Gross Profit Margin vs Net Margin: Does Your Pricing Survive Your Overhead?
Gross margin tests your pricing; net margin tests the whole business — the gap between them shows whether pricing or overhead eats your profit.
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Small Business
Financial management strategies and tools for small business owners
How to Calculate Cost of Goods Sold the Right Way: Beginning Inventory, Purchases, Ending Inventory, and What It Tells You About Profit
COGS equals beginning inventory plus purchases minus ending inventory — two careful counts decide your gross profit, pricing, and tax.
How to Read Your Balance Sheet Without an Accounting Degree: Assets, Liabilities, Equity, and the 5-Minute Solvency Check
Assets minus liabilities equals equity — and three ratios (current, quick, debt-to-equity) tell you in five minutes whether your business is solvent.
How to Read a Cash Flow Statement: Operating vs Investing vs Financing Activities and Why Net Income Doesn't Equal Cash in the Bank
Operating cash flow, not net income, shows whether your business generates cash — read all three sections in five minutes a month.
When to Outsource Bookkeeping vs. Hire In-House: A Cost Comparison at $50K, $500K, and $5M in Revenue
Outsourced bookkeeping runs $250–$700 a month while a loaded in-house hire costs $69,000-plus a year — see which wins at $50K, $500K, and $5M in revenue.
Owner's Draw vs. Salary vs. Distribution: How to Pay Yourself Without Triggering an IRS Reasonable Compensation Audit
Working S corporation owners must take reasonable W-2 wages before distributions — the IRS tests the salary against nine factors, not the 60/40 myth.
How Small Businesses Should Reconcile Shopify Payouts, Fees, and Chargebacks
Shopify payouts are net settlements, not revenue — book gross sales, split every fee, and stage chargebacks; your 1099-K reports the gross to the IRS.
How to Reconcile Shopify Shipping Labels, Fulfillment Fees, and Sales Tax Without Losing a Dollar of COGS
Shopify labels bill separately from payouts — split each invoice, book postage to COGS, and remit sales tax collected on shipping.
Rental Property Depreciation: 27.5 vs. 39-Year Schedules, Recapture, and When Cost Segregation Pays
Residential rentals depreciate over 27.5 years, commercial over 39 — claim the IRS straight-line deduction yearly, then plan for 25% recapture at sale.
Repair vs. Improvement: The BAR Test That Decides Whether You Deduct or Capitalize
Work that betters, restores, or adapts a unit of property is an IRS improvement you capitalize — everything else is a deductible repair.
SAFE Notes and Warrants Explained: How Founders Account for Caps, Discounts, and Dilution
Post-money SAFEs lock each investor's percentage at signing, so stacked SAFEs dilute founders. Model caps, discounts, and warrants before you sign.
SBA 7(a) Working Capital Pilot: How Asset-Based and Transaction-Based Lines of Credit Change Your Borrowing-Base Records and Cash-Flow Planning
SBA's Working Capital Pilot offers 7(a) lines up to $5M — asset- or transaction-based — with borrowing-base certificates setting availability.