5 P&L Secrets Every Business Owner Needs! 💡📊

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If you’re running a business and not sure what your Profit & Loss (P&L) statement is really telling you, you’re not alone. Most founders glance at it, shrug, and move on or they aren’t even sure what it is or why they’d need to review it monthly.

But here’s the deal…your P&L is one of the simplest and most powerful ways to spot issues, uncover opportunities, and make smarter decisions if you know what to look for.

No MBA required. Let's simplify it for you today!

GET THE DEFINITION HERE
You have to learn the basics

A P&L (also called an income statement) shows how much money came in, how much went out, and what’s left and should be ran monthly after you close your books. Which you are closing, right? RIGHT?! 😀 

The formula is pretty simple.

Revenue – Cost of Goods Sold – Expenses = Net Profit
If that bottom number surprises you (profit), this email will help.

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MEAT AND POTATOES
Dive on in with a few key details to review

Here are five things to focus on when reviewing your P&L:

• Revenue trends – Is your sales growth consistent? Are you flatlining? Is there specific seasonality causing issues for you?

• Gross margin % – After costs, what’s left to run the business? Margin tells you a lot and most aren’t getting what they think without reviewing.

• Expense creep – Are your subscriptions, tools, or team costs slowly bloating your overhead? Do you control expense management and set a budget for everyone to follow?

• Profitability – Are you making real profit, or just staying busy?

• Comparisons – Look at this month vs. last, or quarter vs. quarter. Trends > snapshots. It can tell us so much in a very short amount of analysis time.

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Most business owners trip over a few common mistakes: confusing cash flow with profit (not the same), blending personal and business expenses (don’t do this…ever), ignoring annual or one-time charges, and underestimating tax liability.

I made an Excel template to walk you through this with an actual P&L example that’s fillable for you to complete.

If you want it, just reply “P&L” and I’ll send it over.

Give it 10 minutes this week. You’ll be shocked how much clarity you can get from just reading your own numbers the right way and start tracking it going forward.

Contact me if you’d like to network or partner together. I’d love to chat with you more about the services I offer on the side through Guernsey Consulting. If you do not know, I work full time in Treasury Management and then do consulting on the side. Would love to chat or network with you about it.

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