Financial clarity: see cash, margin and performance early enough to act

What it is

The service produces three connected tools, each built from your own records.

• A rolling 13-week cash forecast. Opening balance, expected receipts by the week customers actually pay, payroll, supplier payments, GST/HST remittances as a cash item, and loan payments, rolled forward every week.
• Contribution margin by line. Revenue minus direct costs (materials, subcontractors and properly loaded direct labour) for each service line, product family or customer group, before overhead is shared out.
• A one-page KPI scorecard. Eight to ten measures with exact formulas, an owner for each and red, amber and green thresholds you choose.

This is not accounting. Statements, tax returns and payroll filings remain with your CPA and bookkeeper.

Who it is for

This service suits owners who are profitable on paper but often short of cash, who suspect one part of the business subsidises another, or who are preparing for a bank conversation, a partner, or eventually a sale. If a future sale is on the horizon, these same tools are the starting point for exit preparation through the group's exit brand, BizSell.ca.

What's included

1. Records review of statements, ageing reports, payroll summary and sales by line.
2. Cash forecast build with your real payment patterns, not invoice terms.
3. Loaded labour rate worked out with your bookkeeper's figures for employer costs.
4. Margin model for each service line, product family or main customer group.
5. Scorecard design with formulas, data sources and thresholds.
6. Handover and training for the people who will update each tool.
7. Review session a few weeks later to check the tools are being used.

A worked example

Take a hypothetical distributor with $4.8 million in annual sales, 30-day terms and an average collection time of 52 days. Each day of collection ties up about $13,150 ($4,800,000 ÷ 365). The forecast reveals that cash will dip below the $75,000 minimum the owner set in week seven, when a quarterly loan payment coincides with a slow-paying customer.

Two decisions follow from seeing that early: chase the three largest overdue accounts now, and move one supplier payment by a week with the supplier's agreement. If collection time drops from 52 to 42 days, about $131,500 of cash is released permanently. Our 13-week cash flow guide shows how to build the forecast yourself.

Timeline

A first cash forecast is typically ready in one to two weeks. The full set of three tools usually takes four to six weeks, depending on how clean the records are and how many service lines need modelling.

How results are measured

We record starting values for days sales outstanding, cash low point over the next 13 weeks, gross margin by line and forecast accuracy (forecast receipts compared with actual receipts each week). The tools are considered successful when your team updates them without us and the owner uses them to make at least one pricing, collection or spending decision a month.

Mistakes to avoid

• Forecasting from invoice terms. Use the dates customers actually pay. 30-day terms often mean 50-day reality.
• Unloaded labour. A wage of $32 an hour does not cost $32 once employer contributions, paid leave and non-billable time are included.
• Spreading overhead evenly too early. Look at contribution margin first; allocation can hide which line is the problem.
• Twenty KPIs. If the scorecard does not fit on a page, nobody reads it. See the owner KPI scorecard guide.
• Building it and filing it. A forecast that is not updated every week is worse than none, because it looks reliable.

Start here

Text (604) 632-4959 or email Ali@Sedighi.ca with your approximate annual revenue and what worries you most about cash or margin. The free initial consultation decides whether this project, a diagnostic or a few hours of advice fits better. Engagement models are explained on the pricing page.