Articles on bookkeeping, controllership & finance
Plain-language articles on the finance questions growing businesses actually face.
Bookkeeping and controller work
27 articles.
5 Numbers to Track Weekly
You don't need a MBA to run your business by the numbers. Here are the five financial metrics every owner should watch every week. And what they tell
Read →Bookkeeper to Fractional CFO: When
You move from a bookkeeper to a fractional CFO when clean books stop being enough and you need someone to turn the numbers into decisions.
Read →Bookkeeper vs Controller vs CFO
What each role actually does, which one your business needs, and when to add the next. With a side-by-side comparison.
Read →Bookkeeper, Controller, or CFO?
Three different finance roles solve three different problems. Here's how to tell which one your business needs right now. And what each actually does.
Read →Can Bad Bookkeeping Hurt My Taxes?
Yes. Bad bookkeeping can cost you money at tax time through missed deductions, overstated income, penalties, and higher audit risk.
Read →Cash Flow Forecasting: The 13-Week Model
A 13-week rolling cash flow forecast shows you where cash will be before it becomes a crisis.
Read →Cash vs. Accrual Accounting
The difference between cash and accounting that records income and costs when they are earned. That one your business should use, when you're required to switch, and what each does to your num
Read →Choosing a Professional Bookkeeper
What professional bookkeeping services include, how they help your business grow, and what to look for when choosing the right partner.
Read →CPA vs. Bookkeeper: What's the Difference?
A bookkeeper records your finances; a CPA interprets and certifies them. Here's which one your business actually needs. And when you need both.
Read →Do You Need a Fractional CFO?
A fractional CFO gives you senior financial strategy without a full-time hire. Here's how to know if your business actually needs one yet. And what th
Read →Fractional CFO vs. Full-Time CFO
A fractional CFO gives you senior financial strategy without a full-time salary. Here's how the two compare on cost, scope, and the right stage to hir
Read →Is a New Hire Adding or Absorbing Margin?
How to tell whether a hire is paying for itself. Fully loaded cost, the revenue actually attributable to them, and the lag before it shows.
Read →Is My Business Worth More Than Its Income?
Enterprise value rests on transferable earnings, clean records, and low owner dependency. Which is largely a bookkeeping question.
Read →LLC vs. S-Corp for Your Business
The LLC vs. S-corp decision affects your taxes, paperwork, and how you pay yourself. How to tell which fits. And when S-corp status actually saves mon
Read →Mastering Financial Record Keeping
A practical guide to financial record keeping: chart of accounts, reconciliations, financial statements, and the habits that keep your books clean.
Read →Payroll Rising: Headcount or Mix?
Rising payroll is either more people, more expensive people, or the same people costing more. Each has a different fix.
Read →Revenue Up, Profit Flat? Here's Why
Record revenue with no profit increase usually means mix, timing, or cost creep. Not a bad month. Here is how to find which one it is.
Read →Should You Outsource Your Bookkeeping?
In-house bookkeeper, DIY, or outsourced? Here's how to tell which makes sense for your business. And the signs you've outgrown doing it yourself.
Read →The Commercial Founder's Guide to Financial
Most commercial founders run for years without seeing the numbers clearly. The gap shows up in growth windows missed, leverage lost in lender conversa
Read →The Future of Bookkeeping
Advisory-focused bookkeeping turns your numbers into strategy. See how modern bookkeeping helps growing businesses plan, forecast, and grow.
Read →The Month-End Close Checklist (Step by Step)
A step-by-step month-end close checklist: reconcile accounts, review AR and AP, record accrual accounting, check revenue, and produce reliable statements.
Read →What Kind of CFO Do I Need? A Decision Guide
How to choose between a fractional, interim, and full-time CFO based on your company\'s stage, complexity, and situation. A practical decision guide.
Read →When Should You Switch Accountants?
Not sure if it's time to change accountants or bookkeepers? The clear signs your finance support has stopped serving your business. And how to switch.
Read →Which Products or Locations Make Money?
Segment-level profitability requires a chart of accounts built for it. Direct costs assigned, shared costs allocated on a rule you can defend.
Read →Industry finance
5 articles.
Cash Flow for Multi-Unit Franchises
Running one location is hard. Running several means managing cash across units that don't all perform the same. Here's how multi-unit operators stay l
Read →Chart of Accounts Best Practices
A well-built chart of accounts makes your financials clear and useful; a bloated one makes them noise.
Read →Nonprofit Tax Filing Made Simple
A clear guide to nonprofit tax compliance: Form 990, UBIT, donations, payroll, and how to simplify filing and protect your tax-exempt status.
Read →What Drives Medical Practice Profit
Medical practice finances feel complicated, but profitability comes down to a handful of levers. Here's what actually moves the needle. And what's jus
Read →What Your Nonprofit Board Needs to See
Most nonprofit board financial reports are either overwhelming or useless. Here's what a board genuinely needs to see to govern well. And what to leav
Read →CFO and private equity leadership
31 articles.
12 Hallmarks of a-Player Private Equity CFO
This article lists twelve areas of work for a CFO in a company owned by a private equity firm, from sales and systems to cash and the sponsor.
Read →Bookkeeping & Accounting Glossary
Plain definitions of the bookkeeping and accounting terms that actually matter to a business owner. Accruals, WIP, contribution margin, indirect rates (overhead costs spread across contracts),
Read →Does One Location Actually Make Money?
Before you open a second location, you need to know whether the first one truly makes money. Here's how franchise unit economics work, in plain Englis
Read →Enterprise Leadership: Why the Modern CFO Is
The CFO is the only executive with a full-system view of the organization. Enterprise leadership isn't about functional excellence. It's about alignin
Read →How Much Cash Can My Business Safely Spend?
The bank balance is not available cash. What is committed, what is owed, and what has to clear before you can commit the rest.
Read →How to Hire a Fractional CFO
Hiring a fractional CFO comes down to matching real strategic experience to your stage, agreeing scope and cadence, and watching for red flags.
Read →Profitable on Paper, Short on Cash
In a medical practice, the gap between earning revenue and collecting it can be brutal. Here's how the revenue cycle works and why it strains cash flo
Read →Restricted vs Unrestricted Funds
A nonprofit can have money in the bank and still be unable to pay rent. The reason is fund restrictions. Here's how they work, explained simply.
Read →The Modern CFO: Scott Engler on How to Master
In many companies, the CFO is more important than the CEO. And the majority of PE-backed CFOs are not up to par.
Read →The Modern PE CFO Mandate: From Adaptability
This article lists six areas of work for a CFO in a company owned by a private equity firm, from changing the role as the company grows to building value before the exit.
Read →The PE CFO Brief
This brief covers four areas of work for a CFO in a company owned by a private equity firm. They are the scope of the role, the operating cadence, early signs of leadership problems, and work with the board.
Read →What Buyers Test Beyond the Financials: The
The management meeting is not a financial presentation. It's a leadership assessment. Buyers are evaluating whether you can execute the plan you're
Read →What Is a QuickBooks Cleanup?
QuickBooks cleanup is the process of correcting a messy, incomplete, or inaccurate QuickBooks file so the books are reliable again.
Read →GovCon finance
15 articles.
How Long Does a QuickBooks Cleanup Take?
Most QuickBooks cleanups take anywhere from a few days to several weeks, depending on how far behind the books are and how complex the business is.
Read →How to Structure Indirect Rates for a PE
Indirect rate structure is one of the most common sources of purchase price re-trades in GovCon transactions. Here is what buyers examine, what breaks
Read →Ten Things a GovCon Company Must Do to Maximize
Most GovCon founders leave one to two turns of EBITDA on the table in a sale process. These ten actions, sequenced and prioritized, are the difference
Read →The GovCon CFO Checklist: 18 Months Before Your
The most expensive GovCon exits are the ones where preparation started at LOI. Here is the 18-month timeline that separates a premium multiple from a.
Read →The GovCon Founder's Guide to Financial
GovCon founders are exceptional operators. They know how to win contracts, navigate re-competes, manage cleared workforces, and survive the DCAA audit
Read →The GovCon Value Capture Diagnostic: Ten
Ten dimensions a buyer’s QoE team prices before you do, and how to know your number before someone else sets it.
Read →What Is DCAA Compliance: and What Does It Cost
Most GovCon founders treat DCAA compliance as a regulatory box to check. Buyers treat it as a pricing variable. The gap between those two views is.
Read →Want this done on your own numbers?
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