Page A18 - October 2013

Page A18

OCTOBER 2013

FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS

S ec t i on A

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By Jim Starks, CFuE, CCrE

Jim Starks, CFuE, CCrE, is President of J. Starks Consulting in

Lutz, FL, and a nationally-recognized trainer on funeral home and

crematory risk management.

He used his experience in both funeral home and crematory op-

erations and risk management, combined with his involvement

with funeral homes of all sizes and geographies, to become an au-

thority at controlling risk and loss in the death care industry, pro-

viding lectures and presentations to private firms, as well as region-

al, state and national associations. He also conducts private audits

and risk assessments to independent funeral homes and cremato-

ries in the US and Canada, often identifying ways to save or gener-

ate thousands of dollars of profit.

Jim is a Michigan and Indiana Licensed Funeral Director and

Embalmer and ICCFA- and CANA-certified crematory operator, as

well as Dean of ICCFA University’s College of Cremation Services.

He is a graduate of the University of Wyoming, the Mid-America

School of Mortuary Science, and the ICCFA University. For more

information on risk management in the death care industry, vis-

it

jstarksconsulting.com.

Contact Jim at (813) 765-9844 or jim@

jstarksconsulting.com.

Why Doesn’t Anyone Review

Your Firm’s Paperwork?

Does anyone at your location review the paperwork

after it has been completed? Or is it assumed that ev-

eryone is doing it correctly? Everyone knows what

happens when we assume.

Every funeral home must complete the Statement of

Funeral Goods and Services Selected for every funeral.

It’s been almost 30 years since the FTC has mandated

this form is completed, but it is not always done.

Other areas that need to be reviewed are:



Is the correct pricing used? Are all the arrangers us-

ing the same pricing methods? If not, the consum-

ers are not being treated properly.



Are all the cash advances listed, and at the correct

price?



Have the FTC disclosures been completed? The re-

quired FTC disclosures are the number one area

that is neglected in funeral homes.



Has the statement been signed by both the pur-

chaser and funeral home?

Cremation has more liability than any other aspect

of our business, but many firms do not address that in-

training to review the deficiencies that were found.

This is a good review even for the staff that has done

everything properly. After the training, spot audits

may be done only on the employees who have not

comprehended how and when to complete the forms

that will protect the firm and the consumer.

Protecting

Your Families

and Business

creased liability in their pricing. The cremation authori-

zation is a major document that can protect you and your

firm, and inform the consumer of what is involved in the

cremation process.

In that interest, certain areas of the authorization should

be confirmed: The first area is whether it has been read by

the authorizing agent and whether it is fully completed.

Other areas that need to be reviewed are:



Has the authorization been signed by the correct

person(s)?



Do you have documentation of what will be done

with the cremated human remains after the crema-

tion?



Is your authorization current with the disclosures rec-

ommended by the death care profession?

Do you have a form that deals with the personal proper-

ty that comes with the deceased to the funeral home? Do

you review with the family what is to be done with cloth-

ing and bedding, or do you only review the valuables? All

human remains taken into the funeral home’s care should

have some form of documentation regarding what came

in with the human remains, and the funeral home should

retain this form in the case file.

There are many other forms funeral homes and ceme-

teries have, but are they used or do they only get dusted

off after you have found yourself in trouble? Most forms

in the profession are to protect you, the firm and the con-

sumer.

Every firm should audit their files to see if there are

any deficiencies in completion of the forms your firm re-

quires. Once the audit has been completed have a staff

All New

www.nomispublications.com

BLOGS

Kates-Boylston Publishes Latest

Edition of Popular Guidebook

Carriage Services, Inc. declares

Quarterly Cash Dividend

HOUSTON,TX—

Car-

riage Services, Inc.

has an-

nounced its quarterly cash

dividend and record results

for the second quarter end-

ing June 30, 2013.

Carriages Board of Direc-

tors declared the quarterly

dividend of 2.5 cents per

share payable on September

3, 2013 to common share

record holders as of August

14, 2013. The Company

also has a dividend reinvest-

ment program that is avail-

able so that shareholders

may elect to reinvest their

dividends into addition-

al shares of the Company's

common stock.

Mel Payne

, Chief Execu-

tive Officer, commented on

the quarter ending results,

"Our second quarter perfor-

mance continued our trend

of record quarterly results,

as we achieved strong rev-

enue growth of 11.3% to a

record $54.2 million, Ad-

justed Diluted Earnings Per

Share growth of 66.7% to

a record $0.25 per share,

and Free Cash Flow growth

of 38.5% to a record $11.8

million. This outstanding

performance was driven by

substantially higher year over

year revenue and Field EBIT-

DA growth in each of our

four major profit segments

and substantially lower in-

terest costs on our recently

refinanced senior debt." For

complete results visit www.

carriageservices.com.

WALL,NJ—

The latest edition of

The Fu-

neral Director’s Guide to Statistics

is a must-

have for any death-care professional seek-

ing to understand the changing dynamics

of the marketplace.

The 2013 edition features the most up-

to-date statistical information in the in-

dustry, and provides tools and knowledge

to better understand buying trends, what

services families want most and more.

There is a wide range of articles that cov-

er topics such as cremation trends, third-

party sales and the pet loss market.

“Our 2012 edition of The Funeral Di-

rector’s Guide to Statistics

was one of our

most popular guidebooks to date, and we’ve

worked hard to produce this newly updat-

ed guide to help funeral professionals under-

stand and adapt to changing trends in the

marketplace,” said

Thomas A. Parmalee,

executive director of

Kates-Boylston.

At more than 80 pages long, the guide-

book bursts with information and includes

never-before-published articles on topics

such as how to measure the success of mar-

keting efforts; the

Pet Loss Professionals Alli-

ance

inaugural survey findings; and how to

evaluate your answering service.

Included is a collection of up-to-date statis-

tical information, including separate chapters

on:

Funeral Service Insider’s

compensation

and casket surveys,

Federated Funeral Direc-

tors of America’s

2012 client statistics,

Citrin-

Cooperman’s

survey focusing on firms in the

Northeast, and survey information on the re-

ligiously unaffiliated and celebrant services.