Resources
Practical notes on how businesses and nonprofits actually handle their finances. No general advice, and nothing here replaces a conversation about your own situation.
For business owners
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Four numbers to look at before you hire your first employee
The salary is the number everyone focuses on, and it is the one least likely to be the reason the hire does or does not work.
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Profitable on paper, empty in the bank
The profit and loss statement says you made money. The bank account says otherwise. Both are usually right.
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The three reports to read every month, and what each is for
Most owners look at one of them, occasionally. Read together, in order, they answer very different questions than any of them does alone.
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What your numbers can tell you about pricing, and what they cannot
Your books can tell you precisely what a job cost you. What to charge for the next one is a different question, and only partly a financial one.
For nonprofits
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What a funder actually reads in your financial report
You sent the report on time and in the format they asked for. Then came a question that made it clear they were looking for something else entirely.
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What your board actually needs to see every month
Most board financial packets are either too thin to be useful or too thick to be read. The difference between them is not length.
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Your first audit: what actually gets asked for
The audit itself is rarely the hard part. Assembling twelve months of evidence in three weeks is.
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Program, admin, fundraising: the overhead question
Splitting costs across functions looks like an accounting chore. It is closer to a statement about what your organization is.
For businesses and nonprofits
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Your books are behind. Here is what to do first.
Almost everyone is further behind than they would like to admit. The order in which you fix it matters more than how fast you fix it.
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Choosing accounting software is the last decision, not the first
It is the question almost everyone asks first, and the one that usually matters least.