity and greatly decreasing your risk of failure.
5. Buy a franchise: In a franchise you pay the franchise company (also called the franchisor) a fee and ongoing royalties in exchange for the right to do business under the company’s name. As a franchisee, what you’re paying for is a proven system of doing business. Just as with buying a business, you need to do thorough research into the company you’re considering. Do it well, and you should end up with a franchise that trains you in how to run the business, assists in finding a location and opening your business, provides marketing and advertising support, and offers advice and support on an ongoing basis. Franchising is often described as being in business for yourself, but not by yourself, because having the franchisor to back you up greatly lessens your risk.
6. Don’t hire employees: No, we’re not suggesting you do all the work yourself. But hiring salaried employees adds greatly to your risk. First, there’s the ongoing cost of regular salaries as well as payroll taxes and the cost of any benefits. You’ll spend time and money staying on top of federal and state employee laws (or hiring someone to do so). In addition, employees open up liability risks, such as your need to get worker's compensation insurance or the risk of being sued by a disgruntled staffer. No wonder many entrepreneurs find independent contractors or freelancers a smarter way to go. There are no salaries, benefits, or insurance issues to consider. Thanks to technology it’s easier than ever to work collaboratively with a team of independent contractors without being in the same office. In addition to cost savings, contractors offer flexibility because you can hire them on a per-project basis.
Karen Axelton is Chief Content Officer atGrowBiz Media, a content and consulting company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses.
BUSINESS WORLD Saturday, June 6, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
A South Korean firm will be investing $200 million for a resort complex at the Clark free port’s sub-zone and another P218 million to build roads there, Clark Development Corp. (CDC) said in a statement on Friday.
Donggwang Clark Corp. will be employing 1,000 workers once the resort at the "Next Frontier" in Sacobia Valley, Tarlac is completed. In the meantime, the firm is still drafting the site development plan which will need CDC approval.
The investment for roads, meanwhile, will cover the construction of a 1.8-kilometer "Spine Road" and a 4.5-kilometer "East Road 2" that will link the area to McArthur Highway.
"[The cost of the road construction] will be considered as advance lease rentals following standard government procedures," the statement read.
Earlier, the state agency announced it was developing the 2,000-hectare extension of the free port to accommodate more investors. Investments there will be qualified for the same economic zone incentives including a four-year tax holiday and a succeeding 5% tax on gross income. — JADH
BUSINESS WORLD ONLINE Saturday, June 6, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Sale of Philippine food products in an international trade fair in South Korea in mid-May more than quadrupled to P70 million from P16.3 million last year, the Agriculture department said in a press release on Friday. Filipino exporters sold fresh and processed food products such as banana chips, processed saba, frozen bananas and mangoes, fresh and frozen tuna, and spiced bangus during the Seoul Food and Hotel 2009, Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said in the statement. In dollar terms, booked and negotiated sales during the food fair amounted to $1.47 million, compared to $334,000 last year. "The best sellers included whole, fried and turon saba, frozen fruits like mango, banana and durian, and banana chips," Ms. Puyat said. "These products were represented (sic) by seven Filipino companies." Local companies that joined the event were Sagrex Foods, Inc., Albero Fruits Processing Corp., KF Nutri-Foods International, Inc., MS Seafood Supplier, JN Mercado Seafood Supply, Jarla Trading, Jet Trading and Services, and FAB Sea Resources Corp. Albero Fruits is negotiating with 20 buyers, mostly wholesalers, distributors, retailers, and schools in South Korea. Ms. Puyat said potential buyers have also expressed interest in buying Philippine tuna and plan to visit General Santos City — dubbed the country’s "tuna capital" — to inspect tuna processing plants.
Venture capitalists are typically very selective in deciding what to invest in; as a rule of thumb, a fund may invest in one in four hundred opportunities presented to it. Funds are most interested in ventures with exceptionally high growth potential, as only such opportunities are likely capable of providing the financial returns and successful exit event within the required timeframe (typically 3-7 years) that venture capitalists expect.
Because investments are illiquid and require 3-7 years to harvest, venture capitalists are expected to carry out detailed due diligence prior to investment. Venture capitalists also are expected to nurture the companies in which they invest, in order to increase the likelihood of reaching a IPO stage when valuations are favourable. Venture capitalists typically assist at four stages in the company's development:[19]
There are typically six stages of financing offered in Venture Capital, that roughly correspond to these stages of a company's development.[20]
Seed Money: Low level financing needed to prove a new idea (Often provided by "angel investors")
Start-up: Early stage firms that need funding for expenses associated with marketing and product development
First-Round: Early sales and manufacturing funds
Second-Round: Working capital for early stage companies that are selling product, but not yet turning a profit
Third-Round: Also called Mezzanine financing, this is expansion money for a newly profitable company
Fourth-Round: Also called bridge financing, 4th round is intended to finance the "going public" process
Because there are no public exchanges listing their securities, private companies meet venture capital firms and other private equity investors in several ways, including warm referrals from the investors' trusted sources and other business contacts; investor conferences and symposia; and summits where companies pitch directly to investor groups in face-to-face meetings, including a variant know as "Speed Venturing", which is akin to speed-dating for capital, where the investor decides within 10 minutes whether s/he wants a follow-up meeting.
This need for high returns makes venture funding an expensive capital source for companies, and most suitable for businesses having large up-front capital requirements which cannot be financed by cheaper alternatives such as debt. That is most commonly the case for intangible assets such as software, and other intellectual property, whose value is unproven. In turn this explains why venture capital is most prevalent in the fast-growing technology and life sciences or biotechnology fields.
If a company does have the qualities venture capitalists seek including a solid business plan, a good management team, investment and passion from the founders, a good potential to exit the investment before the end of their funding cycle, and target minimum returns in excess of 40% per year, it will find it easier to raise venture capital.
By Joel D. Pinaroc, ZDNet Asia Wednesday, March 18, 2009 02:06 PM
MANILA--Google said it has "linked" the contributions of Philippine users of its popular Google Map Maker to Google Maps, allowing people across the globe to view the edits of Filipino users.
In an announcement last week, Google said millions of Google Maps users can now view more accurate and updated online maps of the Philippines, including new roads, points of interests and more regions all over the archipelago.
Google in October launched Google Map Maker in the Philippines, allowing the country to join some 121 nations in which the application is available.
The company said the Philippines is "unique" and a challenge for Google Map Maker users, owing to the more than 7,000 islands found in the country.
Due to the popularity of Google Map Maker among Filipino users, Google said it was compelled to take the next step to include Philippine contributors to Google Maps.
But Derek Callow, marketing chief for Google Southeast Asia, said the company will not offer any commercial application for Google Maps in the Philippines.
In an interview with ZDNet Asia, Callow said the inclusion of Philippine contributors to Google Maps is an initiative "purely for users of Google".
"It is extremely important for us to provide this service. Most Internet users access the Web to search for some location-based information, and this platform will do just that," Callow said.
He added Google does not plan to introduce money-generating schemes for Google Maps in the Philippines and will instead focus on generating more traffic ad more users.
The executive said Google is also not looking at partnering or tying up with local data providers on possible commercial applications of Google Maps data.
The executive said a large part of the Philippines's geographic data is not yet available online, and that this initiative "is purely for users to contribute" to make these information available via the Internet.
Although he did not have actual figures, Callow said Google Map Maker users in the Philippines currently stand at "hundreds of thousands", based on daily edits.
MANILA--The local business process outsourcing (BPO) and software sectors are projected to see higher growth rates this year, as U.S. companies deploy cost-cutting measures by outsourcing their IT requirements to countries such as the Philippines.
Officials from the public and private sectors asserted that while the Philippine electronics manufacturing industry, particularly the semiconductor business, is indeed taking a beating from the global financial crunch, the tough economic environment is proving to be a blessing in disguise for local BPOs and software companies.
Beng Coronel, president of the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA), said in an interview that 2008 was a banner year for the sector, surpassing the group's growth target of 30 percent.
"I think it's only manufacturing that that has been hit in the IT sector because I haven't heard from any our member companies that they're laying off people. In fact, we're even hiring," said Coronel, who is also chief executive of software development house, PointWest Technologies.
While she declined to give any growth forecast for 2009, since the market is "still very dynamic", she noted that the industry is expected to stabilize in the second quarter when the economic policies of new U.S. President Barack Obama take effect.
For example, the BPO industry is bullish on Obama's plan to spend billions of dollars to build a fully integrated health IT system for American hospitals and doctors' offices.
Another industry group, the newly-formed National ICT Conference of the Philippines (NICP), said call centers and non-voice BPO players have sprouted in different parts of the country. These outlets are now organizing themselves into regional hubs so they can bid for U.S. outsourcing contracts, which have increased in number over the last few months.
George Sorio, chair of the NICP, said while the worldwide call center industry has shrunk due to the financial crisis, the Philippines' market share has grown bigger, allowing local players to open more sites and hire employees. Sorio is also part of the management team at call center company, Cyber City Teleservices.
Directive to "accelerate" According to the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), it has secured funding worth 60 million pesos (US$1.3 million), which will be poured into talent development to grow the BPO industry and to combat the financial morass.
The CICT Chair Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua II said the agency is also bent on using up the 1 billion pesos (US$212 million) e-government fund, issued by President Gloria Arroyo under a directive to "accelerate" IT infrastructure spending this year.
Roxas-Chua, however, said there were no big-ticket IT projects lined up, as yet. "The proposals arrived at the middle of last year so we expect to approve them by middle of this year. But, we're hurrying up because we want to implement and finish them before the President completes her term next year."
Roxas-Chua, along with Coronel and Sorio, were guests at Thursday's launch and partnership signing between the CICT and Microsoft for the latter's BizSpark program for local SMEs. The project aims to spur the local software economy by providing Microsoft development tools and production licenses to small entrepreneurs at "no up-front cost", according to the partners.
By Joel D. Pinaroc, ZDNet Asia Thursday, January 29, 2009 05:56 PM
PHILIPPINES--Local semiconductor and electronics companies are bracing for tougher times ahead as demand continues to decline this year, according to an industry group.
In a statement Wednesday, the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries of the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) said one of the hardest hit sector is the semiconductor and electronics industry, as global demand continues to slide.
Established in the 1970s, the SEIPI seeks to be the representative body for major players in the Philippine electronics industry and currently has some 240 members.
The immediate effects on the electronics industry include a sharp downturn in consumer spending, lower volume requirements of original equipment manufacturers, and massive layoffs by electronics manufacturing companies that began in the fourth quarter of 2008, the industry group said.
The SEIPI estimated that electronics export revenues dipped by 5 percent in 2008, over the previous year, as customers of Philippines-based semiconductor and electronics manufacturing companies saw a drastic drop in demand for their products in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Based on current guidance, it said the situation is expected to worsen in 2009 for the electronics industry.
The SEIPI said the anticipated contraction in the global semiconductor market will continue to adversely affect the local electronics industry, which accounts for 75 percent of the Philippine semiconductor export revenues.
However, the SEIPI President Ernie Santiago said this dismal situation is not new to the industry, and is only "cyclical".
Santiago revealed that plans are now in motion to offset the effects of the global slowdown, particularly for Philippine semiconductor and electronics organizations that have laid off workers in mass numbers.
"Most companies have given a commitment to laid-off workers that they will be given priority when they reapply for jobs when the industry recovers," he said.
He added that programs have been put in place to "manage the downturn". These include initiatives on controlling costs, maintaining growth or operating at flat growth, strengthening local sourcing, and preventing or mitigating layoffs, he said.
"Layoff is the last resort of every company," Santiago said, adding that the industry is expected to "survive this crisis".
According to research firm iSuppli, the worldwide semiconductor industry will shrink by 9.4 percent in 2009. Revenue is estimated to decrease to US$241.5 billion, down from US$266.6 billion last year.
Intel was one of the first companies to announce mass layoffs. The semiconductor giant last week announced plans to restructure its manufacturing operations, reducing its manpower by some 3,000--mostly in its key facilities in Asia.
