If you’ve ever felt like your finances are more a murky puddle than a sparkling lake, you’re definitely not alone. Many business owners carry around

How to Level Up Your Finance Leader and Unlock Seven-Figure Value As business owners, we’ve all heard it (or maybe even said it ourselves):“We’ve got

Short answer: A simple weekly ritual—done in about ten minutes—that tells you if you’re okay and gives you two concrete moves for next week. It

Coffee Shop Math: 5 Ratios Every Non-Finance Owner Can Use (In Plain English) If you can make a latte, you can read your numbers. In

Short answer: Use a line of credit (LOC) for short‑term working‑capital gaps you’ll repay soon (usually lower rates, bigger limits). Use a business credit card

Short answer: Build a 14‑day cash list: today’s bank balance, expected inflows, and must‑pay outflows (payroll, taxes, essentials). Call top overdue customers, pause non‑critical spend,

Short answer: Make invoices crystal‑clear, shorten terms on new work, send friendly reminders on day 1, 3, 7, and 14, offer a small early‑pay discount,

Short answer: Profit counts sales and expenses when they’re earned or incurred—not when cash moves. Your bank balance only changes when money actually comes in

Introduction Freeing up working capital is the fastest way to boost liquidity without taking on new debt. By strategically managing receivables, payables, inventory, and processes,

Introduction Setting the right price is one of the most critical decisions you’ll make as a business owner. Pricing too low sacrifices profitability; pricing too

IntroductionCash flow is the lifeblood of any business—no matter how strong your sales or how loyal your customers are, running out of cash can bring

IntroductionNumbers tell the story of success—and they flag the spots where you need to correct course. As a small business owner, keeping a close eye

When Do You Need a CFO? Running a business often means wearing multiple hats—especially in the early days. But as your company grows, can you

If you run your own business or manage your own money, you’ve probably asked yourself: Do I really need an accountant? Maybe you’ve got a

Cash Flow vs. Profitability: Why They’re Not the Same (And Why It Matters) Definition Profitability means your business is earning more than it’s spending. It’s

In an ever-competitive market, smart financing is one important lever to flourish. One potent tool that may be underutilized is a line of credit. Today,

Since I assume nowadays that most blog articles have at least received help from ChatGPT, I figured why not lean in, and take ChatGPT’s raw

As a business grows, the need for financial management becomes more important. With that comes the distinction between a bookkeeper, accountant, and controller. While each

This blog focuses on budgeting to optimize your business’s revenue to lead to targeted growth and higher profits, even during flat or recessionary economic cycles.

What is operational leverage? Leverage usually refers to the ratio of debt that a business carries on its books. So a company that finances itself

Budgeting for your business or business department may seem scary, but the goal is worthwhile, and the budgeting process does not have to be complicated.

There are many helpful cash flow KPIs that range from relatively simple to complicated. However, I’d like to focus on the best cash flow KPI

Make better business decisions using the waterfall to understand cash flow. The cash flow waterfall is a helpful alternative to a traditional cash flow statement

I will focus on how analyzing direct vs indirect costs can help you make better decisions and be more operationally profitable. Therefore, I will skip

Most directly put, revenue is “top-line” sales. However, technically for accounting and analysis purposes, revenue is equal to recognized cash inflows created by the sale

What matters the most, Net Income or Revenue? Any financial measurement or metric should be to help you as the business owner (or unit manager)

Why is accurate accounting important to you as a business owner? Besides the regulatory benefits of having accurate books for tax filing (which is certainly

There will be endless volumes (justifiably so) written on the data/storage/security advantages of cloud accounting versus traditional accounting software.  For me, data storage advantage considerations

I believe the Statement of Cashflows (or Cashflow Statement) is often the most underutilized Financial Report because it is probably the hardest of the main

Our mission at Strata Cloud Accountants is to help business owners and operators make better decisions. In that spirit, I’d like to focus on using,

Making better decisions, in both goods and services businesses alike, starts with understanding what drives revenue as well as cost drivers, which is critical to

I’ve talked in previous blog posts about Dynamic Forecasting, and how it is different from a standard budget. In this post, we will revisit that

By Kyle Smith, CPA This is a very common question we get, you can check out our other common questions and answers in the FAQs. Without

What are Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) and Why Should I Use Them? A KPI is something that must be 1) measurable over a given timeframe

Dynamic forecasting can be an extremely powerful and timely tool to better frame critical business decisions, project future bottom line cash positions, and create better

Cashflow Tips I’ve spent time working for various companies in accounts receivable as a Controller. One of the most immediate ways I’ve seen business owners