Editor’s Note: This is the fourth and final in a series of how to use graphical depictions of financial ratio trends to help contractors spot potential problems early and make …
Published: 08.01.12
By Ruth King
Published: 07.01.12
By Ruth King
Published: 06.01.12
By Mike Coyne
Published: 06.01.12
By Ruth King
Every month you should receive accurate and timely financial statements. Looking at one month’s financial statements (balance sheet and P&L statement) does not tell much. To see where your business …
Published: 05.01.12
By Ruth King
Without profits, cash runs out. Yet, your business could have an unprofitable month or quarter and still survive. Many contractors that operate with Dec. 31s as their year-end, state that …
Published: 04.01.12
By Ruth King
Each month your P&L tells you whether you earned a profit or had a loss. It does not tell you how much cash you have! You must turn your profits …
Published: 03.01.12
By Ruth King
In lean times you can decrease cash spending by using inventory in your shop and on your trucks. Ruth offers a break-even formula to calculate what your company needs to …
Published: 02.01.12
By Ruth King
Ruth King offers three suggestions to help you get the most profitability and productivity from every dollar that comes in the door.
Published: 12.01.11
By Ruth King
Determine your position in the market; then define desired profitability.
Published: 11.01.11
By Ruth King
Once implemented and used correctly, you’ll be making much better inventory bets, saving time and — as a result — increasing profitability with barcoding.
Published: 10.01.11
By Ruth King
A good financial system is based on both the monthly financial data and weekly information you gather. These five activities will help you discover whether your company is moving in …
Published: 09.01.11
By Ruth King
The reality is that debt usage is an emotional decision. Some company owners are comfortable with a lot of debt. Others can't sleep at night if they owe anybody anything. …
Published: 08.01.11
By Ruth King
ESOP may be for profitable companies with high cash flow and skilled, engaged employees.
Published: 07.01.11
By Ruth King
Calculating prices based on gross margin may do you a disservice. The key to successful pricing is to know your company’s overhead-cost-per-hour.
Published: 06.01.11
By Ruth King
Unpredictable fuel prices and increasing insurance costs for fleet vehicles continue to be challenges for HVACR contractors. Investing in technology can help.
Published: 06.01.11
By David Brown
A P&L, or income statement, is a vital document for good fiscal management.
Published: 04.01.11
By Ruth King
Liabilities are debts that your business owes. Like assets, liabilities are divided into two segments: current liabilities and long-term liabilities.
Published: 03.01.11
By Ruth King
By using three key tools, contractors can protect themselves against wasted time and money, costly repairs that could have been prevented, and one of the biggest wildcards in operating company …
Published: 02.01.11
By Kenneth W. Janosick
Convertibility to cash determines "current" or "fixed."
Published: 02.01.11
By Ruth King
Properly formatted financial statements — along with accurate information in those statements — is critical to making good financial decisions for your business.
Published: 01.01.11
By Ruth King
Many contractors I know did very well in 2010 despite the economy and despite all of the bad news in the media. What made the difference for those who did …
Published: 12.01.10
By Ruth King
You need enough maintenance agreement customers to cover the entire overhead of your company so that you won’t have to worry about a flailing economy causing your company to go …
Published: 11.01.10
By Ruth King
Customer-service training must be continuous and thorough. If you just tell your technicians what you want, they will only think about what they are going to say and never say …
Published: 10.01.10
By Ruth King
Invest additional time and resources to inform customers and prospects about the expiring replacement tax credit.
Published: 09.01.10
By Ruth King
7 ways to fix financial statements that are wrong.
Published: 08.01.10
By Ruth King
Your financial statements are your scorecards. If they are not accurate, you might make the wrong business decision based on incorrect information. Here are seven things that clearly tell you …
Published: 07.01.10
By Ruth King
Your credit score can be the key to home ownership, an auto loan, consumer credit, and even employment. How much do you know about this three-digit number that holds so …
Published: 07.01.10
By Bruce Cornelius
Making calls to past-due customers, former customers, and happy customers helps to keep the cash flowing.
Published: 06.01.10
By Ruth King
Businesses can improve profitability in many ways. Some require making substantial investments, such as buying new equipment or expanding marketing efforts. But there are inexpensive ways as well. Here are …
Published: 05.01.10
By Ruth King
Take a tip from farmers. Plant seeds in the spring t decrease your dependence on the weather and increase customer loyalty.
Published: 04.01.10
By Ruth King
One of the toughest things owners and managers have to do is to productively manage a labor force. But companies that manage their labor and their inventory effectively are among …
Published: 03.01.10
By Ruth King
I observed five trends in 2009 that helped contractors not only survive in a bad economy-but thrive in a bad economy.
Published: 02.01.10
By Ruth King
Why commercial contractors need to get 'tough' on payments.
Published: 02.01.10
By George Hedley
Everyone knows that 2009 was not a great year economically. Some contractors did well. Perhaps they were not as profitable as they were in 2008, but they still were profitable. …
Published: 01.01.10
By Ruth King
Your ability to use financing to close sales can be a key differentiator from your competitors because offering payment options makes it less likely your customers will take their business …
Published: 01.01.10
By Bruce Christensen
