Resources
A small business budget is a month-by-month plan for revenue, costs, and cash, so you can compare it to actual results every month. Build it in five steps: first, start from last year’s real numbers; then set revenue by month, budget direct costs as a percent of revenue, add fixed overhead, and finally check the […]
Read articlePreparing a business for sale means making your financials something a stranger can trust. So buyers check three years of consistent statements, whether earnings are real and repeatable, how much cash the business needs, and how much depends on you. But we advise starting at least a year before you want to sell. So this […]
Read articleJob costing for movers means working out what each move actually cost to run, then comparing that number to what you charged. Three inputs drive it: cost per crew hour, cost per truck hour, and materials per job. Most movers price from a market rate or a competitor’s quote. So some jobs quietly lose money […]
Read articleStandard costing vs. actual costing comes down to this. Standard costing assigns each product a predetermined cost based on expected material, labor, and overhead. Then it tracks variances against actual results. Actual costing assigns each product the real cost incurred for that specific run. Most small manufacturers between $5M and $25M in revenue do better […]
Read articleCustomer deposits are not revenue. They’re a liability. The boat builder still owes the customer a finished boat, or the money back, until the work is actually done. Recording a deposit as revenue the day it hits the bank is the single most common mistake we see in boat builders’ books. It’s a mistake that […]
Read articleMoving companies run out of cash in the off-season because the P&L takes an annual view, but the bank account runs on a weekly one. Moving and storage businesses typically see their slowest stretch from late September through March. A year can close profitable while still including several months where payroll is a genuine question. […]
Read articleAccounting for landscaping companies looks simple on the surface. You bill clients, you pay crews, you buy fuel. But under that, the books are pulled in three ways at once. Sales swing hard with the seasons. Trucks and mowers lose value on a schedule that few owners track well. And labor, the biggest cost on […]
Read articleHow to Improve Cash Flow in a Service Business: 7 Tactics That Actually Move the Needle If you run a service business doing $2M to $10M in revenue, you have probably had this experience: you close a strong month on paper, look at your bank balance, and feel like the numbers do not match. You […]
Read articleWhat Is Accounts Receivable and How Do You Manage It? You’ve done the work. You’ve sent the invoice. It’s sitting on your P&L as revenue. But the money is still in your customer’s bank account — not yours. And next Friday, payroll still has to clear. That gap between earning revenue and collecting cash is […]
Read articleAccounting for HVAC Companies: What You Need to Know Most HVAC owners we meet are honest about one thing. They do not trust their own numbers. The books close late. In addition, a single commercial install can swing a whole month. And nobody can answer a simple question: which service line actually makes money? Accounting […]
Read articleHow to Read a Profit and Loss Statement (Without an Accounting Degree) You open the P&L your bookkeeper just sent. There are line items you don’t recognize, subtotals that don’t match what’s in your bank account, and a “Net Income” number that doesn’t feel anything like how the month actually went. If you’ve ever nodded […]
Read articleGrowing HVAC Business, Empty Bank Account — Here’s What’s Really Going On The six financial metrics every HVAC owner must track — and the cash flow trap that quietly destroys even the best operators. Revenue at $3.2 million. Crews busy through July. Trucks on every job site. And yet — the owner is personally covering […]
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