What a Strong Summer Can Hide: A Winter Cash-Flow Stress Test for Trade Businesses
A strong summer can hide a hard winter. Run this 4-question cash-flow stress test so your trade business rolls into spring with money in the bank.
Why Does Cash Feel Tight When Your Business Is Making Money?
Business is busy, but cash still feels tight? Sue Thompson explains where to look, what to track, and how to connect your numbers to your goals.
Q3 Estimated Taxes Are Due September 15. Is Your June Number Still Right?
Having your best year yet? Mid-year tax planning helps trade owners set money aside now so a strong season doesn’t turn into a tax-time surprise next April.
Should I Buy a Truck Before December 31 to Lower My Taxes?
Having your best year yet? Mid-year tax planning helps trade owners set money aside now so a strong season doesn’t turn into a tax-time surprise next April.
Ready to Scale? The Numbers and Signals That Say It’s Time to Bring On a Manager
Having your best year yet? Mid-year tax planning helps trade owners set money aside now so a strong season doesn’t turn into a tax-time surprise next April.
Best Year Yet? Make This Mid-Year Tax Planning Move Before It Catches You
Having your best year yet? Mid-year tax planning helps trade owners set money aside now so a strong season doesn’t turn into a tax-time surprise next April.
What a CFO Actually Does for a Growing Trade Business (and When You Need That Thinking)
Most contractors meet their accountant once a year. You drop off a folder, they hand you a return, you pay what you owe, and you don’t talk again until next spring. That works fine when you’re small. It stops working the minute you start growing. Here’s the gap nobody explains. A bookkeeper and a tax […]
Q2 Estimated Taxes Are Due June 15: What Montana Contractors Actually Need to Send
Most contractors think of taxes as an April thing. You file, you exhale, you get back to work. But if you run your own business, there’s another date that matters just as much, and it’s coming up fast. June 15 is the deadline for your second-quarter estimated tax payment. If that sentence made your stomach […]
The Bookkeeping Mistake I See Every Spring (And How to Fix It Before Fall)
There’s one bookkeeping mistake I see every single spring. It doesn’t matter the trade. Landscapers in their first big mowing month, electricians wrapping up an HVAC install, plumbers running a busy week of service calls. The mistake looks the same. A bunch of money comes in. The owner’s busy. They deposit it. They don’t categorize […]
Mid-Year Money Check-In: 5 Numbers Every Montana Plumbing or Electrical Owner Should Look At Before Memorial Day
Most contractors I talk to in November had a good spring. They just didn’t track it. By the time the books catch up, the truck needs work, a job underbid in March turns into a winter cash problem, and Q4 feels like a wreck. None of it had to go that way. A short mid-year […]