Notes on keeping the books

The number in your checking account is the most-watched figure in most small businesses, and one of the least reliable. Why the balance answers a different question than the one you're asking, the four things it can't see, and what to look at instead.

Your busiest month and your most profitable month aren't always the same month — and the difference usually hides inside one or two jobs. How job-level profitability works, why a standard P&L won't show it, and what changes once you can see it.

If you've been putting off your bookkeeping, you're not alone — and you're probably not as stuck as you think. Here's how far back the catch-up really goes, what it costs to wait, and why it's a finite job.