How to Get the Most from Your Bookkeeper

If you’re new to our weekly entrepreneur newsletter, welcome! Each week we research the issues impacting small business owners and entrepreneurs most, then share insights, strategies, and expertise to help you overcome challenges and achieve your goals. We hope you enjoy the content!

In This Issue

• Why owner access to accounting software is non-negotiable
• Red flags that your bookkeeper is not a good fit for you
• A checklist to hold any bookkeeper accountable
• Steps to boost your own financial visibility and confidence

The Problem: Great at Your Craft, Struggling With the Numbers

Many business owners excel at their trade but lack formal finance training. They trust an outside bookkeeper, only to discover months (or years) later that their data is inaccurate, late, or inaccessible. Worse, some bookkeepers refuse to give owners access to QuickBooks—holding files “hostage” until extra fees are paid.

Bottom line: You must retain full control of your books.

Non-Negotiable Rule #1: Own Your Accounting Software

• The owner (or trusted internal email) should be the primary admin on QuickBooks, Xero, or any platform.
• Grant your bookkeeper an accountant-level login—never primary admin rights.
• You are the legal owner of your financial data. Withholding access is unethical.

Red Flags That Your Bookkeeper Isn’t the Right Fit

• Refusing to give you ownership or access to your accounting software
• Updating books only at tax time, not monthly
• Surprise “release fees” for basic data
• Discouraging questions with “just trust me”

Key Qualifications to Look For

Here’s what separates a trusted bookkeeper from a liability:

1. Relevant Certifications & Experience

• Certifications (e.g., NACPB) or equivalent credentials
• Accounting/business degree and industry-specific experience

2. Attention to Detail & Accuracy

A good bookkeeper is meticulous—double-checking entries, reconciling monthly, and catching errors before they become problems. Ensure your books are updated at least monthly (weekly is even better).

3. Technological Proficiency

Look for mastery of cloud accounting tools (QuickBooks, Xero, etc.) and integrations—so you get real-time access to up-to-date financials, not outdated spreadsheets.

4. Effective Communication & Collaboration

You should feel comfortable asking questions and reviewing reports. A great bookkeeper explains data in plain English and tailors their support to your goals.

5. Forward-Thinking Mindset

Beyond reconciliations, top bookkeepers provide insights—spotting trends, flagging cash-flow bottlenecks, and highlighting high-margin products to guide your strategy.

Boost Your Own Visibility and Confidence

Visibility turns instinct into insight. Don’t just print financial statements—learn to read the story they tell:

• Track how every transaction flows through your books
• Cross-check for accuracy and spot anomalies
• Connect insights to daily decisions—act before small issues become crises

When you control visibility, you control profitability—and keep your dream business on track.

Schedule Your Free Strategy Session

See you next week!

Ready to Scale? Make Sure the Roots Are Strong

Visibility and profitability give you a healthy root system. Now it’s time for the final stage of VPS—scaling. But scaling isn’t about random expansion; it’s about multiplying what already works. If you haven’t gained clear visibility into your finances or implemented Profit First, pause here and check out our previous posts or visit our website for guidance.

In This Issue

• Why scaling comes last in the VPS framework
• The three vines of explosive growth: Unique Offering, Top Customers, Systemization
• Finding—and fixing—your weakest vine
• Introducing the all-new Sweet Spot Assessment tool!

The Three Vines of a Scalable Business

1. Unique Offering
   The solution or experience you deliver better than anyone else. It’s hard to charge premium prices—or stand out—if you look like every competitor.
2. Top Customers
   The slice of your market that loves what you do (and you love them), pays on time, and refers others. Serving everyone dilutes margins; serving the right ones amplifies them.
3. Systemization
   Documented processes, automation, and delegation that let the business run without the owner’s daily heroics.

Finding the Sweet Spot

Explosive growth happens at the intersection of all three vines. When your unique offering resonates with your top customers—and delivery is systemized—you unlock scalability without chaos.

Step 1: Diagnose Your Weakest Vine

We’re proud to launch our free Sweet Spot Assessment—just 9 questions to identify which vine needs your attention so you can converge on your growth “sweet spot.”

Try the Sweet Spot Assessment

Step 2: Strengthen the Weak Link

• If Unique Offering is weak:
  • Interview your best customers to learn why they choose you.
  • Trim low-value products and refine your signature solution.
• If Top Customers are weak:
  • Rank clients by revenue, profitability, and hassle factor.
  • Devote 80% of marketing to the top 20%; politely release the rest.
• If Systemization is weak:
  • Document one repeatable task each week: video, checklist, or SOP.
  • Automate simple workflows with no-code tools.
  • Delegate tasks once documented—invest in your team so they can deliver as well as you can.

The Bottom Line

Scaling isn’t a mad dash for more sales; it’s the logical reward for dialing in visibility and profitability, then perfecting your three vines. Identify the weakest branch, focus your efforts, and watch growth happen faster—and healthier—than any “grow at all costs” strategy.

The Growth Myth That Keeps Owners Broke

If you are new to our weekly entrepreneur newsletter, welcome! Each week, we research the issues impacting small business owners and entrepreneurs the most, and share insights, strategies, and expertise to help you solve challenges and achieve your personal and professional goals. We hope you enjoy the content!

In This Issue

• The Growth Myth That Keeps Owners Broke
• Why Paying Yourself Last Never Works
• A Simple Roadmap to Profit-First Thinking
• Your Dream Is Still Possible—Here’s How to Reclaim It

Are You Chasing Sales but Still Broke?

As an entrepreneur, how many times have you heard:

“Grow as fast as you can—cash and profit will follow.”
“Don’t expect to pay yourself for the first year or two.”

The result? Entrepreneurs hustle hard, double sales, and still can’t draw a paycheck. Expenses swell to match (or exceed) revenue, debt snowballs, and the owner earns less than minimum wage. This cycle repeats for years because focusing on top-line growth without prioritizing profit or owner pay means every dollar coming in is immediately spent. If that’s you, it’s time to flip the script.

1. Remember the Dream

You didn’t start your business to make less than a fast-food shift worker. You wanted freedom, impact, and fulfillment. When your company siphons every dollar—and your energy—those dreams get buried. Take a moment to recall your big dream: What life did you imagine for yourself and your family? What impact did you want to have? Let’s bring those goals back into focus.

2. Make Profit (and Owner Pay) the Top Priority

Key mindset shift: Top-line growth is secondary; owner profit is primary and non-negotiable. A business that loses $100 on every sale only bleeds faster when sales double. Profit must come first. Only when your business is making a profit should you chase more sales.

Action Steps to Break the Cycle

• Open separate bank accounts: Profit, Owner’s Pay, Tax, and Operating.
• Start small but start now: Move 1% of every deposit to Profit, 1% to Tax, and 3–5% to Owner’s Pay (enough to cover basic living expenses), and the rest to Operating. When Operating runs out—STOP SPENDING!
• Track every expense: Print the last 90 days of transactions and highlight anything you don’t absolutely need.
• Eliminate or reduce waste: Cancel, downgrade, or renegotiate highlighted costs to free up cash for profit and pay.
• Review weekly: Every Friday, compare revenue, expenses, and account balances to catch overspending early.

Next, grab a copy of Profit First and follow the process. Every business owner we’ve seen do the work experiences transformational change—night and day.

3. When to Focus on Top-Line Growth Again

Return to aggressive sales only after:

1. Your Profit and Owner’s Pay accounts receive consistent allocations.
2. Each sale contributes positively to net profit.

At that point, scaling adds cash instead of debt.

The Bottom Line

Your business should fund your life—not drain it. Follow these steps:

1. Stop borrowing.
2. Cut ruthlessly.
3. Install Profit First.
4. Fix pricing & margins.
5. Keep a simple weekly cash-look-ahead.

Persistence with these basics turns panic into clarity—so your business starts paying you instead of your creditors. If you’d like support, accountability, or mentorship as you implement these changes, schedule a free strategy session now!

See you next week!

Why Smart Owners Still End Up Broke

If you are new to our weekly entrepreneur newsletter, welcome! Each week, we research the issues impacting small business owners and entrepreneurs most, then share insights, strategies, and expertise to help you solve challenges and achieve your personal and professional goals. We hope you enjoy the content!

In This Issue

• Why “Grow Now, Fix Later” Backfires
• Common Cash-Flow Traps (Debt Spirals, Unpaid Payroll, Owner Last)
• A Step-by-Step Rescue Plan Using Profit First
• The PRU Method for Cutting Costs Without Gutting Growth

Why Smart Owners Still End Up Broke

We see it every week: talented tradespeople and creative founders who sell an amazing product but struggle to make payroll—or pay themselves—because they were told to “sell, sell, sell” first and worry about money later. When cash dries up, they open another credit card or tap home equity. It buys time—until the day every lender says no and the stress spills into sleepless nights and tense family dinners.

If that sounds uncomfortably familiar, take heart: you can climb out, but not by doubling down on the same habits that dug the hole.

A Step-by-Step Rescue Plan Using Profit First

1. Hit the Brakes—Stop Digging

   • Freeze New Debt: No more quick-fix credit cards or loans.
   • Pause Aggressive Growth: Scaling an unprofitable model magnifies losses. Stabilize first.

2. Slash Non-Essential Expenses

   Use crisis triage on every cost with the PRU filter:

   

   • P – Profit-boosting
   • R – Renegotiate
   • U – Unnecessary

3. Install Profit First—Even at 1 Percent

   • Open Four Accounts: Profit, Owner’s Pay, Tax, Operating.
   • Start Tiny: Transfer 1% of every deposit into Profit.
   • Pay Yourself Next: Allocate a small Owner’s Pay percentage—break the “owner last” habit.
   • Live on What’s Left: If Operating runs short, cut deeper or raise prices.

4. Repair Pricing & Margins Before You Scale

   • Know Your True Costs: Material, labor, overhead, and debt service.
   • Raise Prices or Bundle: Small increases often stick if value is clear.
   • Kill Loss-Leaders: Stop selling products that drag margins below zero.

5. Keep a Simple Cash-Look-Ahead

   Each Friday, list your expected cash in (upcoming sales/collections) and cash out (bills, payroll, loan payments) for the next four weeks. If a future week shows red, act now—collect faster, cut another cost, or defer non-critical spending.

The Bottom Line

1. Stop borrowing
2. Cut ruthlessly
3. Install Profit First
4. Fix margins
5. Look ahead weekly

Persistence with these basics turns panic into clarity—so your business starts paying you instead of your creditors.

This process can be really hard, but you don’t have to go it alone. We’re here to guide you. Schedule a free strategy session now!

See you next week!

The VPS Framework: What It Is and Why the Order Matters

If you are new to our weekly entrepreneur newsletter, welcome! Each week we research the issues that impact small business owners and entrepreneurs, then share insights, strategies, and expertise to help you overcome challenges and achieve your goals. We hope you enjoy the content!

In This Issue

• The VPS Framework—What It Is and Why the Order Matters
• Step 1: Building Unshakable Visibility
• Step 2: Turning Visibility into Higher Profitability
• Step 3: Scaling What Already Works (Instead of Spreading Losses)
• Quick-Start Tips for Each Stage

Why VPS—And Why in That Order?

Every owner wants to sell more and earn more—and many aim to expand. But the sequence matters. Our VPS framework ensures you build on a solid foundation:

• V – Visibility
• P – Profitability
• S – Scalability

Skipping ahead—growing without clear numbers or scaling a loss-making model—only accelerates problems. Here’s how each stage builds on the last:

Step 1: Visibility — Get Your Finger on the Pulse

What it means: Clean bookkeeping, clear reporting, and a solid understanding of cash flow. Without visibility, every decision is guesswork.

Why it must come first:

• You can’t fix what you can’t see.
• You can’t invest or strategize without knowing your true cash position.
• You can’t improve profitability if you don’t know your current margins.

How to get it:

• Tidy Your Books: Reconcile every account monthly, not annually. Need help? Let us know.
• Automate Data Flow: Use cloud tools like QuickBooks that sync with banks and POS systems.
• Track Key Metrics: Monitor revenue, gross margin, net profit, and cash weekly.
• Use a Dashboard: One-page snapshots beat 30-page reports no one reads.

As visibility improves, stress often drops—because you finally know where you stand.

Step 2: Profitability — Fix the Engine Before Hitting the Gas

What it means: True surplus cash, not just revenue. With Profit First allocations, every sale feeds separate buckets for profit, owner’s pay, taxes, and expenses.

Why it must come before scaling: A business losing money on each sale only multiplies losses when you grow. Tighten costs and optimize pricing first.

Small moves, big impact:

• Implement Profit First percentages at your current sales level—start with just 1% to profit.
• Audit Pricing: Raise rates on non-price-sensitive offerings and bundle services.
• Trim Fat: Eliminate low-ROI subscriptions and expenses.
• Optimize Product Mix: Spotlight high-margin items and phase out distractions.

When you’re reliably profitable today, every additional sale adds to your bottom line.

Step 3: Scalability — Grow What Works, Not What Hurts

What it means: Expanding sales, operations, and team without proportionally increasing headaches and costs.

Why last?

• You know your numbers (V).
• Each sale generates profit (P).
• Now growth fuels healthy cash flow, not deeper debt (S).

Scale-up levers:

• Systemize Processes: SOPs and automations let you add volume without chaos.
• Hire Smart: Onboard roles that amplify profitable systems, not patch holes.
• Market What’s Proven: Double down on channels and offers with the best ROI.

Quick-Start Checklist

First actions you can take this week:

• Visibility: Reconcile bank & credit card accounts; set up a simple KPI dashboard.
• Profitability: Open a separate profit bank account and transfer 1% of every deposit.
• Scalability: Document one repeatable process (e.g., client onboarding) so it can run without you.

The Bottom Line
Visibility is the foundation. Profitability is the engine. Scalability is the accelerator. Follow the sequence—V → P → S—and you’ll grow revenue and keep the cash your business generates. Skip the steps, and you risk scaling stress, debt, and sleepless nights instead of sustainable success.

Schedule Your Strategy Session Now

See you next week!