Jaclyn Simmons

There are 3 main financial measures that provide you, the business owner, with the financial health of your company:

Profit and Loss
Balance Sheet
Cash Flow Statement

Income Statement

Today we are going to take a deeper look at the Profit and Loss, otherwise known as the Income Statement. In a nutshell, the Profit and Loss shows you if your business is making money or not. The Profit and Loss shows you the summary of your revenue or income in relation to your expenses over a period of time.

Your income for your business is the money you are making from your clients. You are charging your clients for a product or a service that your business provides. Maybe you are providing ski lessons and charging your clients for your expertise. Maybe you are making delicious cookies and selling cookies to your clients. Either way, the money you are generating is your income or otherwise known as your revenue.

On the flip side, your business is spending money. You have to purchase your raw materials or pay for software. Maybe you are buying chocolate chips for cookies. Maybe you need software so that clients can book a lesson. You will have insurance for your business. You might have utilities or rent. Perhaps you are paying for labor. Whatever those expenses might be, it is important to know what you are spending, especially in relation to your revenue.

Net Profit

Your net profit is the difference between your income/revenue and your expenses. Your business is profitable…in other words, you are MAKING money if your income is more than your expenses. This is where you want to be. On the other hand, you are at a LOSS if your expenses are more than your income. You won’t know if you are in that position unless you are keeping an accurate set of books.

As a business owner, you MUST know this about your business. You have to know if you are profitable or not in order to make decisions about your business.

The Profit and Loss is a measure of your business over time. We can look at your Profit and Loss for a month at a time, a quarter at a time, or for a full year. Larger periods of time give you important big-picture information. Smaller periods of time might show you that in April your expenses are very high compared to your income. Maybe you have software subscriptions that get renewed in April. Or you might see that in October your revenue drops. No one is skiing in October. Can you figure out how to make some passive income in October or offer specials for the upcoming season? Those types of analytics help you make changes or adjustments in your business so that you can cover seasonality or patterns.

Now let’s talk a little more in-depth about the types of revenue and expenses.

Categorize Revenue and Expenses

For a small business, the revenue is typically fairly easy to categorize. You might be an electrician so you are providing a service and selling parts. You can group all of your sales into one category and simply call it sales. Or you might want to break it into two categories:

Services
Sales of Product

This would give you additional detail about how your business is making money. These should be big-picture categories.

Expenses are a little more complicated because you need to categorize these based on tax rules in order to consider them deductions.

These categories can include items like:

rent
insurance
subscriptions
utilities
payroll/labor
gas
raw material costs
cost of goods
etc.

These must be carefully categorized to fully take advantage of your allowed deductions…a topic for another day but just remember, categorizing your expenses will save you in taxes.

Remember, regardless of how many categories you have, your total INCOME/REVENUE minus your total EXPENSES will determine your profitability.

Make Good Business Decisions

In a nutshell, are you making money? Is your business in the red or in the black? I like to tell my clients, while you might love what you’re doing if you’re not making money, then this is just a hobby. You better REALLY love your hobby if you’re willing to lose money! It is important that you know if you are making money or not. If you’re losing money, you might throw in the towel and read a good book…

If you are making money, how can you maximize your revenue? How can you minimize the time you spend working in the business by hiring appropriately? How can you determine when you should buy that new piece of equipment your business needs?

Your profit and loss or income statement can help you steer your company into a path of success. Questions? Feel free to contact us!

If you own a business or are planning to start a small business, these are the essential practices to ensure that you are financially responsible. These steps will set your business up for success.

1. Obtain an EIN number:

An EIN number is essentially a social security number for your business. By obtaining an EIN number, you are creating a level of separation between you personally and your business. You will need to provide your EIN number to others as you do business. This way, you are protecting your Social Security number and preventing identity theft.You can contact a professional to help you, or if you are comfortable, you can set this up by navigating the IRS website.

2. Open a bank account in the business name

Open a business bank account. Deposit all your income into this account and pay for all of your expenses from the business bank account. This will ensure that your bookkeeping is simple and accurate. It legitimizes your business. It captures your income and expenses for tracking profitability and preparing for taxes.

3. Form relationships with professionals

Every small business should have relationships with professionals who will help ensure the success of the business. These relationships include: lawyer, CPA, bookkeeper and insurance agent at the very least. You will likely also need an IT specialist and a banker. Forming these relationships and hiring the right professionals will foster the growth and success of your business.

4. Do your books

We cannot stress that you must have a bookkeeping system in place. You need to do your books yourself in a timely and accurate manner OR outsource your bookkeeping. This is the core measure of the financial stability of your business. It will help you make decisions about your company. Without an accurate set of books, you cannot file taxes, cannot obtain business financing, and you cannot make informed decisions about your business. We recommend that you use a professional. You might want to do this yourself as a business owner and you might have the skills to do so. As a business owner, you will wear many hats, you will be pulled in a lot of directions and books tend to be put to the bottom of your to do list. Outsourcing them is a great option.

5. Pay your estimated taxes/payroll taxes

Stay on the good side of the IRS by paying your taxes. Keep yourself out of trouble with the IRS and prevent yourself from needing to come up with a lump sum when you file your taxes. It is difficult. We get it. Cash flow is an issue and paying taxes is the last thing anyone wants to do. But you won’t do yourself any favors by skipping these payments. You will need an accurate set of books to determine how much to pay on a quarterly basis.

6. Track your profit

You may have started your business because you have a hobby that you’ve turned into a business. But to stay in business, you must be profitable. Track your profitability by having a bookkeeping process in place and operating.

7. Keep your receipts

You must keep your receipts. Many business owners believe that your bank/credit card statement is sufficient. It is not. If you are audited, the IRS will want to see actual receipts or electronic copies of receipts. We recommend that you store receipts electronically.

Follow these practices to help ensure the financial health of your small business. Bookkeeping and Financial Service Providers such as Incline Business Essentials can help you with these steps.

Author: Jaclyn Simmons

What is a Profit and Loss Statement?