Stephen Souky - Why Corporates Should Get Involved in Community Service

Stephen Souky believes that community service could be just as beneficial to a business as it is to individuals. Over the last several years, there has been a growing interest in corporations and businesses in the area of community service, or corporate social responsibility (CSR). The interest originates from the community, employees, customers and job seekers. For individuals, community service and philanthropy can have a significant impact on their lives, even improving their health.

Job Seekers and Community Service 

Over the last couple of years, job seekers have begun to take an interest in a company’s CSR policy before applying for or accepting a job. In the corporate world, this could mean getting the best-qualified candidates to work for you based on your CSR policy. People are looking for companies that have a keen interest in the community. According to a study conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 86% of generation Y applicants said that they would resign from their jobs at a company if the CSR projects started to decline. Studies have shown that volunteerism in the workplace is making a huge impact on employee retention and recruitment, and this will only become more prominent as generation Y moves up the corporate ladder.

Employees and Community Service

Many businesses and corporations have adopted a CSR policy and have created various opportunities to get their staff involved in community service projects. The kind of community service organized by the company makes the employees feel proud about working there and making a difference in the community. Volunteering for community service helps promote and build a positive culture in the company and greatly influences teamwork in the workplace. The greater the number of volunteers, the bigger the impact a company can make in the community. Volunteering for community service helps employees gain additional skills that can be used outside the workplace. 

HP is a great example of how volunteerism can boost job satisfaction. The company’s work with “A Billion+ Change” has led to over 1.6 million hours or volunteer work, and employee job satisfaction had risen from 60% to 70% in a matter of two years. 

Customers and Community Service

With the increase in the use of social media, customer perception has a massive impact on a company’s brand. People aren’t just taking into account the products and services provided by a company, but also what community service the company is involved in. A classic example of a company that works with customers is The Walt Disney Company. It has a great reputation for working together and giving back to the community. Philanthropy and volunteerism have always been part of its company policy and culture, and the company has showed true interest in helping people improve their lives. 

Stephen Souky is an experienced accountant and the President of the Niskayuna Girls Travel Basketball Team.

4 Benefits of Volunteering Your Time to Community Service

Volunteering your time to community service has a beneficial outcome on the community and for you as well. Helping the community and other people offers numerous advantages. For instance, it can help you to know more about yourself and even help you to discover your passion.

The benefits of volunteering your time to community service include:

You will gain valuable life experiences and skills

Whether you volunteer your time at a local health clinic or you build shelters for the homeless, you will gain valuable experiences and develop valuable skills. You can also explore your career interests by volunteering your time.

You will meet interesting people


You can gain insights from the people you are helping, and from your fellow volunteers. Regardless of the caliber of people you're working with, you'll see that they have information and a different approach to issues that can inspire you.

You can get academic credit by volunteering your time

Some schools offer scholastic credit for humanitarian effort through service learning. Speak with your school counselor to find out if your school offers such.

You will have the opportunity to make a difference

When you volunteer your time to community service, the little help you offer can make a big and lasting impact on the community.

Decide on the amount of time you can commit and what really interests you before you volunteer your time.

Stephen Souky is an active member of his local community. He is a volunteer for Grace Fellowship Church, as well as, City Mission of Schenectady; a non-denominational Christian ministry dedicated to serving the poor and the homeless. 

4 Crucial Decisions Entrepreneurs Make

An Entrepreneur is the operations manager, the human resource director, and the marketing manager at the same time. Entrepreneurs are confronted with a lot of choices to make, and some of these choices are more crucial to the success of the business than others. 

1.                   Business finance decisions

Entrepreneurs continually makes a lot of choices when it comes to business finances. For new companies, choices about how to finance the business and the most suitable source of financing are critical. For an existing business, choices about how to manage cash flow and secure resources are equally important. 

2.                   Business structure 

Legitimate business structures incorporate sole proprietorship, partnership, and limited liability corporations. Each of these business structures has their own features and obligations. Structural decisions are long term choices and they entail a great deal of risk. It incorporates decisions about developing new products or getting into strategic alliances. 

3.                   Work force 

An entrepreneur must make decisions about selecting and employing a competent work force. The entrepreneur must set criteria for hiring the most competent workers. Entrepreneurs should also make decisions on job expectations, roles and obligations. Also, the entrepreneur has to determine the remunerations and benefit structures for his workers. 

4.                   Operational decisions 

Entrepreneurs need to make decisions on how they will manage the business. Operational decisions incorporate picking the right suppliers, and the appropriate strategy for distributing and marketing the product. 

These four decisions are crucial to the success of any business. 

Stephen Souky is a Controller at MHC. He is an experienced accounting professional with more than twenty three years of success in a variety of senior level management positions. He is the President of the Niskayuna Girls Basketball Team and AAU programs.

How to Evaluate a Business before Making a Purchase

You need to gather enough information in order to make smart investment choices.

Here are six things you ought to consider when you are evaluating a business:

1.                   The financial statement 

It is very important to check the financial statement of the company. Check the asset reports, profit and loss reports, and any other income statements for the last 3-4 years. 

2.                   The tax record

Check the income tax returns for the past 3-4 years; this will give you an insight of the business’ profitability. 

3.                   Evaluate the assets

Check the plant and the installations to know if they are in good working conditions. Also, conduct a stock valuation to determine the measure of stock available and its present worth. 

4.                   Know the Clients and Suppliers 

Get the database of key clients and suppliers that are vital to the business.

5.                   Find out why the proprietor is selling

It is good to know why the owner of the business is offering to sell, and the number of offers that has been made.

6.                   Check the legal rights and obligations 

Get information about government regulations that apply to the business and whether the business has the necessary license it needs to operate. 

Finally, do not make a purchase until after you have diligently conducted the business evaluation, and you are convinced that the business will have a good return on investments. 

Stephen Souky holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the State University of New York at Fredonia. He has built a successful career on the foundation of strong accounting, team leadership, and communication skills.

4 Reasons Why You Should Volunteer your Time to Community Service

Volunteering your time to community service can be fun and inspiring. There are diverse ways to volunteer your time to your local community. You can volunteer your time to coach a local team, raise donations for the less privileged, serve meals at the neighborhood soup kitchen, and so on.

Below is a rundown of how community service can benefit you and the community at large:

You will gain emotional satisfaction and fulfillment

Everybody has the capacity to help others in one way or the other. The fulfillment that comes with knowing that you have added value to someone else’s life is a great reward that cannot be quantified.

You will have the opportunity to connect with other people

You will be able to make new friends and connect with other people. This will help you to develop necessary social and communication skills.

Volunteering your time will help to improve your self-esteem

When you see the impact of your service on the community or an individual, you will have a better feeling about yourself.

Volunteering your time is a good way to fight depression

Social isolation is a key danger element of depression. Volunteering your time to community service will keep you in regular contact with people, this will give you strong emotional support to fight depression in difficult times.

Find out about how you can make impact in your local community, and you will experience the rewards that comes with it. Our acts of generosity, kindness and love are those things that strengthens the community.

Stephen Souky is an accountant and the president of Niskayuna Girls Travel Basketball Team and AAU programs. He is also a part of the community support efforts being undertaken by his church (Grace Fellowship).

Niskayuna Girls Travel Basketball Junior B League Champions

Niskayuna players have worked diligently to build trust and respect with one another. Their hard work helped them become a complete team with the passing of each practice, and each game in which they were involved. This young team of talent continued to build on early season successes and developed the sheer confidence necessary to overcome challenges. This team discovered a sense of unity needed to become a formidable opponent through the season. The championship was a genuine source of pride that made every player, coach and parent extremely proud of his or her accomplishments.

At the beginning of the month, the Niskayuna Girls Travel Basketball Junior B team had achieved greatly and marked the starting point of an excellent season of basketball.

The 2014-15 season marked victories, memories, and great momentum, which continued to pile up throughout the course of the season. The team became the best squad in the AAU and compiled a 15-0 record that would launch them into the postseason for the Capital District Girls Basketball League. The tournament took place in early March and hosted the top teams in the league.

StephenSouky takes great pride in the continual progression made by his team. He feels their camaraderie; respect and compassion helped develop them into a truly dominant unit. The team became one breathing force and in doing so they truly relied on teamwork, practice, and skills and faced each new challenge relatively unscathed and unafraid of failure. Souky is the President of the team and the AAU. He has volunteered his spare time as a coach and helped develop a winning team.

GAAP Concepts and Assumptions

Adhering to the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles is critical to the accounting industry. The GAAP was created particularly as a way to ensure accurate and effective maintenance and production of financial reporting for both individuals and businesses throughout the United States. The GAAP is composed of basic principles, assumptions, and constraints.

Each of the unique concepts provides the GAAP its fundamental foundation. In fact, that are four basic concepts and assumptions to consider such as the business entity, going concern, monetary unit, and the period principle. The first assumption is that the business is, in fact, separate from both its owners and from other companies. It is in fact based on revenue and expenses and should, therefore, be kept separate from those of personal nature. The 2nd assumption states that the company in question will operate indefinitely to be successful. The assumption validates such methods as asset capitalization, amortization, and depreciation. 3rd, the GAAP assumption here is that a stable currency is going to be constantly the company's unit of record. The US Dollar value is typically the accepted unit of record by the FASB. This implies that a company's economic activities can be separated into artificially created time periods.

Stephen Souky understands the importance of adherence to GAAP and as a successful accounting professional he is someone who possesses a significant level of knowledge and skill and expertise. Especially when it comes to personal and corporate accounting, Stephen can provide organizations the services and management they need to meet their financial objectives successfully. He is skilled at ensuring strong financial security well into the future.