Your business is bigger than your accounting system.
Your ledger records transactions. Some of the most important decisions also depend on work in progress, customer signals, team capacity and commitments that have not been invoiced. A maintained business data repository brings those records together so an answer can reflect what is happening across the company.
A more complete business picture
01Accounting recordsTransactions, balances and posted costs
02Jobs & deliveryProgress and remaining work
03Customers & salesPipeline, renewals and service
04People & plansCapacity and future commitments
05Contracts & evidenceTerms, changes and milestones
✦Questions an owner can act on
Cash planning is one reason these operational records matter. Our article Death by Cash Flow shows how project commitments, unpaid work and payment terms can create risks that growing sales conceal.
ELEVEN QUESTIONS · DIFFERENT BUSINESS TYPES
What would you want to know?
Open a question to see the kind of business it applies to, the source system, the records to collect and the decision the answer could improve. These are question examples, not finished reports.
01Construction & project servicesHow much signed work have we won but not yet delivered or invoiced?See the committed work ahead before it appears in revenue or receivables.+
WHY THIS MATTERS TO THE OWNER
The owner can plan crews, subcontractors and purchases, test whether the apparent sales pipeline is real, and anticipate a delivery crunch before promising more work. Committed work is not the same as earned revenue.
Business type
Construction & project services
Typical source system
Job management or project CRM, with the signed contract register.
Information to collect
Accepted proposals, contract values and changes, job stages, expected start and completion dates, and the portion still to deliver.
Where it usually lives
Accepted estimates, signed agreements, project boards and scheduling records maintained by sales and operations.
Why accounting alone may not answer it
A signed job can exist before an invoice or accounting entry. An accounting report may therefore omit much of the future workload.
02Construction & project servicesHow much of what we billed or collected on unfinished jobs is actually earned at period end?Connect the ledger to job progress for a defensible deferred revenue discussion.+
WHY THIS MATTERS TO THE OWNER
A period-end schedule can reconcile billed amounts to work performed and flag amounts that may remain deferred or need another adjustment. That gives the owner a more reliable picture of profit and remaining commitments, while giving the CPA the facts needed to assess the entry.
Business type
Construction & project services
Typical source system
Job or field service management software, contract files and the accounting ledger, reviewed under the company's revenue recognition policy.
Information to collect
Contract terms and change orders; invoices and customer payments; job milestones, materials, installation and subcontractor status; completion or customer acceptance evidence; and the applicable recognition method.
Where it usually lives
Project tracking records, crew schedules, purchase and delivery status, field notes, signed contracts and completion documents. The invoice and payment history usually comes from accounting.
Why accounting alone may not answer it
The ledger may contain billings, deposits and even a deferred revenue balance, depending on how it is set up. It does not necessarily establish how much work was performed or the obligations still outstanding. A CPA must evaluate the evidence and accounting treatment.
03Construction & project servicesWhich active jobs are likely to finish late or over budget?Spot risk while there is still time to change the plan.+
WHY THIS MATTERS TO THE OWNER
The owner can intervene on a threatened job, reset customer expectations and preserve margin. It also reveals whether a recurring estimating or scheduling problem is hurting the entire business.
Business type
Construction & project services
Typical source system
Project management, field scheduling, time tracking and purchasing systems.
Information to collect
Original and revised estimates, completed and remaining tasks, labor hours, material orders and arrival dates, subcontractor schedules and projected completion dates.
Where it usually lives
Job boards, daily logs, crew calendars, time sheets, purchasing queues and supplier confirmations.
Why accounting alone may not answer it
Posted costs show what has already happened. They do not describe remaining work, late deliveries or a crew that has not yet been scheduled.
04Professional services & agenciesWhich clients are profitable after all the work we put into serving them?Compare the revenue with the actual effort behind the relationship.+
WHY THIS MATTERS TO THE OWNER
The owner can identify clients that need a pricing, scope or service change and protect the relationships that truly contribute profit. Allocation assumptions should be visible before treating the result as exact.
Business type
Professional services & agencies
Typical source system
Time tracking, project management, service desk and contractor records.
Information to collect
Client-level staff time, roles and labor rates, contractor work, support tickets, revisions and the revenue tied to each engagement.
Where it usually lives
Time sheets, project tasks, ticket queues, contractor invoices and client agreements, joined to accounting revenue.
Why accounting alone may not answer it
Accounting may record client revenue and some direct expenses, but unbilled staff effort and support time often live in operational tools.
05Professional services & agenciesWhere are we doing extra work that never gets billed?Make scope creep visible before it becomes the normal way of working.+
WHY THIS MATTERS TO THE OWNER
The owner can decide when to enforce change orders, revise a retainer or improve estimates. This prevents revenue growth from masking an expanding unpaid workload.
Business type
Professional services & agencies
Typical source system
Project management, service desk and time tracking tools.
Information to collect
Original scope, change requests, deliverables, hours by task, approvals and whether extra work was quoted and invoiced.
Where it usually lives
Statements of work, email approvals, task boards, tickets and time entries.
Why accounting alone may not answer it
The accounting system records issued invoices; it may have no record of requests fulfilled without a corresponding charge.
06Sales-driven businessesWhich lead sources bring us the most profitable customers?Judge marketing by customer quality, not just lead count.+
WHY THIS MATTERS TO THE OWNER
The owner can shift budget toward channels that create profitable, lasting customers and stop optimizing for inquiries that rarely pay off. Attribution rules and shared sources need to be checked.
Business type
Sales-driven businesses
Typical source system
CRM, marketing analytics and campaign platforms, combined with sales and margin records.
Information to collect
Lead origin, campaign spend, conversion history, customer identity, sales value, direct costs and repeat business.
Where it usually lives
Web forms, campaign reports, CRM opportunity histories and the sales team's lead records.
Why accounting alone may not answer it
The ledger may show marketing spend and customer sales but usually lacks reliable attribution for lost leads and the path from campaign to customer.
07Subscription & retainer businessesWhich customers may leave soon, and how much revenue is at risk?Look ahead at renewals instead of waiting for revenue to disappear.+
WHY THIS MATTERS TO THE OWNER
The owner can prioritize retention conversations, prepare a realistic revenue forecast and learn which service problems put recurring revenue at risk. A risk signal is an estimate, not a confirmed cancellation.
Business type
Subscription & retainer businesses
Typical source system
Subscription or contract management, CRM, usage analytics and customer support systems.
Information to collect
Renewal dates, contract values, product usage, support issues, account health, cancellations and customer feedback.
Where it usually lives
Subscription records, account notes, support queues, usage dashboards and renewal calendars.
Why accounting alone may not answer it
Past invoices show what the customer paid, not whether they intend to renew or have stopped using the service.
08People-intensive businessesCan our current team handle the work we are likely to win?Match future demand to real capacity before committing to deadlines.+
WHY THIS MATTERS TO THE OWNER
The owner can sequence work, hire or contract at the right time and avoid selling delivery dates the team cannot meet. Pipeline probabilities must be kept distinct from signed commitments.
Business type
People-intensive businesses
Typical source system
Workforce scheduling, project management, pipeline CRM and skills records.
Information to collect
Probable upcoming work, required skills and hours, employee availability, leave, current commitments and subcontractor capacity.
Where it usually lives
Team calendars, staffing plans, project schedules, hiring plans and sales opportunities.
Why accounting alone may not answer it
Payroll shows what people cost, while accounting has little visibility into next month's availability or the skills a future job needs.
09People-intensive businessesWhat will our compensation commitments cost over the next few months?See the cost of planned staffing and incentives before they post.+
WHY THIS MATTERS TO THE OWNER
The owner can test hiring and sales plans against expected cash and margin, then decide whether to change timing, staffing mix or targets. Payroll and tax assumptions need professional validation.
Business type
People-intensive businesses
Typical source system
Payroll, HR, commission administration and staffing plans.
Information to collect
Pay rates, scheduled hours, benefits, commissions and bonus rules, planned hires, raises and start dates.
The ledger reflects prior payroll and accruals, but planned hires, future shifts and variable incentive calculations may not be posted yet.
10Product & service businessesWhich offerings should we reprice because the true cost to deliver has changed?Find margin erosion hidden behind an unchanged selling price.+
WHY THIS MATTERS TO THE OWNER
The owner can adjust prices, redesign the work or stop selling offerings that consume resources without sufficient return. The result should show which costs were traced directly and which were allocated.
Business type
Product & service businesses
Typical source system
Estimating, inventory or production, purchasing, time tracking and support systems.
Information to collect
Current materials, freight, labor time, rework, returns, warranty or support effort, and prices by offering.
Where it usually lives
Supplier price lists, bills of materials, production logs, work orders and after-sale service records.
Why accounting alone may not answer it
Accounting may report aggregate cost of goods sold without capturing all the effort and current replacement costs for each offering.
11Any business with future commitmentsWill we have enough cash to cover the next 90 days?Turn known obligations and likely timing into a useful cash outlook.+
WHY THIS MATTERS TO THE OWNER
The owner can see a possible shortfall early, follow up on collections, defer discretionary spending or arrange financing while options remain. A forecast should distinguish confirmed cash flows from assumptions and be refreshed as facts change.
Business type
Any business with future commitments
Typical source system
Accounting plus receivables follow-up, CRM, project schedules, payroll plans and purchasing commitments.
Information to collect
Starting bank balance, expected collection dates, scheduled customer milestones, vendor due dates, payroll, tax payments and planned purchases, with timing and confidence levels.
Where it usually lives
The ledger and bank records, collections notes, signed work schedules, payroll calendars and purchase commitments.
Why accounting alone may not answer it
Receivables and payables show recorded balances, but future work, unissued invoices, collection risk and planned spending may not be in the accounting system.
A PRACTICAL WAY TO START
Build around the questions, then maintain the evidence.
Identify the decisions that matter, map each answer to the records that support it, and agree on how often those records should be refreshed. Financial totals, operational status and assumptions should remain traceable so the owner and advisers can inspect an answer before relying on it.
Tell us the questions you want answered and where your team keeps the relevant information. We can help identify the records needed to make the answers useful.